THE WAR DANCE AROUND ENRON

New York Post ^ | 5/10/02 | WILLIAM TUCKER

[kattracks]

May 10, 2002 -- CALIFORNIA Sen. Barbara Boxer got her start as a New York tenant activist, so it was only fitting that she was standing at the podium this week as California announced its energy crisis was all Enron's fault.

[snopercod]

Finally!

...an honest article on the latest media spin circus. Even the WSJ claimed that somehow "selling to the higest bidder" was dishonest. What a disappointment they are.

[Robert357]

This is a fair article. I wish they would have referenced the SAC BEE story about how the State ISO was also guilty of gaming the power costs up. I think that the Sac Bee story needs to be a letter to the editor, email to newspaper reports, and rallying cry for Freepers.

[snopercod]

...and rallying cry for Freepers. Don't hold your breath.

FReepers in general, and California FReepers in particular (with two or three exceptions), don't seem to be interested. 48 replies and 22 individuals responding to the thread? Post something containing the words "cheese", "moose" or "shower" in the title and you will get hundreds of replies.

The forums most underappreciated thread: California: Surprise culprit in energy price rigging (the state itself!)

[snopercod]

Any of you pi$$ed enough to write a letter on this?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

A very nice succinct article.

Anybody good with letters to the editor per snopercod's challenge?

calgov2002:

calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles. 

calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. 

Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register

[Dog Gone]

Great article! Forwarded to relatives in California!

[Chuzzlewit]

Gov. Gray Davis = Energy Crisis.. all that needs to be said.. Sick of the whole G. D. thing.

[Robert357]

"cheese", "moose" or "shower"

Well, I for one am going to keep reminding folks about the Sac Bee article. I like the way you keep linking it. I think I shall try that as well.

To me that article and as you put it the most underappreciated thread, is the one that really opened my eyes to how much spin is now going on and how really dangerous the democratic party is playing with the facts.

This Enron ploy is a two-edged sword and if some articles like that in the Sac Bee get enough play, this whole thing will crash in on the Democratic party.

I for one am trying to publicize this in a number of ways up here in Washington State.

I enjoy your comments.

[eureka!]

Letter writing on snopercod's point about ISO gouging may be fine--if printed. And the Clymers probably won't. California talk radio is a better medium--like Hugh Hewitt, Ron. Just MHO...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good point!

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the find and the ping.

Apparently besides writing his opeds of liberal hate and lies for the WSJ, AL Hunt has a lot of control over the so called news articles published by the WSJ.

I Pinged Miss Marple for more specifics. Hopefully she can share her wisdom and the history of Hunt with us.

In the 1996 election I let my WSJ subscription expire and did not renew it due to the venom and vile opeds by Hunt. Looking back, that was a wise decision on my part. I never fund my enemies when I have any choice.

[tubebender]

Has that earlier article been fowarded to Rodger Hedgecock in San Diego ? I know he would do it justice on his radio show.

[heleny]

From all the news about Enron's price fixing and even the UC system suing Enron, one might forget that Enron provided good deals, too, to those who planned correctly or that deregulation could have saved money.
from the UCSD Guardian (school newspaper), April 1, 2002, regarding a new energy contract that replaces an expired Enron contract:

In 1998, the university [of California system] signed a direct energy contract with Enron that was extremely advantageous financially.
"It was a very, very low rate," [UC spokesperson Charles] McFadden said. "It was the average rate in 1996 minus 5 percent."
...
This [new] direct contract [which will cost more than the one with Enron did] is projected to save the university millions of dollars as compared to the university's contracts before deregulation.

Because the UC's used energy deregulation to negotiate their own moneysaving direct long-term energy contracts, the campuses did not suffer from any rolling blackouts.

I thought I read several months ago that Davis had canceled the construction of new power plants because they would no longer be needed with our long-term expensive contracts. However, Davis took credit for the new plants that opened during his term, even though those plants were approved and begun long before his term. The canceled plants doesn't seem to be mentioned in the news anymore, so I almost think I imagined it all.

[heleny]

I haven't listened every day, so I don't know if he covered this topic. You can email him at roger@rogerhedgecock.com

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I just sent it!

[heleny]

Thanks! I just found that he has it on the section of his website titled Roger's news, under Sunday May 5th, with the title:
"DUFUSS ENERGY GOUGE…SMOKING GUN..STATE ISO “GAMED” THE MARKET…not the evil power generators…read this and then contact the AG"

But, he might not have covered it on his show, since I didn't hear it on Monday.

[Miss Marple]

From the Wall Street Journal web site:

ABOUT AL HUNT

Albert R. Hunt is executive Washington editor for The Wall Street Journal. His responsibilities include helping to set direction and priorities for the Journal's Washington news coverage, writing the weekly editorial page column, "Politics & People," and directing the paper's political polls. He has worked for the Journal since 1965 in New York, Boston and Washington.

Mr. Hunt was a panelist on Public Broadcasting Service's "Washington Week in Review" for seven years and served as a political analyst on the "CBS Morning News" in 1984. He has been a member of Cable News Network's "The Capital Gang" since its inception in 1988, and he is one of the hosts of the CNN interview show "Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields." He is also a periodic panelist on the National Broadcasting Co.'s "Meet the Press."

Born in Charlottesville, Va., Mr. Hunt graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. with a bachelor's degree in political science. He and his wife, CNN anchor Judy Woodruff, have three children and live in Washington.

Mr. Hunt invites comments to al.hunt@wsj.com.

As you can see, although Mr. Hunt does not control ALL of the news content, he has a heavy influence over all news that comes from Washington, and I would guess is able to pressure other editors as well. I am most interested in his duties in directing POLLING!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Try this article!

[snopercod]

I was wondering if Al Hunt was behind the WSJ hit piece as well. I will certainly write them and express my displeasure as a paid subscriber.