Posted on 10/23/2006 1:11:20 PM PDT by Lunatic Fringe
Breaking
According to the legal talking heads on our local newscasts, there is no parole in federal prison. He will have to serve all of it, except any small breaks he earns for good behavior.
Wonder what he would have gotten if he had just removed National Security records in his socks from the Archive?
Point of Order:
Under Federal sentencing guidelines Skilling has to serve 85% of sentence i.e. 85% of 292 months sentence = 20.4 years.
I don't believe those other people cooked the Enron books and engaged in a premeditated effort to defraud them...or did they.
Well, I would like to see that particular lawyer sent into the general population with a lot of New Yorkers ....
You and me both!
Not the same at all. Investments are by their nature inherently risky, going to 7/11 at night generally is not. Who hasn't heard the caution, "don't put all your eggs in one basket?"
Investing 75% of your retirement nest egg in one basket is felony stupid and entirely their doing. No one forced them to make such a idiot decision. Seems they got burnt by their own greed.
Of comparative interest, the two people that plea bargained in the horrific February 20, 2003 West Warwick, Rhode Island nightclub fire, that was started by a pyrotechnic device used by the rock band Great White, killing 100 people and injuring another 200 in a matter of minutes they both pleaded no-contest and received 4 years in a low security prison and qualify for a work release program. Under state sentencing guidelines they quality for parole in only 16 months.
Very obvious this country values the loss of money over the loss and injury of innocent human life.
>>>Skilling oughta be on a jet out of the country like O.J. Simpson
Naw, they just all come to Florida.
A neighbor worked for a crane rigging company here in Minnesota that had some contracts with Enron on some wind power contracts. Enron failed to make payments to the contractor to the point where the contractor could no longer make payroll, and folded. So a lot of people lost jobs. Enron screwed many other construction contractors as well.
What's the difference between a lawyer and a vampire?
A vampire only sucks blood at night.
Skilling did wrong and should be punished. However, one should never invest his life savings in the same company that provides his pay check. You could say that greed caused those people to lose their savings and not be totally wrong.
Great news
62% of the assets in the employees' 401(k) were in Enron stock. I once saw the mutual fund choices that employees could use. There were some good funds--some duds, but a lot of well-diversified choices.
Ask any financial planner and he or she will tell you: don't put more than 10% of your investments into any one stock--especially your employer's stock.
People got greedy, and they got burned. Badly.
You're exactly right on this, wideawake.
From Reason online:
Enron maintained a rather typical 401(k) plan for a company of its size. It offered 20 investment options, its own stock being one. It matched 50 percent of employee contributions-up to 6 percent of a salary-with Enron stock. Workers couldn't sell shares their employer gave them until they turned 50, a common restriction for gifted stock. They were not prohibited from selling stock they purchased. At the end of 2000, 62 percent of the value of employee 401(k) accounts was held in Enron stock. (This is risky but not unique. Procter & Gamble's fund is 95 percent company stock, Abbott Laboratories' is 90 percent, Pfizer's is 86 percent, and Coca-Cola's is 82 percent.)
In early 2001 Enron decided to contract out its 401(k) administration to an outside company. The transfer required a freezing of accounts, which took place over 11 trading days, from October 29 through November 12. Enron's stock was at $13.81 when it froze the accounts. By the time 401(k) investors could sell again, the stock was at $9.98.
Hmmmmm, Paraguay.......isn't that where Butch and Sundance ended up????????
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