Posted on 12/30/2001 4:49:35 PM PST by rdavis84
12/29 11:15
Politicians Return Enron Donations Ahead of Finger Pointing
By Holly Rosenkrantz and William Roberts
Washington, Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Republican and Democratic campaign committees are returning or giving away $200,000 in contributions from Enron Corp. in a signal that both parties expect the company's collapse to become a political issue.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee gave back a $100,000 gift from Enron last month. ``We just decided that with all their financial troubles it was best to return it,'' Dan Allen, a spokesman for the committee, said.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is giving $100,000 it received from Enron to a charity that will help workers, many of whom lost their jobs and retirement savings when the company's stock plunged.
Until a few weeks ago, neither party was shy about taking Enron money. The Houston-based energy company contributed $5.8 million over the past decade, with 73 percent going to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign money.
``The parties are always reluctant to return any contribution, especially one amounting to six figures,'' said Steve Weiss, the Center's communications director. ``This illustrates the dramatic extent to which the parties are seeking to distance themselves from a company in deep trouble.''
Bigger Problem for Republicans
The sudden collapse of Enron has turned the company into a political liability, especially for President George. W. Bush and congressional Republicans who had close ties to Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, Bush's friend and biggest political backer.
Democrats say Enron's bankruptcy as a symbol for Bush's failed economic policies.
``Beside the fact that the Bush administration has a very close relationship with Enron, we think the company's collapse is a metaphor for how the administration runs the budget,'' said Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee. ``Enron, like the administration, cooked the books, had unrealistic expectations about the future and only worried about one side of the ledger,'' she said.
Republicans say they are bracing for what may become Whitewater-style investigations and hearings.
``The Democrats from day one have tried to politicize energy,'' Vice President Richard Cheney's spokeswoman, Mary Matalin, said. ``This is just more of the same.''
Links to Enron
Administration ties to Enron include several relationships, in addition to Lay's friendship with Bush. Lawrence Lindsey, Bush's chief economic adviser, was on the company's advisory board and received $50,000 from them last year. Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, once owned $60,000 worth of Enron stock. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick was also a member of the company's advisory board, and Secretary of the Army Thomas White, a former Enron executive, valued his company stock at between $25 million and $50 million earlier this year.
Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, the chairman of the Commerce Committee's Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, has called for hearings into the company's collapse. So has Representative Henry Waxman of California, the senior Democrat on the House Government Affairs Committee.
``We know that there was a favorable climate in the Bush administration for Enron, but what's not clear is how they benefited from that favorable climate,'' said Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for Waxman.
Investigations
Enron, once one largest energy traders, slid toward bankruptcy in November after disclosing that profits it had reported to shareholders and the government during the past four years were overstated by $586 million. The company's shares, which began the year at $83.13, closed yesterday at 60 cents.
The company filed the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy after its credit rating was cut to junk levels and it couldn't raise cash to back trades. More than 4,000 employees have lost their jobs, and the retirement savings of employees with company-sponsored savings plans have been devastated.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department and Congress are investigating Enron's collapse. Former chief executive Jeff Skilling and former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow each are named as defendants in more than 40 lawsuits filed by investors and former employees who lost million when Enron shares plunged.
Let the Hearings Begin!
Maybe the Repubs will use up all of their Political Capital, The Dems used up theirs in WW. Then we can get to where they BOTH Cut Each Others throats!
Do a little rerearch, without Clinton there would have been no Enron.
snooker
Sorry, can't figure out what Bush had to do with all of this, especially since the profits have been misstated for the last four years.
They can try to lay this at Bush's feet, but I have this strange feeling that as they dig in, they're going to find something that will tar the democrats black as coal. Something is going to lead right back to Clinton. Mark my words.
IMHO, sabre rattling. They will threaten to make a case and try through the media to get the public to beleive it, but they won't press it long enough for the Clinton/Browner influence to come out. After all, Enron's wacky electricity marketing activities came about with a lot of help from Federal Regulators.
Anybody have any predictions on how many Bush Administration members will have to resign?
How about Bush and Cheney, are they vulnerable?
Should the State of Texas have had any oversite responsibilities for Enron?
WASHINGTON -- Just days before Enron Corp. landed in bankruptcy court, the one-time political powerhouse may still have been funneling campaign dollars to Democratic lawmakers, federal election records indicate.
As Enron executives were scrambling to salvage a deal with Houston-based Dynegy in a vain effort to stave off bankruptcy, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee received three checks from the Houston-based energy and trading giant totaling $100,000, Federal Election Commission records show.
The contributions were collected on Nov. 26, according to the committee's report to the FEC, six days before Enron sought protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code {end snip}
The case they will make will be to repeat this over and over, with concerned looks on their faces.
In India, Enron signed a contract for a 2,000 megawatt power plant in Dahbol worth an estimated $400 million. Enron also won a contract to build a $920 million power plant on the West coast of India and a $1.1 billion contract for offshore gas and oil production.
Rodney L. Gray, chairman and chief executive officer of Enron International accompanied Brown on the trade mission to Russia in March and April of 1994.
In Russia, Enron signed a deal to develop a market for Russia gas in Europe.
Enron is a natural gas conglomerate based in Houston, Texas.
During the 1991-92 election cycle, Enron gave $28,525 to the Democratic party while Brown served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Enron gave $42,000 to the Democratic party in the 1993-94 cycle.
September 01, 1997 THE WHITE HOUSE THAT INVISIBLE MACK SURE CAN LEAVE HIS MARK BY MICHAEL WEISSKOPF/WASHINGTON Time Magazine In Part:
For a man who had supposedly vanished from the corridors of power, MACK MCLARTY was the man to see in 1996. BILL CLINTON's former chief of staff, now a White House counselor tucked away in the basement, provided assistance to businessmen who ponied up $1.5 million for the Democrats in the last election. On Nov. 22, 1995, for example, Clinton scrawled an FYI note to McLarty, enclosing a newspaper article on Enron Corp. and the vicissitudes of its $3 billion power-plant project in India. McLarty then reached out to Enron's chairman, KEN LAY, and over the next nine months closely monitored the project with the U.S. ambassador to New Delhi, keeping Lay informed of the Administration's efforts, according to White House documents reviewed by TIME. In June 1996, four days before India granted final approval to Enron's project, Lay's company gave $100,000 to the President's party. Enron denies that its gift was repayment for Clinton's attention, and White House special counsel LANNY DAVIS says McLarty acted out of concern for a major U.S. investment overseas.
Nevertheless, there does seem to be a McLarty pattern. At Clinton's request, he met with international oil consultant ROGER TAMRAZ and asked the Energy Department if the Administration could not be more supportive of his Caspian Sea pipeline proposal (Tamraz' contribution: $200,000). And last week the Washington Post reported that Davis says McLarty acted "appropriately" in every case.
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