I'm not entirely convinced. The problem is that even a lot of Republicans, myself included, feel that the whole Enron mess must be investigated fully. It's not that we expect the White House to be implicated (quite the opposite), but there seems to be a strong possibility that crimes were committed at Enron, and at Andersen, and that a lot of regular folks like you and me suffered as a result.
So, the problem is this: No one cares about the Clintons and Enron, simply because the president out of power is considered boring in the media. (And despite the lefty bias of most media, I believe this would be true even if the outgoing administration had been Republican.) So, the focus will be on Bush and Cheney as far as the government ties that Enron had are concerned.
Conventional wisdom is that the cover up is always worse than the crime. In fact, the appearance of a cover up can wreak damage on an administration even if the evidence is ultimately exculpatory. So what does this mean?
Well, first of all, it means that Cheney has to suck it up and provide the info about Enron's participation in the energy policy. I don't think there's anything there, but every day he resists, terrible damage is done to the President and his administration in the eyes of the public. Full disclosure is the only way to stop unfounded attacks.
And it doesn't stop there. A lot of documents are going to have to come out that the White House doesn't want to release, and there may be a price to pay. But the price to pay for not releasing them is much, much higher, politically speaking.
This bears repeating.
I agree with you that a full investigation is in order.
However, I must disagree with your statement above. If the media find x42 so stinking boring, how come they keep putting his face all over the news? I only wish they found him boring enough to ignore him completely!!!
ENE will be investigated by the DOJ as well as several congressional committees. Your wish is granted, Mr. Republican.
”…there seems to be a strong possibility that crimes were committed at Enron, and at Andersen, and that a lot of regular folks like you and me suffered as a result.”
I’m still waiting for someone, anyone, to tell me what those crimes are. And how much ENE stock did you hold?
” So, the focus will be on Bush and Cheney as far as the government ties that Enron had are concerned. “
That is the Liberal wet dream. It looks like it isn’t going to happen. But keep hoping.
” Well, first of all, it means that Cheney has to suck it up and provide the info about Enron's participation in the energy policy. I don't think there's anything there, but every day he resists, terrible damage is done to the President and his administration in the eyes of the public. Full disclosure is the only way to stop unfounded attacks.”
Please provide me with a road map that connects the bankruptcy of ENE, and the Administration’s energy policy. How one affects the other. What part of the Bush energy policy would have uniquely benefited ENE? As far as I know, the only controversial part of the policy is drilling for oil in ANWAR. Did ENE own ANWAR? What information do you have?
The “terrible damage” reminds me of the predictions only a week ago that this was going to be bigger than Whitewater. If you are going to parrot the Party Line, please keep up.
And it doesn't stop there. A lot of documents are going to have to come out that the White House doesn't want to release, and there may be a price to pay. But the price to pay for not releasing them is much, much higher, politically speaking.
I think you've bought into the hype, which is understandable, since I bought into myself for a few days there. There are no "documents" the WH needs to worry about, nor does Enron's participation in energy policy meetings cause a problem for Cheney. Those meetings were completely unrelated to Enron's collapse. And those "regular folks" you mention "suffered" only because they were dumb enough to put their money into an enterprise whose numbers were telegraphing trouble for many months prior to the demise of the company, as FR poster innocentbystander pointed out on this thread yesterday. Read his comments and then see if you still think "regular folks" were taken.
Enron was a one week story. We already see the media backing off. It's over.
Count me in that crowd. The piece of the financial puzzle that consistently gets missed, is that Arthur Anderson not only did ENRON's books, they certified the financial reporting processes as well AND had a $1million dollar a day consulting gig with ENRON to boot.
Sounds like a conflict of interest to me, and I'm more than willing to bet that when the investigations are all done, there'll be a closing of the loophole in the law that allows the above.