Posted on 08/14/2003 1:10:16 PM PDT by Registered
Statement Release for August 14, 2003
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON’S STATEMENT REGARDING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PRESIDENT BUSH AND ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
On May 11, 2001, in the midst of the so-called California energy crisis, Enron's Ken "Kenny Boy" Lay held a secret meeting with prominent California Republicans at the place right behind me, the Beverly Hills Hotel, to discuss the state's energy policy.
Among those attending the covert gathering were Richard Riordan, Michael Milken, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Given the billions of dollars Lay, Enron, and the other crooked energy companies ended up looting from the people of this state, there are a few questions about that meeting and the state's energy fiasco I'd like to hear someone ask Arnold -- if he ever agrees to take questions.
But before I get to those questions, let me tell you why I think they are so important:
So far, in the little he's said in this campaign, it's clear that Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to paint himself as "the People's governor" -- an independent-minded leader who won't be beholden to special interests on either side of the political spectrum.
Then what was he doing cozying up to the likes of Kenny Boy Lay, Mr. Special Interest himself -- and in the midst of the Enron-created crisis, no less?
The truth is: Arnold is a Bush Republican through and through. He's campaigned for the president and he's met privately at the White House with Karl Rove, who has long welcomed the idea of Arnold running for Governor, once saying of the possibility: "That would be nice. That would be really nice. That would be really, really nice".
Clearly, Schwarzenegger's a very good friend of the Bush administration. But this administration has been no friend to the people of California. Indeed, at times it seems as if the Bush White House has declared war on the people of California.
Let's start with the energy crisis: the White House repeatedly rejected the state's pleas for help during the crisis, preferring to side with their big buck backers in the energy industry - especially Ken Lay. Dick Cheney even went so far as to blame California for causing its own problems -- when, as we now know, it was actually crooked energy companies that were manufacturing the crisis and costing us billions.
And it was the President who appointed energy company-friendly members to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission -- members who looked the other way while Enron and the other energy swindlers fleeced California, who refused to impose wholesale energy price caps that would have saved California taxpayers from picking up the tab for the thievery, and who forced California to honor $12 billion in long-term energy contracts -- even after it was proven that the corporate energy crooks had scammed the system.
And that's not the only way that the Bush White House has acted against the interests and the will of the people of California. Consider:
The Bush administration actually went to court to try and overturn California's federally authorized right to set its own air pollution standards. We wanted cleaner air, but the White House was more interested in protecting the interests of their buddies in the auto industry, than in protecting the health of the people of California.
The White House also lent its support to oil companies looking to drill for oil off the coast of California without having to undergo a state environmental review. What makes this particularly galling is that the Bush administration went in the exact opposite direction when it came to drilling for oil off the coast of Florida. In the eyes of George Bush, the people of California don't deserve the same consideration -- and the same clean water and beaches -- as the people who elected brother Jeb.
Now I realize the president lost California by over 1.2 million votes in 2000, but the administration has taken the idea of political payback way, way too far - and it's the people of California who are suffering.
Now Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to be the Governor of those people. But before that can happen I think he needs to be asked the following questions:
1. What was discussed at the May 11, 2001 meeting with Ken Lay? And why did Arnold attend a meeting with Ken Lay soon after the people of California had endured a third round of unnecessary rolling blackouts?
2. Why, if he wants to be the People's Governor, has he chosen Pete Wilson, the grand old man of energy deregulation, which set the stage for the whole budget debacle, to run his campaign?
3. And why fill out his campaign staff with advisors like Marty Wilson, who, during the energy crisis, worked as a spin doctor for Reliant Energy -- one of the companies federal regulators found had manipulated the California energy market? If you want to clean house in Sacramento, it's probably not a good idea to side with a guy who did PR for a company that gouged the people you want to lead.
By the way, Reliant has long been a major Bush campaign donor -- and even used its corporate jet to fly Bush's lawyers down to Florida to help them steal the 2000 election.
The question now is, will any of you ask Arnold these questions? And if so, will he ever answer?
###
Yes, definitely a blonde...Arriannnna thinks she's running against President Bush!
Arianna Huffington faults all California's woe's on Bush --she should be stumping for Davis not running herself!
Not one idea of her own & how she would help CA!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.