Posted on 01/10/2002 1:30:35 PM PST by Liz
WASHINGTON - "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall." SNIP---
Enron had the best brains that money could buy, but gave the word "ethics" a whole new meaning. The cowboys of Dumpty Enron talked up a storm about ethics; but only a few at the top realized that "ethics" was an acronym for "Enron thinks how income can (be) stolen."
That's a stretch; but look at their 1994 sales team - Clinton, Gore and the late Ron Brown - a trio unlimited and uncontrolled in their cunning and greed.
In what seems to be eons ago, before Gov. Bill Clinton became president, the late, much loved and little lamented Ron Brown was Clinton's good friend and a power broker in the National Democratic Party. Ron Brown had a friend, a congressman from Houston, the late Mickey Leland, who died in 1989. Until his passing, Leland was a shining light in the Congressional Black Caucus and a dedicated socialist, who was one of the Institute for Policy Studies' delights.
From 1984, when Enron was conceived, Brown and Leland were there snapping up unconsidered trifles of money for use in their campaigns against the free market. Mickey was able to ease a lot of Enron's early problems through the Houston City Council by playing his "equal opportunity card." He had also become an African expert who initially took the Enron message to that continent, a chore that was taken on by Ron Brown, Clinton's secretary of commerce, before the latter met his untimely death in a highly controversial plane crash in Croatia. (Untimely, because had Secretary Brown lived, he would have faced multiple criminal indictments that could have precipitated an even earlier fall for Bill Clinton and his gang.)
Now we get to that old puzzle about chickens and eggs, and what came first! Ron Brown, Al Gore and Bill Clinton introduced Enron to market managers in Russia, China, Indonesia and India. In India, Enron quickly became involved in one of that country's most massive corruption investigations, contracts were canceled and Enron was out.
On the other hand, Enron introduced the Clinton team to Lippo Industries and thence to China's People's Liberation Army (a wonderful source of political cash), to John Huang, another good provider and to nameless, numberless Arabs who never arrived with empty pockets. If we look at a list of those attending coffee klatches at the White House, we can learn why a storm of doubtful deals enabled Enron to quickly control one-quarter of the world's electricity and natural gas. But, that wasn't enough. The ever-so-greedy Dumpty moved in to water deals in Massachusetts and Europe, paper mills in Canada, gas pipe lines throughout the world, fiber optics, television, mutual funds and information gathering. In turn, that led to risk analysis, a name that those clever Texans quickly changed to "reward realization!"
The rewards were good! Enron, with sales assistance from Tony Lake, then Clinton's national security adviser, persuaded the impoverished, war-torn country of Mozambique to sign a $770 million electric power contract. Mozambique signed because Tony's salesmanship was persuasive. If the Mozambicans didn't sign, he indicated that their congressionally approved $44 million U.S. aid payment would never be made.
And there was the Croatian caper. In the days when Franjo Tudjman was Croatia's dictator and pretending to be both a reformed communist and best friend of America in the Balkans, poor Franjo had a problem. He and some of his very best friends were wanted as war criminals by the Hague's International Court of Justice. Enron wanted a power contract with Croatia. Enron offered a deal to Tudjman. Sign up with us and we will use our gang in Washington to make sure you and your friends don't go to jail.
Tudjman signed. Enron made a heap of money. Nobody went to jail. Everyone was happy - until Tudjman died of cancer. Then the lid was off, his Croatian Democratic Union was defeated and the new boys in power in Zagreb could not believe how much of their budget went to pay the electricity bills from Enron.
Somebody - probably another Dr. Spock child eager to tell on his peers - prattled! Under quiet pressure from the Croats, another deal was made and a couple of guys were charged as war criminals. Electricity costs went down (but not to the consumers) and as a part of the deal nobody talked, except about the wonderful vacations that they were enjoying in the Caribbean.
This could be called a "cautionary tale." There are two cautions. The first: Beware of the Spock babies now that they are nearing retirement and losing whatever sense they had. The second: Investigators all, beware, as you look into the depths and shallows of Enron you may, if you are truly unlucky, find the truth. And, if you do, these truths won't make you free, just well informed.
"Dateline D.C." is written by a Washington, D.C.-based British journalist and political observer.
Time for some deep diving like we did with Clintoon and Co.
If only Congress and Justice had the cajones to pursue this as deeply.
Glad you checked it out....we're all a little wiser now.....
Send it to all the radio and TV hosts as well !
.....a thin veneer of ice covering a massive crime....and Clintoon is skating atop it.....
Enron Corporation
Kenneth Lay, chairman and chief executive officer of the Enron Corporation, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to India in January, 1995. 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.
Uh oh, Infiniti and MurryMom. Bad news. Looks like Daschle and the rest of the Dems are going to need BOTH of you to defend Clinton on this. He is going to need all the help you two can muster!!
Now go sic these FR conservatives and prove to them that Clinton is just a little angel!!
Defense Department sources said there were 27 passengers, plus crew, on Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's ill-fated aircraft.
Here, according to the Associated Press, is a list of the executives who had been planning to accompany Brown on his visit to Bosnia and Croatia, and their status, if known.
NOT ON BROWN'S PLANE, COMPANIES SAY:
CANCELED TRIP AT LAST MOMENT:
STATUS UNKNOWN:
CREW MEMBERS:
Plug into this. A-Z list of Brown's adventures.
Information Resources Page
Tripping With the Secretary: Ron Brown's Foreign Trade Missions
With BC-Bush-Enron, Bjt
The Associated Press
Published: Jan 10, 2002A chronology of Enron Corp.:
July 1985 - Houston Natural Gas merges with InterNorth, a natural gas company based in Omaha, Neb., to form the modern-day Enron, an interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline company with 37,000 miles of pipe.
1989 - Enron begins trading natural gas commodities. Over the years, the company becomes the largest natural gas merchant in North America and the United Kingdom.
December 2000 - Enron announces that president and chief operating officer Jeffrey Skilling will take over as chief executive in February. Kenneth Lay will remain as chairman. Shares hit 52-week high of $84.87 on Dec. 28.
August 2001 - Skilling resigns after running the company for just six months; Lay becomes CEO again.
Oct. 15 - Lay talks to Commerce Secretary Don Evans while Evans is in Russia leading a trade mission. Commerce officials say the call dealt with an Enron energy project in India and did not cover Enron's financial troubles.
Oct. 16 - Enron reports a $638 million third-quarter loss and discloses a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity, partly related to partnerships run by chief financial officer Andrew Fastow.
Oct. 22 - Enron acknowledges Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into a possible conflict of interest related to the company's dealings with the partnerships.
Oct. 24 - Enron ousts Fastow.
Oct. 28 - Lay talks by telephone with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill to inform O'Neill of the financial problems facing the company, according to O'Neill spokeswoman Michele Davis. Davis said the two also talked on Nov. 8. She said Treasury officials could detect no ripple effects in financial markets from Enron's troubles and O'Neill did nothing to help the company.
Oct. 29 - Lay talks by telephone with Evans. A Commerce spokesman says Lay asked Evans if he could do anything to influence a decision by Moody's Investors Service to downgrade Enron's credit rating. Evans, after talking to the general counsel at the Commerce Department, determines it would not be appropriate to intervene in a decision by a private credit rating agency, according to Commerce spokesman Jim Dyke.
Oct. 31 - Enron announces the SEC inquiry has been upgraded to a formal investigation.
Nov. 8 - Enron files documents with SEC revising its financial statements for past five years to account for $586 million in losses.
Nov. 9 - Dynegy Inc. announces an agreement to buy its much larger rival Enron for more than $8 billion in stock.
Nov. 19 - Enron restates its third-quarter earnings and discloses it is trying to restructure a $690 million obligation that could come due Nov. 27.
Nov. 20 - Concerns about Enron's ability to weather its spiraling financial problems send the company's stock down nearly 23 percent to its lowest level in nearly 10 years.
Nov. 21 - Enron reaches agreement to extend $690 million debt payment.
Nov. 26 - Enron shares fall 15 percent, to $4.01.
Nov. 28 - Dynegy backs out of deal after Enron's credit rating is downgraded to junk bond status. Enron shares plunge below $1 amid the heaviest single-day trading volume ever for a NYSE or Nasdaq-listed stock.
Dec. 2 - Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; sues Dynegy for wrongful termination of merger.
Jan. 9, 2002 - Justice Department confirms it has begun a criminal investigation of Enron.
Jan. 10 - The White House discloses Lay sought the administration's help shortly before the company collapsed. The company's auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP, says it has destroyed some Enron documents. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who received campaign funds from the company for his 2000 Senate race, recuses himself from the investigation.
AP-ES-01-10-02 1758EST
Between 1989 and December 2000, nothing noteworthy happened at Enron.
Go for it, Liz! Keep this near the top; post it daily if need be. This is good fodder for whatever Freeper Rapid Response Special Forces who frequently call national or local radio talkshows.
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