vision2020
Enron and the Democrats -more-
Clinton Enron Nexus
Clinton Administration Procured Credit for Enron, Used CIA as
Resource for Enron
Lay acted as a political ally for Clinton, collaborating with him to try
and pass Fast Track (they failed) and on implementation of the Kyoto
Protocol. Lay turns out to be an old friend of close Clinton aid Mack McClarty.
The Clinton Commerce Department under Ron Brown accompanied Enron officials on
various overseas junkets and trade missions. The Commerce Department was an
active partner with Enron in acquiring overseas contracts for Enron, in India
and China for example. The Clinton administration was instrumental in lining
up credit for Enron in these deals and used CIA resources to assess project
risk and analyze the strategies of Enron's competitors.
Maybe the media doesn't want to discuss Enron and Bush (because their isn'nt
much there) because it first would have to explain Enron and Clinton.
August 1993. New President Bill Clinton takes his first vacation, a ski weekend
to Vail, Colorado.
Who shows up to visit with Clinton? Ken Lay, Enron CEO.
The Houston Chronicle
August 16, 1993, Monday, 2 STAR Edition SECTION: A; Pg. 5
HEADLINE: Clinton takes real vacation
BYLINE: GREG McDONALD; Staff
DATELINE: VAIL, Colorado
(excerpt)
A tired-looking Clinton, off on his first real vacation since becoming president,
seemed reluctant Saturday morning to admit to reporters that he was having a
good time. He kept mumbling stuff about health care being the next big ticket
item on his domestic agenda. But by evening, he'd had such a good time on the
local links with Ford, golf legend Jack Nicklaus and Houston's own Ken
Lay, chairman of the Enron Corp. and one of George Bush's best pals, that
he decided to stay over until today. Clinton, his face sunburned but beaming,
told reporters that he and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and 13-year-old
daughter Chelsea were having too good a time to leave Sunday as planned.
1994 - 1995 Clinton Administration "makes a sale" for Enron. Enron and the
administration work together to win Enron the contract for a power plant in India.
Clinton uses resources from the CIA to assess risk and analyze the strategy of Enron's
British competitor. The administration is instrumental in procuring $400 million in
financing
from the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation.
The New York Times
February 19, 1995, Sunday, Late Edition - Final SECTION: Section 3; Page
1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk
HEADLINE: How Washington Inc. Makes a Sale
BYLINE: By DAVID E. SANGER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
(excerpt)
For 18 months, the Indian power-plant deal has floated near the top of the list
of 100 or so big infrastructure projects around the world that the United States
Government desperately wants American firms to win. It is the first of eight big
power generation projects in India, and if the American consortium could
close this one, it would create a precedent likely to give other American
companies an advantage in billions of dollars of follow-on deals. In years past,
American officials would have offered some modest help, but only as a
sideshow to bigger foreign policy concerns, from containing Communist
influence in South Asia to keeping India and Pakistan from accelerating their
nuclear arms race. But that was another era in American foreign policy, before
the Commerce Department built what Jeffrey E. Garten, the undersecretary of
commerce for international trade, calls "our economic war room."
From that Washington war room, the negotiators for the Enron Corporation,
the lead bidder in the American consortium, have been shadowed and assisted
by a startling array of Government agencies. In a carefully-planned assault, the
State and Energy Departments pressed the firms' case. The American
ambassador to India, Frank G. Wisner, constantly cajoled Indian officials. The
Secretary of Energy, Hazel O'Leary, brought in delegations of other executives
-- including some last week -- to make the point that more American
investment is in the wings if the conditions are right.
To sweeten the pot, the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation put together $400 million in
financing. And working just behind the scenes, as it often does these days, was
the Central Intelligence Agency, assessing the risks of the project and scoping
out the the competitive strategies of Britain and other countries that want a big
chunk of the Indian market.
The big push by Washington Inc. paid off last month when the Indian
government awarded the power plant project to the American consortium.
October 1995. Bill Clinton recruits Ken Lay to act as a point man for Clinton in
drumming up support for Fast Track legislation. Lay just happens to be an old friend of
Mack McClarty.
Journal of Commerce
October 10, 1995, Tuesday SECTION: FOREIGN TRADE, Pg. 3A
HEADLINE: OUTSIDERS CALLED IN TO END LOGJAM ON TRADE
AUTHORITY
BYLINE: JOHN MAGGS; Journal of Commerce Staff
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
(excerpt)
Two distinguished political doctors have been brought in to try to revive a
nearly dead bill allowing President Clinton to secure new trade agreements
with other nations.
Bill Frenzel, a former Republican member of the House Ways and Means
Committee, and Ken Lay, chief executive of natural-gas giant Enron Corp.,
have been called in to break a year-long impasse that has blocked meaningful
progress on trade pacts with Chile, the rest of Latin America, and the Pacific
im.
Both men are well known to one player in that dispute - Ways and Means
Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, whose district includes Enron's headquarters
in Houston. The two also have connections to the Clinton administration. Mr.
Frenzel served as a special adviser to Mr. Clinton to lobby his former
colleagues on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mr Lay has been a
friend of Clinton adviser Thomas "Mac" McLarty since Mr. McLarty's time as
head of Arkansas' largest natural-gas utility.
August 1997 Clinton hosts Ken Lay at White House to discuss upcoming meeting in
Kyoto, Japan concerning greenhouse gas.
The Houston Chronicle
August 6, 1997, Wednesday, 3 STAR Edition SECTION: BUSINESS;
Business Digest; Pg. 1
HEADLINE: BRIEFCASE; White House warms to BP exec
BYLINE: Staff
(full text)
The Clinton administration, when calling business leaders to the White House
to discuss what the United States' bargaining position on global warming
should be at upcoming negotiations in Kyoto, Japan, chose John Browne of
British Petroleum to represent the oil industry. But Browne is British, head of a
London-based company. And Britain's new Labor government has blasted the
United States for failing to go far enough to reduce greenhouse gases. So why
was a Brit asked to participate? Browne has broken ranks with other oil
executives to concede a buildup of carbon dioxide gases may be changing the
Earth's climate. BP also happens to be the United States' largest crude oil
producer with 13,000 employees in this country, company officials pointed
out. Enron Corp.Chief Executive Ken Lay, who also was at the Monday
meeting, said Clinton sounded Browne out on his opinions of the policies being
pushed by the Europeans. Nobody seemed to worry the United States was
tipping its hand. ""This is kind of early in the process,'' Lay said.
October 2000 Near end of Clinton's Presidency, but prior to the November election, a
Clinton Assistant Treasury Secretary takes a position at Enron as vice president for
federal
government affairs. Observers call it a slap in the face to George Bush.
The Washington Post
October 12, 2000, Thursday, Final Edition SECTION: A SECTION; Pg.
A23; SPECIAL INTERESTS
HEADLINE: Enron Hire Faces Some Partisan Fire
BYLINE: Judy Sarasohn
(excerpt)
Enron announced yesterday that Linda Robertson, assistant Treasury secretary
for legislative affairs and public liaison, will join the Houston energy company
in early November as vice president for federal government affairs. She will
replace Joe Hillings, who earlier announced his retirement.
Ken Lay, chairman and chief executive of Enron, has given more than $
290,000 of his own money to the Republican Party this year to help elect
Bush, his longtime friend, president. But that didn't insulate Enron from
criticism in some Republican quarters on Capitol Hill. "Enron has just slapped
George W. Bush across the face. It just makes little sense," a GOP leadership
aide said yesterday.
--- Ted Moffett <ted_moffett@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Carl et. al.
>
> I must agree with Carl that absent the fallout from 9/11, and assuming
> nothing similar happened before the election of Nov. 5 2002, it would be
> highly probable that we would have seen significant Democratic Party gains
> on Nov. 5. The Republican strategy laid out months ago by chief Republican
> strategist Carl Rove was to exploit the war issue to the max regarding the
> public perception that Republicans were more viewed as tough on terror than
> the Democrats.
>
> Remember Bush's approval ratings prior to 9/11?
>
> The current state of the economy (one of the largest devaluations of the
> stock market in history) coupled with the Bush administration's ties to
> corporate corruption and their continuing secrecy regarding this corruption
> (Cheney's refusal to provide info about the energy task force which included
> Enron) should have led to major Democratic Party gains.
>
> Imagine if Bill Clinton had had the same ties to Enron that George Bush had
> in Texas while governor, and that Gore as Vice President was hiding info
> about his meetings with Enron executives. Clinton and Gore would have been
> crucified in the media, whether or not they had anything to do with Enron's
> corruption.
>
> And they say we have a "liberal" media! Then why the apparent free pass for
> Bush in the media on the Enron connection?
>
> Ted
>
> >From: "Carl Westberg" <carlwestberg846@hotmail.com>
> >To: eevans@moscow.com, thansen@moscow.com, vision2020@moscow.com
> >Subject: Re: On losing the election
> >Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2002 07:49:41 -0800
> >
> >Do the voters really want one party rule? It may be insensitive to say
> >this, but George Bush had an unprecedented advantage in this mid-term
> >election that no incumbent has had before and hopefully will never have
> >again. September 11th. To his credit, he managed to persuade the voters
> >that only the Republicans really care about the events of that day, and
> >only the Republicans have the intestinal fortitude to deal with terrorists,
> >and by God, we'll start with Iraq. Not whining either, although I'm no
> >George W. fan, just my own amateur political analysis, perhaps somewhat
> >shaded by my darn liberal bent.
> >
> > Carl Westberg Jr.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>From: eevans@moscow.com
> >>To: thansen@moscow.com, eevans@moscow.com, vision2020@moscow.com
> >>Subject: Re: On losing the election
> >>Date: Fri, 8 Nov 2002 15:50:59 GMT
> >>
> >> > Yes. It is the expressed (at the polls) will of the people.
> >>Good point. I should have qualified that it is was the will of the voters.
> >>
> >> >One neat thing
> >> > about Democracy is that you don't have to approve of final outcomes
> >>simply
> >> > because it is the choice of the people.
> >> >
> >> > And, before you go there, I am NOT whining about the Republican
> >>outcome. As
> >>I
> >> > had said in my earlier letter; total control by one party is WRONG. As
> >>the
> >> > saying goes, "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
> >>
> >>How can you say it is wrong? America WANTS total control by a single
> >>party. One
> >>thing I've observed in this forum is that folks are of the opinion that
> >>the
> >>only concrete rules for right and wrong are written by the will of the
> >>people
> >>through the government. Do you disagree?
> >>
> >>Cheers,
> >>-Ed Evans
> >>
> >> >
> >> > Never have been a lemming, never will be one,
> >> >
> >> > Tom Hansen
> >> > Moscow
> >> >
> >> > > I'm going to play devil's (erm, or is that Republican's) advocate
> >>here.
> >> > >
> >> > > Did democracy suddenly fail to work in this election? Is the current
> >> > > government's configuration somehow _not_ the embodiment of the will
> >>of the
> >> > > people?
> >> > >
> >> > > Not a Republican,
> >> > > -Ed Evans
> >> > >
> >> > > > I have to agree with Tom Hansen on this one. It's like the federal
> >> > > > government is about to copy the Idaho model. We all know how well
> >>that's
> >> > > >
> >> > worked.
> >> > > >
> >>Carl
> >> > > > Westberg Jr.
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > > >From: thansen@moscow.com
> >> > > > >To: njc@moscow.com, Priscilla Salant <psalant@moscow.com>,
> >> > > > >vision2020@moscow.com
> >> > > > >Subject: Re: On losing the election
> >> > > > >Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2002 19:13:06 GMT
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >Greetings Visionaires -
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >This is the first time since Eisenhower that something like this
> >>has
> >> > > > >happened.
> >> > > > >And, to tell you the truth, it scares me.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >A political party has control over all three branches of
> >>government. The
> >> > > > >Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate, a sizable majority
> >>in the
> >> > > > >House, and a very conservative Supreme Court. This situation
> >>gives the
> >> > > > >leader
> >> > > > >of the Executive Branch (George W.) virtually absolute control of
> >>the
> >> > > > >government for the next two years.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >Being to the left of center, I would still feel this way even if
> >>the
> >> > > > >Democrats
> >> > > > >had such control. I feel that it is simply wrong.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >Hoping for a brighter tomorrow,
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > >Tom Hansen
> >> > > > >Moscow
> >> > > > >
> >><snip>
> >>
> >>---------------------------------------------
> >>This message was sent by First Step Internet.
> >> http://www.fsr.net/
> >
> >
> >_________________________________________________________________
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