Enron Fuels Fund Ban Demonstrates ills, soft-money foes say
By KENNETH R. BAZINET
New York Daily News
Daily News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
After handing out millions to politicians,
Enron has emerged as the poster child for
campaign finance reformers who predicted
yesterday that the case will lead to passage of a
ban on soft money.
"Enron is a textbook study of
money's influence in
Washington. It's compelling
evidence why we need
campaign finance reform,"
said Rep. Martin Meehan
(D-Mass.), co-sponsor, with
Rep. Christopher Shays
(R-Conn.), of the House bill
that would ban soft money.
Enron and its execs gave $5.8 million to
politicians - 73% to Republicans and 27% to
Democrats - in the past decade, according to the
Center for Responsive Politics.
But it's the down-and-out Enron employees who
may force Congress to finally ban soft money.
The rapid nosedive of the stock's price - paired
with a 10-day freeze last fall that barred transfers
of the stock from their 401(k) accounts while the
plan changed administrators - left many
employees with cracked nest eggs.
Execs Got Out Early
Reformers want to know why low-level and
midlevel Enron workers weren't protected while
execs got bonuses. Many of the same executives
sold huge chunks of their company stock before
Lay told the world his company was in trouble.
"Enron should give us the push to seal the deal,"
Jeff Cronin, spokesman for the reform group
Common Cause. "The Enron workers are victims
who have human faces - and there's thousands
of them."
Even before Enron's questionable business
practices surfaced, reformers needed only a
handful of signatures more to force a vote on their
bill when the House reconvenes later this month.
The Senate has already passed a soft money ban,
but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to do his
part to win final passage.
"I hope it gives some impetus to get three more
signatures ... so we can get campaign finance
reform up and passed in the House," McCain told
CNN.
nydailynews.com |
