"I have no idea what the Secretary of the Army makes, but I don't care."
"...we all ought to know who is showing support and by how much."
Well, here's some disclosure: Thomas E. White, currently Secty of Army, and ex-vice-chairman of Enron Energy Services cashed in $12 million in Enron stock before it crashed. No word on how much he made before that.
washingtonpost.com
"He was Powell's "alter ego," said Harlan Ullman, a retired naval officer and friend of both. "It is a job that requires tremendous political sophistication... Then one day in 1990, White got a very attractive offer from Enron. It was a seven-figure package, a friend said."
"Tyson Slocum, research director at Public Citizen, said the mere fact that White held at least $25 million in Enron stock at the time he took the Army appointment posed a "huge" conflict of interest. "The military uses 70 percent of the federal government's electricity," he said. "That would represent a $2 billion windfall, if private companies were to get into that market."
The coup de gras:
"former manager, Margaret Ceconi, sent Enron board members a memo in August alleging that more than $500 million in losses were being hidden in the firm's massive Wholesale Services Group. She alleged the transactions made EES look more profitable to investors"
Apparently, either White was incompetent to run things and was selected for improper access to military contracts, or he knew what was going on. Either way it doesn't look good for anybody. |
