You are welcome. By the way, you also presuppose that Bush was aware of the sum, over time, of campaign contributions from that source; that he knew that Lay had given less to the Democrats (it is not unusual for these people to give the same amount to each candidate as a hedge); and that the upper hand is with the donor.
First, a little over $600,000 dollars is not much in the total scheme of things, especially distributed over a few campaigns--- the Presidential campaign probably expended 60 times that or more. Second, as I said, many of these people hedge, and Lay was no exception. He may have given more to Bush, but he spread it around. Third, Bush, whether as governor or President, had much more power to destroy Enron than Enron had to torpedo his administrations. Fourth, Enron's competitors were also seeking access through contributions. All in all, Enron felt lucky to get a hearing.
To put things in perspective, remember what Everett Dirksen said:"A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you are talking about real money." |
