"The Key Is Cash
Sally Ison didn't realize the presidential race
had begun until April 1999, when a letter arrived
bearing the signature of Enron Corp.
Chairman Kenneth L. Lay.
The letter asked for contributions
to the Bush campaign and included what
she recalls as a menacing reference
to her husband Jerry's compensation
as a highly paid vice president.
"We didn't even know if we liked this guy,"
she said of Bush. "I didn't know if I was
going to vote Republican."
Yet there was no debate. Nearing 50, Jerry Ison
felt vulnerable in Enron's crushingly competitive culture.
The Isons gave $2,000.
More than 100 other Enron executives,
and many spouses, also gave "hard money"
contributions to Bush, much of it during the campaign's
critical early money phase. Some acknowledged in
interviews that they gave solely because they got Lay's
pointed letter.
An Enron spokesman said there was nothing
unethical in the solicitations. Fred Wertheimer,
head of a nonpartisan watchdog group,
Democracy 21, disagreed, saying such a
pitch left workers and their spouses little choice.
"It is symbolic of the incredibly aggressive approach
that Enron and Ken Lay took to playing the political
money game -- and to building
influence," Wertheimer said. "It is wrong.
You are crossing the line from voluntary contributions to implicit coercion."
The contributions helped Lay fulfill his commitment
as a Bush "Pioneer," the campaign's term for its top
rainmakers. Bush collected nearly
$114,000 in individual and political action
committee contributions from Enron in 1999-2000,
according to an analysis by the nonpartisan
Center for Responsive Politics.
At Enron, senior managers understood that
"donations mean access," acknowledged one
former Enron executive who contributed to Bush.
Said another: "Everybody knows that's what
you make contributions for."
Lay had cultivated access since founding the company
in 1985. He was a top fundraiser
for President George H.W. Bush and chairman of the
Houston host committee for the GOP convention
where Bush was nominated for reelection. "
Above excerpt from article, Hard Money,
Strong Arms And 'Matrix'
How Enron Dealt With Congress, Bureaucracy
By Joe Stephens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 10, 2002; Page A01 |
