SEEKING LAY'S BLESSING
Following is an excerpt from the article by David Lazarus, Chronicle Staff Writer,
Sunday, March 4, 2001
"Thus, as the [California] governor pushes ahead with a scheme to purchase the transmission
lines of California's cash-strapped utilities, he
didn't hesitate to call recently seeking Lay's personal blessing for the plan.
This must have been a sweet moment for the man who just weeks earlier had been castigated
by Davis in the governor's State of the State speech.
"I told him we couldn't support it," Lay said, a hint of a smile playing across his lips.
"It will lead to an even less efficient transmission grid and, longer term, it could make
things worse."
Why would Davis swallow his pride and court favor with Enron's big cheese? Simple:
Davis will need the Bush administration's backing to make the power- line sale fly,
and, many believe, there's no faster way to reach the new president than via the Houston
office of his leading corporate patron.
Lay, 58, and his company have donated more than $500,000 to Bush's various political campaigns in recent years, and he placed Enron's private jet at Bush's disposal during the presidential race.
So great is Lay's influence with the president that some insist he is now serving effectively as shadow energy secretary, shaping U.S. energy policy as he sees fit.
"There's a long history of Enron pulling the levers of its political relationships to get what it wants," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, a watchdog group. "What Ken Lay thinks energy policy should be isn't very different from what George Bush and Dick Cheney think it should be."
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We know that what counts with Bush and Cheney are political contributions. I suppose you have noticed the
big bucks both Cheney and W have been raking in for the Republican party.
I read W goes after contributions from the drug industry. I'm not surprised he is into drugs! (LOL) |
