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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (2119)	1/17/2002 12:50:18 PM
From: rich4eagle	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15516

You never hear Bush talking about having a Salmon dinner

To: Mephisto who wrote (2119)	1/17/2002 6:54:33 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

jacksonville.com. THe Bush's must think they can get away with anything,,,,,,,,,or they think that the majority of Americans are stupid and gullible. Thursday, January 17, 2002 Story last updated at 05:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 17, 2002 Former president of Enron to host fund-raiser for Gov. Bush The Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. - A former Enron president will host a fund-raiser for Gov. Jeb Bush Thursday in Houston. Bush will attend the $500 a person reception at Richard Kinder's home. Kinder left Enron in 1996 and formed Kinder Morgan, an $18 billion energy company. Some democratic leaders questioned Bush's decision. "The people who have lost their life savings have to be wondering about his judgment," state Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe said. "I just can't believe with everything that has been going on about Enron they would do that." But Karen Unger, Bush' campaign chief, said they saw no problems with holding the event at Kinder's home. "His ties with the company have been severed for years, and he has absolutely nothing to do with the company's current situation," Unger told the Orlando Sentinel for Friday editions. Enron, formerly the world's largest energy trader, filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2. The company announced it was the focus of a formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 31. The Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation of Enron. They will be looking into possible fraud based on the company's heavy reliance on off-balance-sheet partnerships that masked the company's financial problems before its collapse last fall. Kinder and his wife, Nancy, are strong Republican fund-raisers. They gave the maximum - $500 each - to the Florida governor's last campaign, according to state campaign funding records. They have also given more than $400,000 to President Bush and Republican Party accounts, according to the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice. Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. jacksonville.com. Thursday, January 17, 2002 Story last updated at 05:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 17, 2002 Former president of Enron to host fund-raiser for Gov. Bush The Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. - A former Enron president will host a fund-raiser for Gov. Jeb Bush Thursday in Houston. Bush will attend the $500 a person reception at Richard Kinder's home. Kinder left Enron in 1996 and formed Kinder Morgan, an $18 billion energy company. Some democratic leaders questioned Bush's decision. "The people who have lost their life savings have to be wondering about his judgment," state Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe said. "I just can't believe with everything that has been going on about Enron they would do that." But Karen Unger, Bush' campaign chief, said they saw no problems with holding the event at Kinder's home. "His ties with the company have been severed for years, and he has absolutely nothing to do with the company's current situation," Unger told the Orlando Sentinel for Friday editions. Enron, formerly the world's largest energy trader, filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2. The company announced it was the focus of a formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 31. The Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation of Enron. They will be looking into possible fraud based on the company's heavy reliance on off-balance-sheet partnerships that masked the company's financial problems before its collapse last fall. Kinder and his wife, Nancy, are strong Republican fund-raisers. They gave the maximum - $500 each - to the Florida governor's last campaign, according to state campaign funding records. They have also given more than $400,000 to President Bush and Republican Party accounts, according to the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice. Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

To: Mephisto who wrote (2119)	1/17/2002 9:51:35 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 15516

A White House under wraps Published January 17, 2002 For all his success during his first year in office, President Bush has shown an unfortunate obsession with secrets. National security concerns were good reason to keep some government information under wraps in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and this page supported him on those counts. But the Bush administration has been clamping down on other information for reasons that appear to have more to do with politics and paranoia than with reasonable discretion. In the last few months: - Vice President Dick Cheney has refused to disclose Enron Corp.'s role in a task force that developed Bush's energy policy, a short-sighted decision that threatens only to keep the administration mired in the scandal surrounding the Houston company as long as he remains quiet. - Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft issued a directive to federal agencies that gives them far more leeway to deny public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act, a crucial tool for citizens, journalists and watchdog groups who keep tabs on the government. - Bush rejected congressional subpoenas for prosecution documents about a mob corruption case in Boston and a fundraising investigation during the Clinton presidency. In invoking executive privilege, the president explained that releasing the documents would allow Congress to second-guess federal prosecutors and would be "contrary to the national interest." But Bush's actions infuriated Congressmen on both sides of the aisle. "This is not a monarchy," said Republican Rep. Dan Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. - Bush signed an executive order that gives him and former presidents unprecedented powers to keep presidential papers secret. The order undermines a Watergate-era reform that made White House papers public property. - Instead of sending his gubernatorial papers to the state archives or a state university, as most governors do, Bush instead sent his papers from his five years as Texas governor to his father's George Bush Presidential Library. That private museum is not subject to the state's public records laws. President Bush isn't the first politician to withhold information from the public on dubious grounds. Here in Chicago, City Hall routinely sits on requests for public information that might lead to unflattering news stories. Local school boards are infamous for ironing out their differences in executive session so they can present a harmonious front to the public. But Bush's policies have even more far-reaching impact, closing the door to journalists and members of Congress who seek information on the workings of the executive branch, and thwarting historians' efforts to write accurate portrayals of past presidents. Bush's penchant for secrets shows a troubling disregard for accountability in government, a bedrock principle of this democracy. "It's kind of a contempt or disrespect for the concept of public access," said Michael Tankersley, an attorney for Washington-based Public Citizen, an organization that advocates for open government. "It's just the concept that we are the officials in charge of the federal government and you should trust us and we shouldn't be held accountable." The late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, "Sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants." The Bush administration should open the curtains at the White House. chicagotribune.com