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

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (2255)	1/23/2002 5:01:55 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Respond to of 15516

Dear friend of MoveOn, The full story is finally coming out. Enron gamed the energy markets, brought California to its knees, invaded our political system, and stole from its own employees and stockholders. These same "corporate leaders" have been intimately involved in policymaking in the Bush administration, but the White House has refused to release information about who and how. To send an instant email to the administration and Congress demanding a full accounting of Enron's influence, go to: moveon.org Enron is not a tale of accounting errors. It is a story of the powerful few buying their way into the Texas governor's mansion and the White House and using their access for their sole advantage at the expense of employees, stockholders, consumers and taxpayers. This is a tale of corporate greed and corruption aided and abetted by "public servants." Vice President Cheney and the White House are still refusing to release any information about the meetings they held, who they met with, and how they developed their proposals. They claim they have nothing to hide. But why then did they say that they never met with Enron, only later to admit that Cheney met with Enron CEO Lay once and his staff met with Enron executives six times? The White House and Enron have a great deal of explaining to do, and we need to be sure that happens. Join our "Level With Us" campaign at: moveon.org The White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, told reporters, "I really think the public does not share the judgment that there is somehow some political malfeasance here." (NY Times 1/18/02, Congress Rebuffed on Energy Documents). They must think we're fools. Thanks for your help. -Wes Boyd MoveOn.org January 23, 2002 PS: Our website includes links to several good articles that document the extent of the White House - Enron connections. Here are some key facts: * Enron has been President Bush's #1 financial backer over his career: Enron and affiliates gave more than $110,000 to the Bush/Cheney election campaign, and $300,000 to the Bush/Cheney inaugural fund. * Enron and its executives spent more than $2.4 million supporting various candidates and parties in the 1999-2000 elections. The vast majority of these contributions went to Republican candidates and the GOP (see our website for sources). * Marc Racicot, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, planned to continue drawing a seven-figure salary partly as an Enron lobbyist. He now says he won't lobby but he will still receive that salary from his law firm. * Enron participated in secret meetings of the Cheney task force which crafted a national energy strategy and the White House has refused to turn over records of these meetings. * That energy plan includes tens of billions in taxpayer subsidies to the energy industry. It would also open the Arctic to oil drilling, but not substantially increase car mileage or energy efficiency. The House has approved it; Bush is pushing the Senate to do the same. * Last summer, Enron and other companies manipulated the California energy market, costing taxpayers and consumers billions. Enron was a key player in lobbying for the California deregulation plan. * Enron stands to gain $254 million in rebates of back taxes under the "stimulus" bill President Bush supports. The House has already passed it, and Bush is now leaning hard on the Senate to follow suit. * Senior Enron executives allegedly made millions selling their stock at high prices, collectively walking off with $1.1 BILLION, yet prevented rank-and-file workers from selling theirs, causing many employees to lose their life savings. * America's top law enforcement official, Attorney General John Ashcroft, has recused himself from investigating Enron because of his own connections to the bankrupt company. Here's a good summary by Richard Cohen in the Washington Post (Jan 15): "The fact remains that these guys -- these pals of Bush and Cheney and others in the administration -- made money off a shell game. They sold stock backed by smoke. They cashed out, but when their employees tried doing the same thing, they blocked them. The stock went from $85 a share to 68 cents and the employees lost everything -- their savings, their pensions, their dreams of a comfy retirement with maybe a little boat on the lake. The big shots got the boat. Their employees got the lake. They can go jump in it." Join our call for accountability at: moveon.org Thank you.