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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rich4eagle who wrote (222649)	1/27/2002 10:32:18 PM
From: Mr. Palau	Respond to of 769670

Armey's Son Sees the Benefits of Access By John Bresnahan When running for Congress for the first time and facing a slew of opponents, it's a major bonus if your dad just happens to be the House Majority Leader. Just ask Scott Armey, a candidate in the GOPprimary in Texas' 26th district. That seat became open when Majority Leader Dick Armey (R), his father, unexpectedly announced Dec. 12 that he would retire from Congress at the end of this year, bringing to a close 18 years of House service. He's running against Michael Burgess, David Gulling, Dave Kovatch, Keith Self and Roger Sessions in the 26th, a safe Republican seat, where the winner of the GOPprimary is likely to be the next Member from the suburban Dallas region. Scott Armey, 32, a county judge and county commissioner for the past nine-plus years, was in town for several days last week and found, like others before him, that having a famous name opens quite a few doors in politics. First, he received the kind of reception few candidates in a contested primary could dream of. He met with the entire House GOPleadership, including Speaker Dennis Hastert (Ill.), Majority Whip Tom DeLay (Texas), Conference Chairman J.C. Watts (Okla.), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Davis (Va.), Education and the Workforce Chairman John Boehner (Ohio), Rules Chairman David Dreier (Calif.), and Reps. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and TomReynolds (N.Y.), who are in line to become the next MajorityWhip and NRCCchairman, respectively. Then, accompanied by one of his dad's aides (who stressed that he was officially off the clock and volunteering his time) but not by the Majority Leader himself, the younger Armey made the rounds of the Washington trade associations and special-interest groups, some of which have strong ties to the GOP. The whirlwind three-day tour included stops at the National Federation of Independent Business, American TruckingAssociations, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, NationalRifle Association, NationalRight to Life Association and the Associated Builders and Contractors, to name just a few. On Thursday evening there was a fundraiser hosted by the lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates. That event, which raised roughly $25,000, was put together by Ed Gillespie, a former top Armey aide and a valuable KStreet ally for many of the most influential people in the Bush White House. Attendees included Hastert, DeLay and House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa), as well as several former high-ranking House GOPstaffers turned lobbyists, such as Kerry Knott, the director of legislative affairs for Microsoft, and Leigh Ann Pusey, senior vice president for federal affairs at the American Insurance Association. "Iwas happy to do something for Scott. He's a great guy,"said Gillespie, who has known the younger Armey since he was a teen-ager working on his father's first campaign. Gillespie called Scott Armey "very, very impressive" and noted that the candidate has built his own political base in Denton Country, a fast-growing area within the 26th. Perhaps the funniest moment of the night came when Scott Armey, after being introduced to the crowd by his father, quoted a line from a song by country singer Waylon Jennings, "All that I do or say is all I will ever be." (It must be a family tradition, as the Majority Leader has tortured his colleagues and reporters over the years by frequently using quotes from another country music star, JerryJeff Walker, to explain his stance on certain issues.) The following day, Scott Armey headed back to Texas, but not before having to wait severalhours for a flight from Reagan National Airport, establishing him as a veteran of one of the Washington political community's most widely shared traditions. The younger Armey is hardly the first offspring of a politician to attempt to follow in his parent's footsteps. There are now at least 10 House Members and one Senator whose fathers also served in Congress. In the Lone Star State this year, several sons with prominent political names have joined Scott Armey in running for office. Brad Barton, son of Rep. Joe Barton (R), is running for the GOPnomination in the newly created 31st district. Rep. Ken Bentsen (D) is running for the Senate. His uncle Lloyd Bentsen served for more than 20 years in both the House and Senate before retiring in 1993 and was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1988. But having a well-known name isn't a free pass. Former Rep. TomEwing (R-Ill.), one of Hastert's closest friends, attempted to push his son Sam into his seat when he retired during the last cycle. That gambit failed, and Rep. Tim Johnson (R)was elected instead. Hastert and Ewing, whose relationship suffered after the Speaker endorsed somebody else, have since patched things up, according to both men. Scott Armey admitted that being an Armey works to his benefit, but emphasized that he will still have to persuade voters to support him on his own merits. "People recognize the name, but every person we went to wanted to know who am I, what's my background, what's my record,"he said, adding that he doesn't believe he's received any special treatment because of his father's leadership position. "The name gives them a certain degree of comfort and association and a general idea of where I'm coming from, but this is an important office, and they demand to know more than that." The House hopeful defines himself as "proudly conservative, a fiscal conservative, social conservative" who has paid a great deal of attention to transportation issues during his time as a county official. Of his father he said,"His advice was what it has been in life - be my own person, mean what I say, say what Imean and act upon that philosophy." The elder Armey, for his part, said he saw Scott only once during this trip, when he introduced him at Thursday's fundraiser, and added that he has not done any campaigning so far on behalf of his son. "People are saying, 'You're helping your son.' My point is very simple. My son doesn't need any help. One of the things Ilearned from my dad is never help your relatives more than they need it,"said the Majority Leader. "Of course, I'm pleased with the reports I get back. People that have met with him are giving me real encouraging reports." Armey is also unapologetic about the edge his son enjoys over his primary opponents. "That's their problem isn't it?,"he said. "When you get in the race, you take what you got." rollcall.com

To: rich4eagle who wrote (222649)	1/27/2002 10:43:24 PM
From: Mr. Palau	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Enron cocktail of cash, sex and fast living (Filed: 28/01/2002) HOUSTON provided the stage for the energy giant's meteoric rise - and the crash that will reverberate for years. Philip Delves Broughton reports Enron was a company in love with itself. Office affairs were rampant, divorce among senior executives an epidemic, and stories of couples steaming up glass-walled offices after late-night meetings were the talk of Houston. "It was insane," says a former energy trader, soothing her financial injuries with a margarita. "There were no rules for people, even in our personal lives. Everything was about the company and everything was supposed to be on the edge - sex, money, all of it." But the music has suddenly stopped. Savings and pensions have been wiped out, careers destroyed and America's version of free-market capitalism dragged into the interrogation room. The reverberations of Enron's collapse will be felt for years in Washington, where the political witch-hunt is gaining pace, and on Wall Street, but nowhere more so than in Houston, the stage for Enron's gaudy act. From the mid-1980s, when Enron was created by the merger of two energy companies, Houston became its town. The company filled the void left by the oil companies, whose buccaneering days had been ended by the collapse in oil prices. In River Oaks, the smartest suburb of Houston, home to the likes of the former president, George Bush, Enron executives began building huge mansions. Jeff Skilling, the executive who transformed Enron under the more genteel rule of Ken Lay, the former chief executive, decorated his house all black and white, Enron's corporate colours, from the marble to the sofas to the flowers, wallpaper and pictures. The Enron wives became known around town for their Mercedes, fur-trimmed sweaters and leather trousers. But in the excitement, Enron lost touch with its mortality. Skilling wanted it to become an alternative to the Wall Street banks. He wanted to recruit the best, which meant persuading the leading business school graduates, from places such as Harvard and Stanford, to choose Houston over New York or Silicon Valley. He did so by creating the same culture of unself-conscious greed and reward which Wall Street was forced to suppress by the insider-trading scandals of the late 1980s. He built his own Bonfire of The Vanities in Houston and everyone wanted to feel its warmth. Managers employed a system known as "rank or yank". Every employee's performance was ranked 1-5. Five meant you were out. The bottom 15 per cent of workers were fired each year. For the best workers the incentives were staggering. Bonus day was known at the company as Car Day, because of the lines of extraordinary sports cars arriving for the most successful employees. To the outside world, Enron described itself as a family for which employees were delighted to work punishing hours. Inside it became increasingly incestuous, sexually and financially. While the accountants came up with schemes for Enron to credit itself with vast and phoney profits to look good on Wall Street, the traders and consultants, often new to Texas, found themselves immersed in the Enron culture. Only those at the top and the traders who saw the kinds of wild bets Enron was placing, on everything from oil to the weather, saw how precarious the whole thing was. They knew it was a house of cards and began pulling out as much money as they could. The best brains began demanding vast salaries to stay and, to save face, Skilling paid them. Then they asked for more. Senior executives began selling their shares in huge blocks. Everyone at the top was cashing out while those further down believed the hype. "We all thrived on the buzz," said Mark Lindquist, 39, a web designer who lost his £39,000-a-year job and is now struggling to pay for his autistic son's treatment. "It seemed like we were part of something incredible." More than two thirds of Americans now believe that the Bush administration is either hiding something or lying about its relationship with Enron, according to a CBS-New York Times poll. Although no allegations of wrongdoing have been made against the White House, the poll underlined the political damage that could be inflicted on Mr Bush by the collapse of Enron, which was a major contributor to his presidential election campaign. A post mortem examination at the weekend confirmed that Clifford Baxter, 43, whose death on Friday escalated the scandal, had shot himself with a revolver. Mr Baxter resigned as Enron vice-chairman last May after clashing with fellow executives over the company's practices. telegraph.co.uk