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Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (1544)	1/29/2002 3:37:30 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 5185

Cheney's secrets could taint presidency Documents: The vice president risks dragging Enron further through the White House door. Baltimore Sun Originally published January 29, 2002 VICE PRESIDENT Dick Cheney isn't doing his boss any favors these days. But he's certainly raising the volume on questions about who he has done favors for. Even before the spectacular collapse of Enron Corporation and the allegations of scandal that followed, the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, was looking into whether corporate campaign contributions had unduly influenced the development of national energy policy. Mr. Cheney was chairman of the group formulating the policy, and he or his staff met with Enron officials at least five times. Now, Comptroller General David Walker, head of the GAO, wants to see the records of those meetings. Clearly, whether Mr. Cheney allowed executives from Enron, a major political donor, to essentially provide a blueprint for the administration's energy policy is a separate issue from the company's present legal and financial troubles. But Mr. Cheney's refusal to turn over the documents requested by the GAO is doing more to link George W. Bush's White House with Enron's scandal than any evidence so far has succeeding in doing. He's playing a dangerous game, and the president is unwise to follow his lead. This should be a particularly sensitive issue for the president in the wake of a nationwide poll showing that most Americans think the Bush administration is hiding something or lying about its dealings with Enron. Now comes the vice president posturing about his right to keep secret a half-dozen meetings with representatives of the fallen energy trading giant. Thanks a lot, Dick. But Mr. Cheney's reason for refusing to cooperate is more than just politically troubling - it's outrageous. He's claiming presidential privilege. He told a network news program Sunday that he has seen "an erosion of the powers and ability of the president of the United States to do his job" because previous presidents have caved in to demands from Congress for documents and records. "We are weaker today as an institution" because of presidential compromises over the last 30 or 35 years, he said. Ah yes, 30 to 35 years. That would mean the last president who did the job right was - Richard Nixon. The only president forced to resign from office, taken down as much by hubris as by the allegations of criminal behavior. Hubris seems not to be a failing of President Bush, but he should beware: Dick Cheney may well have enough for two. Mr. Cheney's pleas for concealment also ring hollow coming a scant two years after his party conducted an exhaustive exposé of Bill Clinton's sex life - which had nothing to do with national policy - before Congress. Mr. Walker, the comptroller general, is mulling plans to take Mr. Cheney to court to force him to turn over the records. If that fails, congressional committees investigating the conflict-of-interest allegations could subpoena them. Would the nation be shocked to find that a committee of politicians shaping energy policy had been influenced by a deep-pockets energy company? Probably not, but that doesn't make it right. However, it's altogether possible that the harm to the presidency may well come less from the reality of the conflict than from the vehement attempts to keep the evidence under wraps. Mr. Cheney should be able to relate to that; something similar happened, oh, about 30 years ago. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun E-mail it Send this story to a friend

To: Mephisto who wrote (1544)	1/29/2002 5:16:35 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 5185

Bush is so great....look at all the achievements....without the attack he'd be done and gone "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin In George W. Bush's first year in office he: 1. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 2. Cut federal spending on libraries by $39 million. 3. Cut $35 million in funding for doctors to get advanced pediatric training. 4. Cut by 50% funding for research into renewable energy sources. 5. Revoked rules that reduced the acceptable levels of arsenic in drinking water. 6. Blocked rules that would require federal agencies to offer bilingual assistance to non-English speaking persons. This, from a candidate who would readily fire-up his Spanish-speaking skills in front of would- be Hispanic voters. 7. Proposed to eliminate new marine protections for the Channel Islands and the coral reefs of northwest Hawaii San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 2001). 8. Cut funding by 28% for research into cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks. 9. Suspended rules that would have strengthened the government's ability to deny contracts to companies that violated workplace safety, environmental and other federal laws. 10. OK'd Interior Department appointee Gale Norton to send out letters to state officials soliciting suggestions for opening up national monuments for oil and gas drilling, coal mining, and foresting. 11. Appointed John Negroponte - an un-indicted high-level Iran Contra figure to the post of United Nations Ambassador. 12. Abandoned a campaign pledge to invest $100 million for rain forest conservation. 13. Reduced by 86% the Community Access Program for public hospitals, clinics and providers of care for people without insurance. 14. Rescinded a proposal to increase public access to information about the potential consequences resulting from chemical plant accidents. 15. Suspended rules that would require hardrock miners to clean up sites on Western public lands. 16. Cut $60 million from a Boy's and Girl's Clubs of America program for public housing. 17. Proposed to eliminate a federal program, designed and successfully used in Seattle, to help communities prepare for natural disasters. 18. Pulled out of the 1997 Kyoto Treaty global warming agreement. 19. Cut $200 million of work force training for dislocated workers. 20. Eliminated funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program, which encourages farmers to maintain wetlands habitat on their property. 21. Cut program to provide childcare to low-income families as they move from welfare to work. 22. Cut a program that provided prescription contraceptive coverage to federal employees (though it still pays for Viagra). 23. Cut $700 million in capital funds for repairs in public housing. 24. Appointed Otto Reich - an un-indicted high-level Iran Contra figure - to Assistant Secretary of State for nter-American Affairs. 25. Cut Environmental Protection Agency budget by $500 million. 26. Proposed to curtail the ability of groups to sue in order to get an animal placed on the Endangered Species List. 27. Rescinded the rule that mandated increased energy-saving efficiency regulations for central air conditioners and heat pumps. 28. Repealed workplace ergonomic rules designed to improve worker health and safety. 29. Abandoned campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide, the waste gas that contributes to global warming. 30. Banned federal aid to international family planning programs that offer abortion counseling with other independent funds. 31. Closed White House Office for Women's Health Initiatives and Outreach. 32. Nominated David Lauriski - ex-mining company executive - to post of Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health. 33. OK'd Interior Secretary Gale Norton to go forth with a controversial plan to auction oil and gas development tracts off the coast of eastern Florida. 34. Announced intention to open up Montana's Lewis and Clark National Forest to oil and drilling. 35. Proposes to re-draw boundaries of nation's monuments, which would technically allow oil and gas drilling "outside" of national monuments. 36. Gutted White House AIDS Office. 37. Renegotiating free trade agreement with Jordan to eliminate workers's rights and safeguards for the evironment. 38. Will no longer seek guidance from The American Bar Association in recommendations for the federal judiciary appointments. 39. Appointed recycling foe Lynn Scarlett as Undersecretary of the Interior. 40. Took steps to abolish the White House Council on Environmental Quality. 41. Cut the Community Oriented Policing Services program. 42. Allowed Interior Secretary Gale Norton to shelve citizen-led grizzly bear re-introduction plan scheduled for Idaho and Montana wilderness. 43. Continues to hold up federal funding for stem cell research projects. 44. Makes sure convicted misdemeanor drug users cannot get financial aid for college, though convicted murderers can. 45. Refused to fund continued cleanup of uranium-slag heap in Utah. 46. Refused to fund continued litigation of the government's tobacco company lawsuit. 47. Proposed a $2 trillion tax cut, of which 43% will go to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. 48. Signed a bill making it harder for poor and middle-class Americans to file for bankruptcy, even in the case of daunting medical bills. 49. Appointed a Vice President quoted as saying "If you want to do something about carbon dioxide emissions, then you ought to build nuclear power plants." (Vice President Dick Cheney on "Meet the Press.") 50. Appointed Diana "There is no gender gap in pay" Roth to the Council of Economic Advisers. (Boston Globe, March 28, 2001.) 51. Appointed Kay Cole James - an opponent of affirmative action - to direct the Office of Personnel Management. 52. Cut $15.7 million earmarked for states to investigate cases of child abuse and neglect. 53. Helped kill a law designed to make it tougher for teenagers to get credit cards. 54. Proposed elimination of the "Reading is Fundamental" program that gives free books to poor children. 55. Is pushing for development of small nuclear arm to attack deeply buried targets and weapons, which would violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. 56. Proposes to nominate Jeffrey Sutton - attorney responsible for the recent case weakening the Americans with Disabilities Act- to federal appeals court judgeship. 57. Proposes to reverse regulation protecting 60 million acres of national forest from logging and road building. 58. Eliminated funding for the "We the People" education program which taught School children about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and citizenship. 59. Appointed John Bolton - who opposes non-proliferation treaties and the U.N. - to Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. 60. Nominated Linda Fisher - an executive with Monsanto - for the number-two job at the Environmental Protection Agency. 61. Nominated Michael McConnell - leading critic of the separation of church and state - to a federal judgeship. 62. Nominated Terrence Boyle - ardent opponent of civil rights - to a federal judgeship. 63. Canceled 2004 deadline for automakers to develop prototype high mileage cars. 64. Nominated Harvey Pitts - lawyer for teen sex video distributor - to head SEC. 65. Nominated John Walters - strong opponent of prison drug treatment programs - for Drug Czar. (Washington Post, May 16, 2001.) 66. Nominated J. Steven Giles - an oil and coal lobbyist - for Deputy Secretary of the Interior. 67. Nominated Bennett Raley - who advocates repealing the Endangered Species Act - for Assistant Secretary for Water and Science 68. Is seeking the dismissal of class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S. against Japan by Asian women forced to work as sex slaves during WWII. 69. Earmarked $4 million in new federal grant money for HIV and drug abuse prevention programs to go only to religious groups and not secular equivalents. 70. Reduced by 40% the Low Income Home Assistance Program for low-income individuals who need assistance paying energy bills. 71. Nominated Ted Olson- who has repeatedly lied about his involvement with the Scaiffe-funded "Arkansas Project" to bring down Bill Clinton - for Solicitor General. 72. Nominated Terrance Boyle - foe of civil rights - to a federal judgeship. 73. Proposes to ease permit process - including environmental considerations - for refinery, nuclear and hydroelectric dam construction.(Washington Post, May 18, 2001.) 74. Proposes to give government the authority to take private property through eminent domain for power lines. 75. Proposes that $1.2 billion in funding for alternative renewable energy come from selling oil and gas lease tracts in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve. 76. Plans on serving genetically engineered foods at all official government functions. 77. Forced out Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck and appointed a timber industry lobbyist. Don't ya just love this administration? CC