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

To: Baldur Fjvlnisson who wrote (4344)	8/9/2002 6:03:52 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

Clinton Says Republicans Blocked His Audit Reforms The New York Times "…. he chided Republicans, who he said had blocked his administration's efforts to, among other things, bar accounting firms from working as auditors and consultants for the same companies." By DAVID M. HALBFINGER LITTLE ROCK, Ark., July 24 - Former President Bill Clinton today hailed his own efforts to increase the oversight of corporate governance and criticized Republicans and Harvey L. Pitt, currently the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying they had frustrated Mr. Clinton's efforts at reform. He said Republicans thus deserved some of the blame for the current flight of foreign capital from United States markets. Asked about President Bush's handling of the economy and his attempts to rally investor confidence, Mr. Clinton, who was ttouring the construction site of his presidential library here, avoided criticizing his successor directly. Instead, he chided Republicans, who he said had blocked his administration's efforts to, among other things, bar accounting firms from working as auditors and consultants for the same companies. "I'm sure that some of the people in Congress that stopped a lot of the reforms I tried to put through are probably rethinking that now," Mr. Clinton told reporters. "Arthur Levitt, my Securities and Exchange commissioner, tried to stop the Enron accounting issues - using the same accounting company being consultant and accountant - and the Republicans stopped it." Later, Mr. Clinton added that Republicans had fought Mr. Levitt's effort, "and Harvey PITT was the leader trying to stop us from ending those kind of abuses. That is a matter of record." Mr. Pitt, who was a securities lawyer before being appointed by President Bush to head the S.E.C., counted accounting firms, including Arthur Andersen, among his clients. When asked if he agreed with senators and representatives who have called for Mr. Pitt's resignation, Mr. Clinton demurred. "I don't have to make those decisions anymore," he said. Mr. Clinton also said he had been overridden by Republicans when he vetoed a securities-industry bill he said would have "basically cut off investors from being able to sue if they were getting the shaft." And he recalled that his Treasury secretary, Lawrence H. Summers, had tried to crack down on the use of offshore accounts to conceal corporate financial information, but that Senator Phil Gramm of Texas " and other Republicans stopped that." "And that is one of the things that has caused all the European money to leave the markets, because they see that the government is in the hands of the party that stopped all of this stuff," Mr. Clinton said. "And so I think they've got a burden on their hands, and they seem to be trying to turn it around. We'll see." Mr. Clinton again criticized Republicans in the White House and Congress when he was asked about investor confidence, suggesting that they ask the opinions of market-moving investors like George Soros and Warren E. Buffett. Those investors, Mr. Clinton said, disapproved of last year's tax cut and "knew it was a mistake to start running deficits again, that it would run long-term interest rates up and again undermine confidence." But Mr. Clinton said the underlying American economy would "reassert itself sooner or later." nytimes.com.

To: Baldur Fjvlnisson who wrote (4344)	8/14/2002 2:02:57 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

"Just ask the next police chief and they'll tell you that lax and haphazard and corrupt law enforcement INVITES and ENCOURAGES crime and lawbreaking" Our laws are out of whack. These laws protect big corporations and corporate executives. They made the big bucks because they could afford to pay accountants who knew all the tricks. JMOP PS: Bush had to drag Cheney back from a fishing trip in Wyoming to attend Bush's economic forum yesterday. Maureen Dowd said in her column that Cheney was caught on camera yawning several times! (LOL)

To: Baldur Fjvlnisson who wrote (4344)	8/14/2002 2:07:46 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

Baldur, I am in a hurry, but you might want to look up this article: Report Voices Suspicions on Energy Crisis The New York Times August 14, 2002 PAGE C1, The National Edition By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. Following is an excerpt: WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 - Federal energy regulators, struggling to get to the bottom of the California energy crisis of 2000-01, said for the first time today that there was evidence that natural gas prices might have been manipulated, helping to drive up power prices. They also said that they had found evidence of possible manipulation of electricity prices by Enron and two other companies, Avista and El Paso Electric, and began formal investigations to determine whether they broke federal electricity-trading rules. The preliminary report prepared by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission contrasts with the agency's approach at the outset of the California crisis two years ago, when it played down the possibility of manipulation. The report comes closer to endorsing the view of many California officials that the state's energy crisis resulted at least in part from manipulation of the market by energy companies like Enron."