Bush raises money for GOP governors;
protesters take aim at Rowland
By Jennifer Loven, Associated Press, 9/19/2002 21:51
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush scooped up over $3 million at a fund-raiser
hosted by the Republican Governors Association Thursday, while protesters
criticized Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland for his state's failed $220 million deal
with now-bankrupt Enron Corp.
Speaking after a parade of GOP gubernatorial candidates, Bush pitched his
administration's accomplishments on tax cuts, corporate wrongdoing crackdowns
and trade expansion and outlined his wish list on economic, foreign and social
policy.
Outside the event, members of the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees union, Connecticut Citizen Action Group and Service
Employees International Union protested the loss of Connecticut public funds in the
Enron deal.
About three dozen protesters traveled from Connecticut.
''We're here today to demand the Republican Governors Association repay the
taxpayers of Connecticut the $220 million that was lost,'' said Tom Swan, executive
director of the Connecticut citizens' group.
Swan said the group focused on the RGA because ''all of this seems to have been
conceived and driven by Governor Rowland and his need to fund-raise for his own
election and the Republican Governors Association.''
Rowland, chairman of the RGA, dismissed the protesters' allegations outside the
National Building Museum, where Bush addressed the Republican governors.
''This is obviously just a political effort being made by the forces of my opponent,'' he
said.
Bill Curry, Rowland's Democratic challenger, has called Connecticut the most
corrupt state in the country, and he has criticized Rowland for the Enron deal made
by the quasi-public Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.
Under the 1999 deal, CRRA paid Enron $220 million up front in exchange for an
agreement in which Enron would have paid the authority $26.4 million a year for
power from a Hartford trash-to-energy plant. Enron then would have sold the power on
the open market.
The state lost the money after Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in December.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has called the deal an illegal loan, while
CRRA officials have said it was a legitimate energy transaction.
In December 2000, just days before the CRRA signed the deal with Enron, a
Connecticut consultant set up a meeting that included Rowland and three Enron
representatives.
Ten months later, the consultant hosted a $500-per-ticket event at his house that
raised more than $50,000 for Rowland's re-election campaign.
Rowland has said that the Enron meeting and the fund-raiser were not related. He
said the December 2000 meeting was a routine, get-acquainted session with
executives from a Texas firm that planned to do business in Connecticut. His aides
have said dealings between Enron and the CRRA were not discussed at the meeting.
At the time of the deal, Rowland's co-chief of staff, Peter Ellef, was chairman of the
CRRA. Ellef later resigned both positions under pressure about the Enron deal.
''No governor, Republican or Democrat, caused Enron to fail,'' Rowland said
Thursday.
Rowland said he was working with Blumenthal on ways to possibly recover the
money, such as by going after law firms that ''gave bad advice.''
At the RGA reception, Bush pressed lawmakers to give him a big new Pentagon
budget, energy bill, legislation guaranteeing pension security and terrorism insurance
and welfare reform. He also touted government support for faith-based institutions
and a new homeland security department.
Even as his White House was intensely focused Thursday on obtaining support from
the world community and Congress for action against Iraq's Saddam Hussein,
Bush's energetic political activities continued.
Though Bush was away from the White House for only an hour and a half, the
Republican Party was millions richer because of his appearance. And the president's
fund-raising total for the year reached $116 million.
The take from the event, which had an entry fee of $1,000 a person with up to 1,100
donors in attendance, would allow the Republican National Committee to spend on
behalf of GOP gubernatorial candidates around the country, RGA spokeswoman
Kirsten Fedewa said.
The fund-raiser, and a Friday White House meeting with Bush, were part of the
agenda for the association's fall meeting in Washington.
Rowland said he expected the GOP governors during the fall meeting to concentrate
on homeland security issues and Bush's request to Congress for the authority to
disarm and overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
''Protecting our nation and our freedom requires us to be going after al-Qaida and
(Osama) bin Laden and Saddam Hussein,'' he said. ''The case has been made.
Saddam Hussein has violated U.N. resolutions. He's a threat to our freedom. For
those that are still debating whether he's a threat or not, that's kind of silly. He's
killed his own people.''
On the topic of Indian recognition, Rowland said he would not get involved in an effort
by Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, both D-Conn., to get the Senate
to adopt a moratorium on new federal tribal recognitions. Indian Affairs Chairman
Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, is opposed. A vote could come Friday.
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