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

To: TigerPaw who wrote (4912)	7/22/2003 11:35:35 AM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 5185

here's the LAUGHER OF THE MONTH Bush administration touts corporate crime record By Matt Andrejczak WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The Bush administration touted its record of punishing CEOs and restoring investor confidence at a White House press conference marking the one-year anniversary of President Bush's corporate fraud task force. Through May 31, the Justice Department has obtained over 250 corporate fraud convictions or guilty pleas, including at least 25 former CEOs, the administration said. From Oct. 1 2002 through June 30 2003, enforcement actions are up nearly 50 percent at the Securities and Exchange Commission over last year's same period. The Task Force has also obtained restitution and fines from corporate fraud in excess of $85 million. WHERE IS KENNY?????????? CC

To: TigerPaw who wrote (4912)	7/22/2003 3:00:43 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

Very possible Cheney-Lay engineered the energy ripoffs together, with the help of all the other companies and oil powers they were close with. If you consider how Cheney is now reported to have gone and bullied the CIA into skeweing their intel in his direction, you start understanding the man batter, and realize a scam like the energy crisis was well within his range, especially teamed up with Lay, James Baker and other powerful Bushies in the oil biz, maybe even the Saudis and Kuwaits whom Bushies are protecting now with their censored 9-11 investigation report.

To: TigerPaw who wrote (4912)	7/30/2003 11:38:04 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

And, "Dick Cheney commissioned an energy report from ex-Secretary of State, James Baker III." >>>>>>>>>> TP, Had you heard about the Baker report? According to K. Yurica, the Baker report was divided into two sections. And "Taking care of Iraq" is listed an an immediate step in the Baker report." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TP, every sentence in this report jumps out at you. I don't know where to begin. I wish Paul Krugman would make a reference to this report in one of his columns. You've got Poppy Bush, W. Bush and Ken Lay's relationship to them. You've also got Dick Cheney and his energy report. And you read about SADDAM HUSSEIN and other countries that make up W's "Axis of Evil" that he mentioned in his first State of the Union Address. You've also got references to the the Project for New American Century. Yurica reiterates what we know now: prices of energy in California was manipulated by market forces. Two older editorials come to mind. One is by Krugman. The other was an editorial in the Boston Globe.. From an editorial by Paul Krugman " California Energy Crisis:" why did energy companies think they could get away with it? "One answer might be that the apparent malefactors are very big contributors to the Republican Party. Some analysts have suggested that energy companies felt free to manipulate markets because they believed they had bought protection from federal regulation - the conspiracy-minded point out that severe power shortages began just after the 2000 election, and ended when Democrats gained control of the Senate. " ----PAUL KRUGMAN See: Message 18044180 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> From an editorial in The Boston Globe: [ California Energy Crisis ] Editorial Boston Globe THREE YEARS AGO "California suffered electricity shortages and skyrocketing rates that state officials said were caused by manipulation of the state's partially deregulated power system by Enron and other energy suppliers and traders." boston.com See Enron Post 4865 for Boston Globe Editorial

To: TigerPaw who wrote (4912)	7/31/2003 4:26:02 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

Senate Party-Line Vote Kills Energy Market Curbs Democrats said their amendment was needed to prevent recurring price manipulation. The Republicans saw it as unnecessary regulation "A Davis spokesman said later: "If Sen. Craig could get out of bed with Enron and the other power suppliers for a minute, he'd realize that it's the same extremist Republicans that pushed energy deregulation that are pushing the recall." . By Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer latimes.com WASHINGTON - California's electricity crisis gave momentum to President Bush's drive for a new national energy policy. But the Senate on Wednesday narrowly rejected a measure that its supporters said would have provided stronger protection against the kind of market manipulation blamed for driving up electricity prices during the 2000-01 power crunch. The Senate's Republican majority, dubious of the need for more government regulation, defeated a Democratic-sponsored amendment to the energy bill that supporters said would have strengthened the rules against market manipulation. The largely party-line vote was 48 in favor of the amendment and 50 opposed. California's electricity crisis, which had faded from the congressional debate on energy legislation, was a hot topic once again as lawmakers discussed how it came about and whether the legislation moving toward approval does enough to prevent energy price spikes from occurring again. The Senate energy bill includes a number of measures spotlighted by California's troubles, such as outlawing a form of energy trading blamed for driving up electricity prices and boosting, from $5,000 to $1 million, the penalty for violating the law governing power sales. But Democratic senators from Western states asserted that the energy bill does not go far enough to protect consumers. Citing last year's headlines about price manipulation, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said, "It seems as though something has been forgotten since those stories were being written a year ago." Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the amendment's sponsor, brought to the Senate floor placards reading "Fat Boy" and "Ricochet," which were Enron Corp.'s nicknames for the schemes the company used to exploit California's market. She said the energy bill does nothing, for example, to prohibit "ricocheting" - a scheme that involved selling power out of state to avoid in-state price caps, and reselling it back into the state at higher prices. But Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he "wouldn't have dared bring a bill to the floor that didn't give the West Coast all the protections" that were possible. As an example of such protections, a Domenici aide said, the bill includes a provision requiring power merchants to disclose how much space is available on transmission lines to prevent so-called ghost congestion, which could drive up prices. Republican senators, calling the amendment unnecessary, said federal authorities have already moved under existing law to investigate and punish alleged wrongdoers in the California crisis. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) claimed that a flawed state deregulation law was a leading cause of the California crisis. Then, citing the recall election facing Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, Craig added: "Finally, the ratepayers of California got it figured out. The politics of California destroyed the market." A Davis spokesman said later: "If Sen. Craig could get out of bed with Enron and the other power suppliers for a minute, he'd realize that it's the same extremist Republicans that pushed energy deregulation that are pushing the recall." Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) bristled at assertions by GOP lawmakers that gaming was not a major factor in driving up prices. "Perhaps those of us in the West are more disconnected from the Beltway than I ever believed," said Feinstein, who was joined by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in voting for the amendment. Industry officials also questioned the need for the measure. "We cannot point to a single person who's done something wrong on the West Coast who hasn't been investigated," said Gene Peters, vice president for legislative affairs for the Electric Power Supply Assn. Craig Goodman, president of the National Energy Marketers Assn., said federal regulators were moving to stiffen rules against price manipulation. "It may not be necessary to legislate something that already is being implemented," Goodman said. A spokesman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission declined comment on the legislation. California, which seeks $9 billion in refunds for overcharges during the energy crisis, has alleged that energy suppliers engaged in a sweeping pattern of market manipulation in 2001 and 2002. But federal regulators have been considering a smaller refund total, estimated at perhaps $3.3 billion in the main refund case, which may be resolved later this year. In addition to the refund case, FERC is investigating allegations that energy suppliers engaged in a pattern of excessively high bids in the spring and summer of 2000 that had the effect of manipulating prices upward. They also are considering dozens of individual cases of alleged market manipulation. The review of bidding and the individual cases could have the effect of adding to the refund totals, but most experts believe the amounts will remain far below what California is seeking.