The Bush-Enron Lovefest Connections
If you listen to the mainstream press, you'd get the impression that George Bush and Ken Lay barely knew each other. This collection of articles proves otherwise. Unfortunately, it also proves that George Bush is lying to us about his relationship with Lay.
Documents Reveal Enron's Clout on Energy Agenda
November 13, 2002
"In its highflying days, Enron Corp. sought to guide the new Bush administration toward a sweeping energy agenda, ranging from creating a national electricity grid to opposing protection of domestic steel products, according to documents made public Tuesday by congressional investigators."
latimes.com
Bush Served on Harken Board During Enron Trades
October 22, 2002
"While President Bush (news - web sites) served on Harken Energy Corp.'s board more than 10 years ago, it engaged in complex trades with Enron Corp., a watchdog group said on Tuesday."
story.news.yahoo.com
=/nm/20021022/pl_nm/bush_harken_dc_1
Minding their own business at the White House
July 9, 2002
"Bush and his administration have a string of links to the companies at the heart of the scandals rocking America"
guardian.co.uk
Bush Did Try to Save Enron
May 29, 2002
"As Enron’s crisis worsened through the first nine months of the Bush presidency, Ken Lay got Bush’s help in three principal ways: . . ."
consortiumnews.com
White House Acknowledges More Contacts With Enron
May 23, 2002
"White House officials had more extensive contacts with Enron executives in 2001 than previously disclosed, according to a document released by the Bush administration today in response to a request for information from a Senate committee."
nytimes.com
Now With Bill Moyer, In-Depth Transcript: Kevin Phillips
May 21, 2002
"All the examples of the Bush family's role in the rise of Enron. Here, we're running around, we're blaming these accountants, these, uh ... tricksters that were in Enron, but George W. and George H.W., his father, were very much involved in the whole rise of Enron's influence and power in this country. But you ... you don't see that."
pbs.org
Bush's dim Enron excuses: How could the president not have known what was going on?
May 15, 2002
"Now that the Enron culprits have been caught red-handed, might not the media inquire of the president whether he takes any responsibility for nearly bankrupting California by refusing to come to the state's aid in a timely fashion?"
workingforchange.com
ItemId=13320&CFID=1519642&CFTOKEN=26148608
Letter from Ken Lay to George Bush about the Uzbekistan Pipeline
April 17, 1997
"Dear George, You will be meeting with Ambassador Sadyq Safaev, Uzbekistan's Ambassador to the United States."
thesmokinggun.com
Enron's Hiring of Bush Adviser Probed by Federal Election Panel
April 23, 2002
"The Federal Election Commission is looking into a complaint that Enron Corp. may have violated campaign-finance laws by hiring an adviser to George W. Bush as a company consultant, according to a regulatory filing and interviews with Enron officials."
quote.bloomberg.com
news.ht&s=APMXRmBZfRW5yb24n
Bill Press: Bush should fire Army secretary over Enron
April 1, 2002
[Army Secretary Thomas E. White's] sole qualification for office was being a top Enron executive. That, of course, was enough to get over 50 people important jobs in the administration. Who says Bush doesn't take care of his friends?
cnn.com
Enron: What Dick Cheney Knew
April 15th issue
"Indeed, so close was the Cheney-Enron relationship that it is entirely reasonable to ask whether ethical and legal lines were crossed."
thenation.com
W's Biggest Enron Liability: The Case Against Thomas White Grows
March 29, 2002
"So one of the guys in command while this chicanery occurs gets to be in charge of the United States Army? Welcome to George W. Bush's America. White's failure to divest quickly enough, his trip to Aspen, his calls to former Enron pals--that's small change compared to what he oversaw at Enron."
thenation.com
Enron and Bush: the mystery deepens
March 28, 2002
"Think the flap over the Bush administration and Enron is winding down? Think again."
"The release by the administration of thousands of pages of documents related to its energy task force last year has only heightened speculation that the Bush team is hiding something by refusing to provide logs of Vice President Dick Cheney's meetings with energy executives."
cbs.marketwatch.com
%7B65BF6F42%2D75AA%2D4BE8%2DB544%2DFAFA
C4EE9EE0%7D&siteid=mktw
Business and family values
March 11, 2002
"Bush hasn't said it yet, but by this definition, Enron undoubtedly meets the criteria for corporate wickedness, and thus deserves to boil in hot pitch or whatever else the White House's inquisitors are inflicting on evildoers these days.
"How unfortunate that Bush and his family are so closely tied to performing Enron's bidding."
sfgate.com
f=/c/a/2002/03/11/BU34878.DTL&nl=biz
Bush Joined Unit of Enron in '86 Venture to Seek Oil
March 6, 2002
"In his earliest known tie to the Enron Corporation (news/quote), President Bush, then an oil man in West Texas, joined an energy drilling venture organized in 1986 by a subsidiary of Enron."
nytimes.com
W.'s First Enron Connection: Bush and Company Were Oil Partners
March 4, 2002
"Did George W. Bush once have a financial relationship with Enron? In 1986, according to publicly available records, the two drilled for oil together--at a time when Bush was a not-too-successful oil man in Texas and his oil venture was in dire need of help. Bush's business association with Enron, it seems, has not previously been reported."
thenation.com
Ex-Enron executives helped Bush shape failed Texas tax plan
February 26, 2002
"Then-Gov. George W. Bush's attempt to overhaul the Texas tax system in the mid-1990s would have saved Enron Corp. a reported $9 million a year alone in property taxes, and possibly much more in franchise taxes.
"But the plan, shaped with help from an Enron executive and a board member, encountered an obstacle that could not be overcome: Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, the Democrat whose power in Austin exceeded Bush's."
austin360.com
Where there’s smoke
February 21, 2002
"Phillips writes that in 1988 George W. Bush actually served as a lobbyist for Enron, telephoning the Argentine government to promote an Enron pipeline proposal. Bush’s staff has denied that Bush made that phone call, but an Argentine cabinet minister says he did. In any event, Bush’s father was president-elect when Bush made the alleged phone call, a fact that could not have been lost on the Argentine government."
timesargus.nybor.com
Records: Bush smoothed path for Enron
February 18, 2002
"President Bush as Texas governor personally pushed Enron Corp.'s business interests with the Uzbekistan ambassador and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, according to correspondence made public Friday."
chron.com
Letters Show Bush and Lay Shared Much
February 16, 2002
"In more than two dozen letters written from Kenneth L. Lay to then-Gov. George W. Bush, the former Enron (news/quote) chairman lobbied repeatedly for his company's pet issue, electric deregulation, sought the governor's presence at Enron-related functions and sent magazine articles and personal notes."
nytimes.com
Photo - Bush and Lay at an economic forum January 3, 2001
February 15, 2002
"Ken Lay, former chairman of bankrupt energy giant Enron Corp., often sought President Bush's support for business projects and legislation when Bush was governor of Texas, according to correspondence released on February 15, 2002. The documents, which include a number of notes and letters released by state archivists, show a close personal relationship between the two men as well as an alliance built on common political and business interests. Bush and Lay are shown with Nancy Lazar, executive vice president of International Strategy and Investments at an economic forum January 3, 2001."
story.news.yahoo.com
tmpl=story&u=/020216/170/14881.html
Lay Sought Bush Aid As Texas Gov.
February 15, 2002
"Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay wrote repeatedly to George W. Bush throughout his governorship, seeking support for legislation benefiting the energy giant, according to documents released Friday."
dailynews.yahoo.com
Bush and Ken Lay: Slip Slidin' Away
February 6, 2002
"[T]he reality, as established by a wealth of historical record and recent disclosures, is that Lay and Enron were instrumental in Bush’s rise to power – and Bush played an important behind-the-scenes role in advancing Enron’s aggressive deregulation agenda, which helped the energy trader ascend to its lofty perch as the seventh-biggest U.S. company."
consortiumnews.com
Enron Ties to the Bush Administration (graphic)
washingtonpost.com
onpolitics/articles/keyplayers_political.html
Enron Conservatives
February 4, 2002 issue
"Concerned about potential taint from the metastasizing Enron scandal, George W. Bush met with reporters recently to distance himself from Enron's chairman, Ken Lay (nicknamed 'Kenny Boy' by W. before the scandal). It is testament to how indelible that taint may become that Bush found it necessary to lie about his friend."
thenation.com
Enron and the Bushes
February 4, 2002 issue
"When George W. Bush was first running for governor of Texas, Washington editor David Corn took a look at Bush family activities on behalf of Enron in Argentina--itself now suffering the results of untamed financial markets. We reprint this November 21, 1994, article to show how Enron's connections with the Bushes stretch not just to Washington but around the world. --The Editors"
thenation.com
Enron's Influence Reached Deep Into Administration
January 18, 2002
"The cozy relationship -- in which a Bush campaign adviser, being paid by Enron, placed an Enron idea on the candidate's agenda -- served as one more reminder of the political influence and reach of the once-giant energy company. Its ties extend deep into President Bush's staff, appointments, Cabinet members, friends, family -- and his own past."
washingtonpost.com
articles/A64756-2002Jan17.html
The Enron Box
January 18, 2002
"As Bush was running for President, Lay's Enron lent the candidate the Enron corporate jet fourteen times (his campaign reimbursed Enron a laughably low $60,000 for those flights). All told, Enron and its employees have contributed $736,800 to our President's political career--far more than any other corporation."
thenation.com
Waxman says Cheney task force helped Enron
January 16, 2002
"A report issued Wednesday by a Democratic congressman critical of the White House for not releasing records of the closed-door meetings of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force said 'there are at least 17 policies in the White House energy plan that were advocated by Enron or that benefited Enron.'"
cnn.com
01/16/enron.waxman/index.html
Bush to Lay: What Was Your Name Again?
January 16, 2002
"On Friday, Bush attempted to distance himself from the Enron scandal by stating that CEO Lay "was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994," obscuring the fact that Lay gave Bush three times as much money as he did the Democratic gubernatorial incumbent whom Bush was trying to unseat."
latimes.com
commentary/la-000003681jan15.story
Bush Aide Was Told of Enron's Plea
January 14, 2002
"Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans said he told White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. about a call he received from Enron Chairman Kenneth L. Lay. In the call, Lay expressed hopes that the government would intervene with a private credit agency that was threatening to lower its rating on Enron's debt, seriously jeopardizing the company's financial viability. Evans said the government did not intervene."
washingtonpost.com
articles/A40467-2002Jan13.html
Lights Out: Enron’s Failed Power Play
January 21 issue
"To George W. Bush, the head of Enron was ‘Kenny Boy’—until now. As the shock waves from the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history shake Washington, the scandal machine is cranking up in search of a White House connection. Let the Enron Wars begin"
msnbc.com
Pioneer Profiles: D. Stephen Goddard, Jr, Managing Partner, Arthur Andersen and in charge of the Enron account
January 14, 2002
"Goddard manages the Gulf Coast office of this huge global accounting and business services firm where he specializes in servicing multinational energy companies. He sits on the board of Texas A&M’s George Bush School of Government."
tpj.org
Enron Contributions to Bush
January 12, 2002
"President Bush has received more money from Enron, its employees and their relatives over his political career than from any other source. The contributions supported Bush's unsuccessful House campaign in 1978, his two campaigns for Texas governor, renovation of his governor's office, last year's presidential race, his inaugurations and his presidential recount fund."
newsday.com
/sns-ap-bush-lay-glance0112jan12.story
Despite President's Denials, Enron & Lay Were Early Backers of Bush
January 11, 2002
"In fact, in an interview with PBS’s 'Frontline' taped on March 27, 2001, Lay said, 'When Governor Bush, now President Bush, decided to run for the governor’s spot, [there was] a little difficult situation. I’d worked very closely with Ann Richards also, the four years she was governor. But I was very close to George W. and had a lot of respect for him, had watched him over the years, particularly with reference to dealing with his father when his father was in the White House and some of the things he did to work for his father, and so did support him.'"
tpj.org
White House Was a Home For Enron
January 10, 2002
"Still, this leaves almost an entire year in which Enron officials waltzed in and out of the White House enjoying an unusual degree of access."
newsday.com
vpren102544126jan10.column?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dcolumnists
Enron is not Bush's Whitewater: It will be worse
January 10, 2002
"Unlike the financial sideshow over a 20-year-old failed land deal that dogged the Clinton administration, the collapse of the nation's largest energy trader into the nation's largest bankruptcy last month is set to go straight to the heart of exposing what is wrong with the way the Bush administration is conducting itself these days."
cbs.marketwatch.com
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Joined at the Hip
January 10, 2002
"You'll have to look long and extremely hard to come up with an example of corporate treachery in the United States that's as horrible as the Enron debacle. This is a scandal with a very broad reach and it has some of the wise guys in the Bush administration and other top Republicans trembling in their penny loafers."
nytimes.com
What About John?
January 10, 2002
Ashcroft deserves a better role in the Enron scandal
"After all, Ashcroft did receive $50,000 in campaign contributions from Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and Enron just over a year ago for his unsuccessful U.S. Senate race here in Missouri. That's no mean feat, seeing as how our state doesn't exactly abound in oil wells."
rftstl.com
Enron Met With Bush Energy Task Force, Raising Question of Its Influence on Policy
January 9, 2002
"Enron Corp. executives met six times last year with officials of the Bush administration's energy task force, though they did not talk about the energy company's finances, Vice President Dick Cheney's office said in a letter to Capitol Hill."
interactive.wsj.com
retrieve.cgi?id=SB1010531293488098960.djm
GOP, Enron in Bed But Press Snoozes
January 7, 2002
"There are at least four former Enron execs or consultants in Bush's administration. Some may wind up testifying in the probe of how Enron lost its investors billions and its employees about everything they owned."
commondreams.org
Bush's Enron Ties
January 2, 2002
"Shortly after taking office, President Bush waged a battle against the imposition of federal price controls in California that allowed Enron to price-gouge consumers by extending the energy crisis in California, costing the state billions of dollars. Enron reported increased revenues of almost $70 billion from the previous year."
alternet.org
Blind Faith: How Deregulation and Enron's Influence Over Government Looted Billions from Americans
December 2001
"Upon assuming office in 2001, Bush promptly scrapped plans put into place by former President Bill Clinton to significantly limit the effectiveness of these countries as tax and bank regulation havens. This action came at the height of high West Coast energy prices, probably allowing Enron to siphon billions to its offshore accounts."
citizen.org
Enron: Pulling the Plug on the Global Power Broker
December 13, 2001
"A frequent flier on Enron corporate jets, Bush received $774,100 from Enron management and the company itself including $312,500 for his campaigns for governor."
corpwatch.org
Everyone Knows It's Wendy (last three paragraphs of article)
December 12, 2001
"Wendy Gramm has long been a zealous supporter of the kind of deregulation that Enron promoted and profited from. In the previous Bush administration, as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Com-mission–which is charged with protecting markets from fraud and manipulation–she helped lay rail for the runaway train that was Enron, whose very fuel appears to have been fraud and manipulation. After she stepped down in 1992, Enron offered her a directorship. The company has also donated thousands of dollars to her husband, who in turn managed to get Enron exempted from commodity-trading legislation passed last December."
texasobserver.org
George W. Bush Gets Layed
August 29, 2001
"The mutually beneficial relationship between Enron CEO Ken Lay and the Republican contender"
tonguemagazine.com
Power Trader Tied to Bush Finds Washington All Ears
May 25, 2001
"Curtis Hébert Jr., Washington's top electricity regulator, said he had barely settled into his new job this year when he had an unsettling telephone conversation with Kenneth L. Lay, the head of the nation's largest electricity trader, the Enron Corporation."
nytimes.com.
html? ex=1011754528&ei=1&en=63ca805aa06c4c0e
The Mother Jones 400 - Energy Donors
March 5, 2001
"No corporate executive has enjoyed more access to George W. Bush than Kenneth Lay (No. 76, $387,050), the chairman of Enron. As head of the nation's largest supplier of electricity and natural gas to utilities, Lay is one of the top contributors to Bush -- and is often solicited for advice on major policy matters."
motherjones.com
/special_reports/mojo_400/energy.htm
Bush visits top contributor for Houston baseball bash
April 8, 2000
"Kenneth Lay, right, CEO of the Texas-based energy giant Enron Corp., visits with former president George Bush prior to the Houston Astros' home opener at their new Enron Field Friday night. Lay has been a major contributor for Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush, foreground."
detnews.com
The Bush-Enron Chronology
smartgroups.com
Bush_Enron_chronology_rev_0.13_23_Feb_2002.htm
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