Bush (Lies, Enron, Corporate Interests) 06/2002

FACT: The economic stimulus bill that Bush wrote had a secret quarter of a billion-dollar bailout in it for Enron.

Bush (Prescription Drugs, Aristocracy, Lies, Enron, Tax Cut) 06/2002

FACT: In Bush's prescription drug plan, you don't get any prescription drug help if you're a senior citizen who lives on more than $17,000 a year. 

COMMENT: From Paul Begala, "So that in George Bush's America, if you're an old couple, retired, living on $17,000 a year, you're so rich you can't get prescription drug help. But if you're an Enron executive living on $17 million a year, you're so poor that you get a tax cut and a bailout." Thanks Paul.

Spencer Abraham (Corporate Interests, Deregulation)

FACT: At a meeting of the Western Governors' Association, eight out of 11 Western governors, including 5 Republicans and Democrat Gray Davis from California, said they want wholesale prices for electricity capped throughout the region. Attendees said they support a cap that would reimburse suppliers for operating costs and permit profits of 15% to 25% above that amount, according to the Wall Street Journal. The cap would be lifted when enough power is available to create a truly competitive market among the 11 Western states that are electrically interconnected. In the meeting, Energy Secretary Spencer rejects their requests for caps on wholesale energy prices. 

COMMENT: So 25% profit is unacceptable in times of energy emergencies. It's understandable though, the Enron-ilk, energy concerns can't possibly be expected to survive on such paltry margins after being able to castrate California for 30 billion dollars in the bogus "Energy Crisis" of 2001.

George W. Bush (Lies, Enron) 

FACT: Up until just before the Enron debacle, Bush made it clear that he and Enron chief Ken Lay have been best friends, even referring to him as "Kenny Boy." Once the Enron Scandal began developing however, Bush came down with a broad case of "memory" loss (ie. He lied.) In fact, Bush said, Ken Lay "was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994." Even though Lay and his wife give three times as much money to Bush than they gave to Richards?

Tom DeLay (Enron, Corporate Interests) 03/2002

FACT: It was reported by Roll Call that Delay "personally recommended to Enron officials that they hire the team of strategists who make up the inner circle of his political and fundraising machine." So that they could, "secretly conduct an aggressive grassroots campaign pushing energy deregulation." Enron took DeLay's advice and awarded a $750,000 contract to his strategists to do just that. According to Roll Call, "The previously undisclosed connection between DeLay and Enron offers a glimpse into how the Texas lawmaker and the corporate giant combined forces behind closed doors to deliver a bare-knuckled political punch aimed at breaking a legislative logjam frustrating efforts to deregulate the $300 billion-a-year electricity market, a top goal of both Enron and DeLay." 

Ari Fleischer (Lies, Enron, Corporate Interests) 

FACT: When questioned about Ken Lay's access to the president. "The President thinks that access should be across the board…And that's why the Sierra Club, for example, as you know, met repeatedly with the energy task force." In reality, the Sierra Club wasn't allowed to meet with anyone from the White House until after the energy policy was written and released, and even then, they were prevented from meeting with the full energy task force. 
 

FACT: Most people are now familiar with the story of Bill Clinton's fabled golf game with Ken Lay (Head of Enron). From the way the story has been reported, you may have been led to believe that Clinton and Lay were old time golf buddies. In reality, It turns out that Clinton did play golf with Lay - once. And it's not even what you think. The facts are, from the Washington Post's "Names and Faces" back in 1993: "Clinton began his vacation with a bipartisan golf match Saturday at the Country Club of the Rockies in Vail, Colo., teaming up with fellow Democrat (and golf pro) Jack Nicklaus to take on the Republican duo of former president Gerald Ford and Houston businessman Ken Lay." 

COMMENT: Well, it does have about as much merit as all the rest of the faux Clinton scandals that the right-wing has made up over the years.

Republicans (Corporate Interests, Enron) 

FACT: Enron gave 73% of it's nearly $5.8 million in political donations to Republicans since 1989. During the last 2000 campaign, Enron chief executive Ken Lay raised over $350,000 for the Republican Party and his buddy George W. Bush. For most of the year 2001, Enron's donations favored Republicans by a ratio of 9 to 1. Then, only a week before declaring bankruptcy, the company abruptly changed course and gave $100K to the Democrats (who then decided to give the money to charity).

Mark Racicot (Conflict of Interest, Corporate Interests) 

FACT: When Jim Gilmore was fired as head of the RNC earlier this year his replacement was chosen quickly. Marc Racicot - successful politician and close friend of George W. Bush, was nominated to fill the empty chair. However, according to the Washington Post, Racicot is also a "major player in Washington's lobbying industry." And he has no intention to step down from that role, even as he heads the party that holds both the White House and the House of Representatives. Racicot is currently registered as a lobbyist with seven organizations, (including Enron) but he is sticking with the National Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, who is currently engaged in intensive lobbying to weaken the Clean Air Act. Last week, Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for the DNC, said, "There is a real potential there for abuse, but the decision is ultimately up to the Republican Party."