White House downplays ties to Lay

[UpInArms]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2669071

WASHINGTON -- The White House sought today to minimize President Bush's ties with indicted former Enron chief Kenneth Lay, saying it has been a long time since they talked and suggesting it was only a passing friendship.

When Bush was governor of Texas, he called Lay "Kenny Boy" and Enron was a big financial backer. Bush has received more than $550,000 in donations from Enron, its employees and their relatives during his political career -- the most from any source.

Lay was accused in an 11-count indictment of being involved in a wide- ranging scheme to deceive the public, company shareholders and government regulators about the energy company that he founded and led to industry prominence before its collapse in 2001.

"Cracking down on corporate wrongdoing is a top priority for this president," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said when asked about Lay's indictment today. "The administration is taking strong and aggressive actions to pursue corporate wrongdoers and to strengthen corporate accountability. I don't think I'm going to get into discussing specifically a criminal indictment."

...more...

next they'll be trying to pass him off as an Ann Richards supporter again.

[BeatleBoot]

1. The truth is the lie

And the lie is the truth with these guys

[iam]

15. And...

ketchup and french fries are vegetables.

[papau]

18. Will media/Olbermann play Bush/Lay 12/02 Tape by Lester Holt?

Will media/Olbermann play Bush/Lay 12/02 Tape by Lester Holt

Edited on Thu Jul-08-04 12:39 PM by papau
1. htuttle's archives found this MSNBC tape -by Lester Holt - that I am sure NBC will show us tonight - yeah - like our media whores would ever tell the truth.

Bush/Enron Party Tape! (MSNBC clip from 12/2002) by Lester Holt about a 1997 going away party Enron held for 'a departing Enron president'. Enron employees and several Bush family members put together a video tape for the party. One good clip is Poppy Bush saying, "You have been fantastic to the Bush family. I don't think anybody did more than you did to support George..." Other highlights include Enron accounting personnel joking about 'Hypothetical Future Value' accounting.

http://www.piratevideo.tv/Real/EnronBushClip.rm
(RealPlayer, 2.1 MB, 50 seconds)

BTW, Lester notes that George W. Bush was also at the party. This 'departing former Enron President' -- wouldn't that have been Ken Lay? I notice that Lester doesn't say the person's name, but Skilling started in 1997, and didn't Skilling take over President/CEO after Ken Lay? Listening to Poppy, it sure SOUNDS like he's talking about Ken Lay...


2. Here's another Bush/Ken Lay clip from Henry Waxman's committee

Ken Lay discusses his political support of George W Bush at a 2003 Enron employee meeting.

http://www.house.gov/reform/min/video/mov_enron_clips.h ...
(RealPlayer)

Direct link (about 5.4 MB)
http://www.house.gov:80/reform/min/video/mov_enron_lay_ ...

And some background material that will not make it into tonights 6 o'clock news!

Enron chief Ken Lay's own words and campaign contributions undercut President Bush's assertion this week that he merely inherited the energy executive's support from former Democratic Gov. Ann Richards.

Bush, seeking to distance himself from the troubled Houston energy company, said earlier this week that Lay had supported Richards against Bush in the 1994 gubernatorial race.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/1208785

One powerful name to keep an eye on during this energy crisis is Kenneth Lay, chairman and CEO of Texas-based Enron Corp., and a close buddy and contributor to President-elect George W. Bush.

Enron has been one of the prime movers behind California's energy deregulation and continues to be a significant player in the state as an energy marketer.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronic ...

Name: Kenneth Lay
Occupation: Chair & CEO, Enron Corp.
Industry: Energy & Natural Resources
Home: Houston, Texas
1999 Salary & Perks: $42.4 Million

The $550,025 that the Enron Corp. gave Bush over the years makes it his No. 1 career patron, according to the Center for Public Integrity. “Virtually every … aspect of Enron’s operations is overseen by the federal government,” a ’96 Dallas Morning News story noted. Not surprisingly, this global natural gas giant and its top executive are big political contributors who keep revolving doors whirling. Lay hired President Bush’s cabinet members James Baker and Robert Mosbacher as they left office. After President Bush’s ’93 Gulf War victory tour of Kuwait, Baker and other members of his entourage stayed on to hustle Enron contracts. The Clinton administration also threatened to cut Mozambique’s aid in ’95 if the world’s poorest country awarded a pipeline contract to a different company. Enron got Bush to contact Texas’ congressional delegation in ’97 to promote a corporate welfare program in which U.S. taxpayers finance political risk insurance for the foreign operations of corporations such as Enron. Enron plants around Houston—which surpassed LA for the title to the nation’s worst air—are “grandfathered” air polluters that exploit a loophole in state law to avoid installing modern pollution-control technologies. Earlier this year the Houston Astros inaugurated their new Enron Field, which was financed with $180 million in public tax dollars and $100 million from Enron. In return, Enron landed tax breaks and a $200 million contract to power the stadium. Topping Enron’s political wish list in Texas was deregulation of the state’s electrical markets. Bush signed this dream into law in ’99.

http://www.tpj.org/pioneers/kenneth_lay.html

Sounds like a job for Keith Olbermann

[catzies]

30. House.gov links to video clips taken down (evidently)?

RATS.

[htuttle]

31. No, I think the links were just truncated

Here's the proper links for the video from House.gov:
http://www.house.gov/reform/min/video/mov_enron_clips.htm
http://www.house.gov/reform/min/video/mov_enron_lay_bush.rm

[catzies]

35. Thank you! You are a prince among pirates

ARR!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. So will the media play this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1944068

[havocmom]

14. NSMA, good link!

From the DU thread NSMA suggested:

One good clip is Poppy Bush saying, "You have been fantastic to the Bush family. I don't think anybody did more than you did to support George..."

Rub their collective noses in the parties, like this and the one celebrating the shrub's ascent to the thrown.

[tridim]

3. What's the problem?

Doesn't everyone fly on private jets donated by people you hardly know?

[underpants]

6. AND taking a day off a campaign to watch Kenny Boy throw a ball

BTW- The Bush campaign paid Enron back for the use of the plane......according to Enron's books.

[underpants]

8. AND being a part of the transition team

:bounce:

[underpants]

9. AND interviewing anyone who might conceivably regulate Enron

:bounce:

[Mithras61]

13. "According to Enron's Books"

Now there's a recipe for real trust, huh? :)

"Well, it's on Enron's books, so it must be true!" -- Sure it is!

[underpants]

4. I actually laughed out loud at the "passing friendship" BS

Strangers in the night
exchanging glances..........

[Trajan]

5. TIA's Definitive Bush/Enron Information Thread ...

Time to re-introduce the Enron stuff folks ...

Thanks TIA ...

Thanks Will ...

From that mighty tome: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1255847

http://www.alternet.org/story/12155

Bush's Enron Ties

By Edward B. Winslow, AlterNet. Posted January 2, 2002.

The Enron Corp. scandal involves millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Bush, U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm and other members of Congress.

Almost 30 years have elapsed since the "third rate burglary" of the Democratic National Committee headquarters on June 17, 1972 that opened the dam of the Watergate scandal. The press and members of Congress largely ignored the crime, as then President Richard M. Nixon kept the nation's focus on the war in Vietnam.

Similarly, with the press and Congress distracted by President George W. Bush's war in Afghanistan, they are ignoring another scandal. No third rate burglary, the Enron Corp. scandal involves millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Bush, U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm and other members of Congress. The cozy relationship between the Bush White House and Enron enabled Kenneth L. Lay, then Enron's CEO, to meet in secret with Vice President Richard Cheney to help mold the nation's energy policy. Bush's presidential campaign received $1.14 million from Enron.

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.

Bush also resisted attempts to crack down on Enron's utilization of its 847 offshore subsidiaries in countries with lax banking-regulation laws. The consumer-rights watchdog organization Public Citizen alleges that some of these offshore havens helped Enron defraud its stockholders.

Moreover, while Sen. Gramm was working the Congress to pass legislation favorable to Enron (and collecting nearly $260,000 in campaign contributions from the company), his wife Wendy Gramm first was chairperson of a regulatory committee overseeing Enron's business activities and later a paid member of that company's board of directors. Enron paid her between $915,000 and $1.85 million, according Public Citizen. Sen. Gramm has announced his decision not to seek reelection for another term in the senate.

-snip-

Cmon folks: SHOW the world what LIARS the Bush WH is ....

[Sandpiper]

7. If Enron hadn't collapsed

This crook would have probably been Bush's Energy Secretary.

But now that he's indicted, it was just a passing friendship.

[underpants]

10. Lay actually said yesterday that the friendship lead to the investigation

:cry:IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!!!!!!!!!! :cry:

[Claire Beth]

11. translation:

They are down in the polls, elections are drawing nearer. They think this will help them.

[cliss]

22. This is called being reactive, as opposed to

being pro-active. I think of them as a little leaf, floating downstream. The leaf gets knocked by one rock, and then the current takes it to another rock, and so on down the current.

It's so ridiculous. If they had been pro-active, they would have taken care of Ken Lay while the wounds were still fresh. They could have shown all those people who lost not only their jobs but also their retirement, that they meant business.

They could have thrown his ass in jail way back then. But did they? NO, because the crony ties were too infested. This was a buddy, so he was off-limits.

[russian33]

12. Like Chalabi, this too was a 'passing friendship'..

riiiight

[Noxmtbnk]

16. Lest we forget...

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0708042lay1.html

My favorite is the gift of "Tejano Santa" for Christmas.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0708042lay5.html

[TryingToWarnYou]

33. Here is the print...

[Kahuna]

17. Bush will pardon Kenny Boy before he ever spends one day in prision.

Count on it.

[fdr_hst_fan]

32. I've said this in another thread,

and I'll say it here: Lay will NEVER get to trial-Asscroft will see to that!

[Rose Siding]

19. There it is- the sound of a rooster crowing

[delete_bush]

24. Am I just blinded by my disdain for the chimp

or is this the writing of someone at somewhere around the 8th grade level? What a simpleton.

"Wow! That is really old".

sadly, "old friends...seem to be getting older - just like you!"

No wonder he appeals to that half of the population with double digit IQ's.

[Whoa_Nelly]

20. How quickly the suppression

of the Bush-Lay ties:
http://www.rense.com/general19/backs.htm

Ken Lay- George W. Bush
Contacts Date Back To 1994

By Reed Irvine
NewsMax.com
2-8-2


DALLAS (UPI) - Former Enron chief executive Kenneth Lay's contacts with President George W. Bush date back to 1994 before he became governor of Texas, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

Lay wrote Bush shortly after he defeated Democrat Gov. Ann Richards in 1994, urging him to name Pat Wood to the Texas Public Utility Commission, according to a letter obtained by the newspaper. Last month, Bush told reporters he "got to know" Lay after being elected governor and described him as a Richards supporter.

Wood, who Lay called qualified to carry out the "new thinking" needed on the commission, was appointed by Bush three weeks after taking office. Lay was a top campaign contributor to Bush.

After Bush was elected president, Lay urged him to name Wood to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The president appointed him to that post in August.

more...

[cthrumatrix]

21. i'm sure the "liberal media" will investigate and report all

contributions for "bunnypants" in Texas and the WH.

Don't look for dots on the energy policy organize by "potty mouth" to get attention.

[Whoa_Nelly]

23. ...and REAL journalism reports...

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10200

Bush And Lay

Steve Cobble is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.

Four years ago this Wednesday, George W. Bush was taking time out from the campaign trail against Al Gore to travel to Houston to take in a game.

Where was he? Enron Field.

His host was Ken Lay. This was a big day for "Kenny Boy," as George W. once affectionately tagged him. One year earlier, Lay's Enron Corporation, one of the seemingly great economic stories of the 1990s, had agreed to pay more than $100 million over 30 years (!) for the naming rights to the new Houston baseball stadium.

<snip>
Ah, but there is a reason. You see, according to Opensecrets.org, Enron bossman Ken Lay was well on his way to building the Enron family into the soon-to-be-President-Select's number one lifetime donor—and for a mere $736,800, a pittance compared to that $100M for the naming rights to Enron Field.

more...

[ElsewheresDaughter]

25. WH Transition Team member...at the helm of the USS Greenville that.......

killed 19? Japanese children..#1 bush/cheney contributer..KennyWho?

[catzies]

28. Ok, now that is news to me. Kenny Boy on sub and at the helm???

:wow:

got link?

*heads to Google*

:)

[myrna minx]

34. Submarine info...

http://www.americanpolitics.com/20010219SubMariners2.html

Big Oil at the Controls
Subs Aren't the Only Things Dubya's Donors and Oil Buddies Are Mishandling
by Tamara Baker

Feb. 19, 2001 -- SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJP) -- Well, it sure took 'em long enough.

The Navy reports that after a "lengthy non-public investigation" the names of the 16 civilian VIPs aboard the USS Greeneville when it destroyed the Ehime Maru are finally being released.

Thanks to the work of several amateur Net sleuths, including the worthy "Delta Dart" of Salon's Table Talk message boards, a picture is beginning to emerge of these 16 VIPs.

Here's their names and their known political and financial affiliations:


#1: JAY BREHMER
OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS

#2: CAROL BREHMER
OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS
The Brehmers may not seem at first to have any oil, Texas or GOP connections -- but interestingly, we find that a Public Records: Yahoo People Search yields the following information:

Jay and Carol Brehmer...Spring, TX

Spring, Texas is a wealthy northern suburb of Houston, not far from the very tony suburb of The Woodlands (more on that later).

Also, Jay Brehmer is a Company Director of Aquila Energy as of October 2000.

more...


Civilian Says Submarine Took Precautions

February 17, 2001
New York Times
By CHRISTOPHER DREW
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/17/national/17HAWA.html?pagewanted=all

A Texas oilman who was aboard the submarine Greeneville said yesterday that its officers made six sweeps with the periscope at two slightly different depths but saw no other ships less than 10 minutes before it surfaced and slammed into a Japanese fishing trawler.
snip

Mr. Hall was then the chief executive of Fossil Bay Resources Ltd., an oil and gas company in Texas that paid $7,500 to the U.S.S. Missouri Memorial Association in Honolulu to be a sponsor of the golf tournament.

Earlier this week, Admiral Thomas Fargo, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, told several congressmen that most civilians on the Greeneville were donors to the Missouri restoration fund. But Mr. Hall said that was incorrect. He said he believed only one couple on board, Michael and Susan Nolan of Honolulu, had given money to the memorial.

He said the others were "just a social group that we put together."

Mr. Hall's wife, Leigh Ann, was on board, as was another former Fossil Bay executive, Todd Thoman and his wife, Deanda. Mr. Hall would not identify any others in the group.

[President Jesus]

26. Facts are Facts! Ken Lay was an open checkbook for the GOP. Proof:

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=TX&last=Lay&first=Kenneth

[David Zephyr]

27. Lay's Enron & Cheney's Haliburton Provided Bush Team with Jets in FLA 2000

When James Baker and the Bush legal team were fighting the Democrats during the contested Florida election in November and early December of 2000, Ken Lay and Dick Cheney both ordered the corporate jets of Enron and Haliburton to assist in transportation.

[stickdog]

29. Next headline: 'White House Downplays Ties To Cheney'

[AirAmFan]

36. Dubya: "Why I oppose price caps" on Kenny-boy's Enron gouging(5/01)

As his friend "Ken who?" does the perp walk, why aren't we watching the video of Dubya's big energy speech at the height of the Enron-caused California enrgy crisis? The only reason the lights did not go out on the "president" is that Los Angeles generates its own municipal power.

Here's an excerpt from the transcript, at http://www.lawac.org (click "Archived transcripts by surname A-H" in the lower left corner of the page):

"Speech before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council on May 29, 2001:

"The Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States

I'm glad to be here today to talk about our economy and a prosperity agenda for America.... And our prosperity agenda makes a priority of energy security. We can get everything else right, but if our energy supply is unreliable or unaffordable, our economy cannot thrive. For too long, America has neglected energy. The neglect ends now. My administration has developed a comprehensive national energy policy--more than 100 recommendations to promote conservation, expand energy production, improve energy transmission and protect the environment....

Blame shifting is not action, it's a distraction. My administration will continue to work to help California through the difficult months ahead.

All our efforts are guided by a simple test: Will any action increase supply at fair and reasonable prices? Will it decrease demand in equitable ways? Anything that meets that test will alleviate the shortage, and we will move swiftly to adopt it. Anything that fails that test will make the shortage worse. We will not take any action that makes California's problems worse. And that's why I oppose price caps. Price caps do nothing to reduce demand, and they do nothing to increase supply....

At first blush, for those struggling to pay high energy bills, price caps may sound appealing. But their result will ultimately be more serious shortages and, therefore, even higher prices. I want to assure Californians that the federal government takes very seriously our responsibility to make sure that companies are not illegally gouging consumers. I have publicly called on federal agencies to investigate all complaints of illegal gouging, and if those complaints are justified, to take strong and appropriate action. I'm pleased that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has done just that...".

[gulliver]

37. The much-vaunted Bush loyalty.

Ken who?

Then he walked out journalists trying to ask about Enron today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1951012