Handy tool to take wind out of freeps' sails re: Clinton & Enron

[Mandate My Ass]

Via O'reilleysucks.com:

http://www.oreilly-sucks.com/News/clinton.htm

Clinton and the Democrats did not cause the Enron disaster.

The Clinton Administration tried to PREVENT disasters like Enron from occurring -- and were stopped by the deregulation-crazed, corporate shill Republicans.

Here's a handy guide on the subject, with half-a-dozen of the bigger reasons why the right wing has suddenly gone missing on this matter. Download it and send it to your friends -- and to anyone out there who still thinks it's possible to fob this Republican scandal off onto Bill Clinton and the Democrats.

<snip>

1) Stopping Auditor-Consulting Conflicts by Accountants

In 2000, Clinton Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Arthur Levitt, Jr. proposed regulations to prohibit accounting firms from simultaneously serving as consultants and auditors. Arthur Andersen and other accounting firms mounted a massive lobbying campaign against the Clinton-Levitt regulations, killing them. The lead lobbyist for the accounting firms was Harvey Pitt. After being sworn in as President, George W. Bush named Pitt chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

2) Greater Disclosure of Energy Derivatives

In 1997, Bill Clintons Commodities Futures Trading Commission Chair Brooksley Born proposed greater regulation (by way of more stringent disclosure) of energy derivatives, the key financial instrument in Enron's Ponzi-scheme empire. Her proposal was beaten back by House Republicans, including then-House Banking Committee Chair Jim Leach (R-IA) who scolded her for two hours at a hearing.

3) Oversight of Energy Traders

In 2000, William Rainier, Born's successor as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told Congress that he was "deeply concerned" about a bill to exempt energy trading from CFTC review, noting that those who trade energy derivatives were not subject to any other oversight. Rainer's objections were largely ignored by the Republican-controlled Congress, and the exemption, heavily backed by Enron, became law.

</snip>

[mrcheerful]

1. Problem with freepers is according to their grand chairman the pukes have

not controlled either houses until after shrub stole the white house. Remember pukes battle cry of the Dem's being in control of both houses for the 40 years before king shrub? So in a freepers mind it wasn't pukes at fault it was those nasty Dem's and libirails.

[Gabi Hayes]

2. excellent

you know this is how they'll "defend" Lay and Skilling

they defend themselves by defaming the opposition, even though the "opposition" has nothing due to the matter at hand

[Warpy]

3. Thanks! It's bookmarked

It's amazing how many things Clinton tried to do that were blocked by the GOP Congress just because Clinton was doing them.

The most infamous of them all is the tightening of offshore banking regulation and oversight, something that Phil Gramm called "fascist" because he was protecting money laundering conduits used by (wait for it) ENRON.

Likely 9/11 would have been delayed or even avoided if their funding had been stopped by Clinton's initiatives.

[Mandate My Ass]

4. Wendy Gramm gets (dis)honorable mention on this site

for her role and how she got elected to Enron's board a few months afterward. Just another Enron/Bush republican scandal-protecting corporate shill.

[MrModerate]

5. I can see using the arguments on thoughtful right-wingers . . .

But the attention span of your average Freeper argues against their effectiveness. Little above the level of "yo mama!" is going to get through.

I've given up trying.

[Armstead]

6. The Democrats have supported privitization too much

Although Bill Clintron can't be "blamed" for the Enron mess, it's an unfortunate fact that he and the Democrats have not fought back the tide of privitization of public services -- and more unfortunately, they supported it on many levels.

Deregulation of public infrastructure has been part of the big Con Job of the last 30 years. The Democrats fell down on the job of trying to protect the notion that universal public services should be public -- not part of the Corporate Empire.