-Caveat Lector- "I would have discussed how Enron moved to exempt itself from federal oversight. At the end of the first Bush administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ruled 2 to 1 that it would no longer regulate Enron's energy trades."
"It has been more than a decade since Neil Bush, the president's younger brother, helped run a Colorado savings and loan into the ground, costing taxpayers $1 billion. In 1991, federal regulators restricted Neil's banking activities and fined him $50,000 -- but his family connections rescued him, as Republican supporters contributed to a special fund to defray his legal costs....Now, with another Bush in the White House, Neil is back. During the presidential campaign he launched Ignite, an Internet start-up company poised to benefit from federal plans to pump more money into public education -- a move his brother fully supports." http://www.truthout.com/01.28C.WP.High.Places.htm Friends in High Places - William Rivers Pitt - t r u t h o u t | 01.27.02 Enron was allowed to fiddle with California's power while lifting their wallets due to the efforts of Senator Phil Gramm, Republican of Texas. Gramm blasted a new law through Congress in 2000 that took the buying and selling of electricity "off the books," according to Public Citizen researcher Tyson Slocumb. Before the passage of Gramm's bill, which went against the recommendations of then-Treasury Secretary Rubin and Fed Chairman Greenspan, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had been making noises about price caps because of the extreme energy costs being levied against California energy users. After Gramm's law was passed, attached as it was to a must-sign bill, Enron's energy trading moved beyond FERC's oversight powers. Enron's profits quadrupled in the next quarter. It should be noted that Gramm has accepted some $100,000 in political contributions from Enron during his time in politics. FERC finally made good on its threat last June and instituted price caps on energy in California. Enron, which had been reaping fabulous profits on its off-the-books energy trading and power manipulation in California, suddenly found itself taking losses. The party abruptly came to an end on December 2nd, 2001, when Enron filed for the largest bankruptcy in history....At the end of the day, the fall of Enron could well be laid at the feet of those who knew their manipulation of the California power grid was illegitimate, and perhaps even illegal. Enron has some 2,832 subsidiaries, 874 of which are registered in nations that are notorious tax havens such as the Cayman Islands. These off-shore subsidiaries are perfect places to hide profits from those who would call the company to account for its actions in California, from tax investigators, and from bankruptcy creditors. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/02/05/ED218673.DTL Ken Lay leaves California in the dark -- again Barbara Boxer Tuesday, February 5, 2002 THE ENRON story is a story of corporate irresponsibility, greed and worse..... I would have discussed how Enron used its influence to successfully lobby for deregulation of the California energy market and then manipulated that market. Deregulation allowed Enron to buy and sell electricity behind closed doors in an effort to trade up the price of energy through futures contracts before it reached the consumer.... I would have discussed how Enron moved to exempt itself from federal oversight. At the end of the first Bush administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ruled 2 to 1 that it would no longer regulate Enron's energy trades....It also petitioned and won from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exemption from the Public Utility Holding Company Act. In December 2000, a hidden provision was written into a spending bill brought before Congress to allow Enron to trade completely away from any regulated marketplace like the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Enron was free from government regulation, but one obstacle remained: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). According to its charter, FERC must protect against unjust and unreasonable prices. So when California turned to FERC for relief from exorbitant electricity prices, Enron turned to the Bush administration for protection from FERC,...Lay about his meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney in April 2001 to discuss "energy" issues....U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee http://www.motherjones.com/news_wire/bushboys.html Bush Family Value$ The Bush clan's family business by Stephen Pizzo September/October 1992 But Spectrum had one asset the others lacked -- the son of the vice-president. Rescue came in 1986 in the form of Harken Energy, just in the nick of time. Harken absorbed Spectrum, and, in the process, Junior got $600,000 worth of Harken stock in return for his Spectrum shares. He also won a lucrative consulting contract and stock options. In all, the deal would put well over $1 million in his pocket over the next few years -- even though Harken itself lost millions. http://www.motherjones.com/magazine/MJ01/neilbush.html That Other Bush Boy The president's brother Neil hopes to profit from his family's influence. by Michael Scherer May/June 2001 It has been more than a decade since Neil Bush, the president's younger brother, helped run a Colorado savings and loan into the ground, costing taxpayers $1 billion. In 1991, federal regulators restricted Neil's banking activities and fined him $50,000 -- but his family connections rescued him, as Republican supporters contributed to a special fund to defray his legal costs. Before long, Neil was once again living off the Bush name, flying to Kuwait with his father to sell antipollution equipment to oil contractors. Now, with another Bush in the White House, Neil is back. During the presidential campaign he launched Ignite, an Internet start-up company poised to benefit from federal plans to pump more money into public education -- a move his brother fully supports. With Neil at the helm, Ignite quickly raised $7.1 million from 53 investors to produce educational software designed to enable teachers and administrators to track student learning through Web-based lessons. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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