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BuzzFlash Interviews Greg Palast
February 8, 2002
BUZZFLASH INTERVIEWS BBC INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER GREG PALAST
Greg Palast, an investigative reporter for the BBC and the Observer (sister paper of the Guardian), is well-known among BuzzFlash readers for his expose on how Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris disenfranchised black voters in Florida. Based in London (because tenacious investigative reporters are not valued in the U.S. media, he Says) Greg is thorough, cynical and fearless. In March, BuzzFlash.com will be featuring Greg's new investigative reporting book, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy."
Greg Palast takes no prisoners. Here's Greg as quoted in news release by the Institute for Public Accuracy: "The California blackouts are a simple case of greed run amok. The big winners in this monstrosity are Enron -- the largest career contributor to George W. Bush -- and other energy companies who have strangled the market. 'Deregulation' is a lie -- it is simply moving regulation from democratic government agencies to an unelected circle of market manipulators." Palast said today: "There's a whole band of power pirates out there fiddling the books, rigging the markets, and buying and selling politicians like bags of sugar -- from Argentina to Houston to Washington to New York. In fact, you simply can't divide the collapse of Enron from the collapse of Argentina. Enron wasn't a bad apple -- the entire system of deregulating electricity is rotten, root and branch. Arthur Andersen didn't have a few bad boys. As an investigator, I've watched their financial finagling run amok -- all under the name of 'innovation.' They just don't get it: one, two, a hundred Enrons are charging down on us, and a dozen Argentinas -- unless we restore the right to put the reins on these let-the-markets-rule pirates. That's why kids were in the streets of Seattle, and are now protesting the World Economic Forum. It's more than a protest, it's a wake-up call..."
Greg Palast bears down on Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike, if they've got something unsavory to hide. His specialty is in exposing corruption: financial and political alike (although, they generally present themselves as a package deal).
He's a one-man journalistic sleuth ferreting out fools, knaves and hypocrites.
BuzzFlash was glad to interview him on Enron, globalization, corporate and political corruption, political backbone andOh, well, just read it already!
BUZZFLASH: If you were a member of Congress, what would you be looking for right now in terms of Enron and its connection with the White House?
GREG PALAST: Well first of all, I'd be looking for all the meetings, not only the ones between Ken Lay and Dick Cheney, because those meetings are really schmooze operations. The dangerous fixes are done after the big boys meet, and their staffs take over at the lower levels. It's that discussion between the minions of Ken Lay and the underlings in the White House where Dick Cheney basically says "do whatever these guys want." Let me give you an example, just so you know what I'm talking about.
In December 2000, Bill Clinton was about to take his bow and leave office. In response to Enron's laying siege to California, Clinton issued through the Energy Department, an order which effectively barred Enron from trading into California. It effectively put Enron out of business for a while on their biggest trades. The day after George Bush took office, which means, he was still hung over and, you know, sweeping out the confetti out of the Oval Office, he had the Energy Department issue an order overturning Clinton's order, putting Enron back into the speculation game in power. I'd like to know how that happened. How did they make that decision in hours of taking office? Who set that up and when? That's one of the first questions.
I'd also like to go way back into the records. You can't just start with the White House connection. Enron was the largest contributor to George W. Bush's career. And it goes way back even to Argentina.
We know that one of the Bush boys, and according to some sources it was George W. Bush, spoke with an Argentine senator who was very conservative by the way, and a friend of the Bush family. One of the Bush boys called him in 1988, saying, "Since Argentina is privatizing the gas pipes, the incoming administration would appreciate if you would give it to Enron." The Argentine Senator was incensed because Enron was bidding one tenth of what the competitors were offering. By the way, Enron got the pipeline in Argentina. They also got the water system, which is something else people should know and talk about. So you have to go further back than January 20th, 2001 or even the campaign contributions by Ken Lay, to begin an investigation.
As an investigator, you start with one document and it leads to another, and that leads to another document. And that's what the Bush administration is afraid of. They're afraid of the Democrats, and it looks like Henry Waxman is actually beginning to act like a real opposition. And I think that's scaring the daylights out of these guys. Keep in mind, we do not have secret government. When Bill Clinton tried to hide records about meetings to start putting together the health care plan, the Republicans sued him to get the information. Judges were about to hold the White House in contempt, and make Clinton pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for not divulging documents. That's why we have the Freedom of Information Act. It's not even about giving documents to Congress. Every citizen is entitled to open government. The White House is your house, and I'm pretty goddamn resentful when some guy who didn't get elected tries to take it away.
(more)
For the full interview with Greg Palast, visit BuzzFlash:
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/2002/02/Greg_Palast_020802.html
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