Democrats Make Enron GOP's Albatross

[joefree1]

Democrats Make Enron GOP's Albatross

By Howard Kurtz
Thursday, December 18, 2003; Page A07
Enron Corp. has become the Democratic presidential candidates' favorite piñata, always good for a few whacks.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean rarely lets a speech go by without saying President Bush gave favorable tax treatment to the likes of "Ken Lay and the boys." Now Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is making the bankrupt energy company the centerpiece of a New Hampshire TV ad.
"The very idea that people at the top of Enron steal millions and millions of dollars, their employees lose their jobs, and investors lose all their money, I mean, how many of those people have gone to jail?" Edwards tells an audience in the ad. "I mean really, if somebody goes down to the grocery store and steals a half-gallon of milk, they end up in jail. But here we go with George Bush's friends, get in trouble, they don't go to jail.
Asked whether Edwards is criticizing the Justice Department's handling of the Enron case, campaign spokesman Roger Salazar said there is a perception that "people who are cozy with the Bush administration seem to get more leniency." Several former Enron executives have been indicted, and some have pleaded guilty.
More ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9665-2003Dec17.html

[POed_Ex_Repub]

1. When Ken Lay is actually facing charges...

Then maybe Enron won't be such a black eye. Until then, can they blame us?

[The Zanti Regent]

2. and WHOREWARD bleeds for those poor Enron Boys!

Dear Whoreward Kurtz:

Why don't you come down from that rarefied air you float around in and see how 90% of the American people are just scraping by?

[zulchzulu]

3. What about Dean's links to Enron in Vermont?

I'm not sure Dean wants to keep pounding his chest about Bush and Enron. Apparently, Dean was giving tax breaks to some Enron fellas back in VT. Yet another liability in the Dean vs. Bush campaign...

Trippi better check that one off too. Yeah, the one below the point of calling Bush AWOL when Howard went skiing...

From an article:

"Dean, who has attacked what he calls the "Enron economics" of the Bush administration, gave tax breaks to 500 companies with self-insurance branches, including Enron's, while he was Vermont governor, the Boston Globe reported.

Dean said in an interview with A.M. Best Co. in 2001, "We consider our competition to be Bermuda or the Cayman Islands," in terms of creating the right tax atmosphere to attract the self-insurance branches.

In December 1994, Enron set up what's known as a "captive insurance company," called Gulf Company Ltd., in Vermont - and Enron's former chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, who was on the board, came to visit."

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/43828.htm

[joefree1]

4. Wow, such support for Bush

Maybe Bush will contribute to that nasty Osama TV ad attacking Dean.

Dean's Campaign Manager Joe Trippi brushed aside Gephardt's attack and gave as good as his candidate got.
Trippi said, "As governor of Vermont, Howard Dean met with business representatives who were located in his state or who wanted to bring jobs and tax revenue to his state. Building a strong economy was one of the things Vermonters elected him to do."
Trippi then attacked Gephardt.
"If the Democrats in Congress like Dick Gephardt had produced a record like that, they'd still be in charge of Congress," Trippi said. "It's time to stop the name-calling, and it's time to stop the campaigns of smears and fear and remember that this election is about beating President Bush and electing a candidate who has the record to do that."
More ...
http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/nw03/talonnews/1203/121603-enron.htm

[joefree1]

5. Bush would be proud of that Osama Ad

Unions Among Financial Backers of TV Ads Trashing Dean
Two of the labor groups renounce the publicity spots, one using Osama bin Laden's image.
By Scott Martelle, Times Staff Writer

A secretive political group financed in part by labor unions has raised $500,000 to air anti-Howard Dean ads in three early primary states, angering the Dean campaign and drawing sharp criticism from campaign finance reform advocates.

Two of the unions renounced the effort Tuesday, saying the ads — including one featuring an image of Osama bin Laden — are not what they thought they were paying for.

The group, called Americans for Jobs, Health Care & Progressive Values, was formed a month ago by veteran Democratic campaign staffers who refuse to identify their financial backers until Jan. 31. That's the deadline for the group to file federal tax forms. The group's treasurer is a longtime fundraiser for Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, one of Dean's rivals in the Democratic presidential race, and its spokesman recently quit as press secretary for Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign. Both Gephardt and Kerry have denied any involvement with the group.
More ...
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-ads17dec17,1,7267592.story?coll=la-home-politics

[loudnclear]

6. "Dems make..." Excuse me, but it seems to me that the Republicans and

those doing business with and protecting ENRON Execs have made them the albatross.