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Kenny Boy supported Ann Richards! screamed the AWOL chimpanzee (line stolen from Saigon68) http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/1208785excerpt: When asked about his ties to Lay on Thursday, Bush suggested that he only inherited Lay as a political supporter.
"He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994," Bush said. "And she did name him the head of the Governor's Business Council, and I decided to leave him in place just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy."
But Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based campaign finance reform organization, said Lay and Enron financially favored Bush in the 1994 race and said Bush had "revised history."
The group said Richards received $12,500 from Enron sources during the 1994 election cycle. But contributions from Enron's political committee and executives totaled $146,500 for Bush, including $47,500 directly from Lay and his wife, Linda.
"President Bush's explanation of his relationship to Enron is at best a half truth," said Craig McDonald, the group's director. http://www.consortiumnews.com/2002/020602a1.htmlexcerpt: The Bush-Lay coziness earned the Enron chief a nickname from Bush as "Kenny Boy." But more importantly for Enron, Bush pitched in as governor and president whenever the energy trader wanted easier regulations within the U.S. or to have U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for loan guarantees or risk insurance for Enron's overseas ventures.
The Bush-Lay relationship helped Enron extend its reach across the globe, with the appearance of a successful company, as it pulled in billions of dollars in investment money from tens of thousands of unwary investors.
Now, in trying to insulate Bush from the spreading Enron scandal, White House aides have emphasized that administration officials rebuffed Lay and other Enron executives who sought a federal bailout to save their corporate skin. But the documentary record paints a different picture, showing that the administration did what it could last year to help Enron, until the Houston energy trader's collapse was so far advanced that its deceptive bookkeeping could no longer be kept out of public view.
Last year, Vice President Dick Cheney and his energy task force held six secret meetings with Lay and other Enron officials while developing an administration program that contained special favors for Enron. Bush named Lay’s allies to key regulatory positions, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which pushed for other pet Enron projects.http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0124-06.htmexcerpt: As President Bush endlessly told us during his 2000 campaign, he is a man of honesty and integrity. He takes responsibility. He does what's right. He sets an example for our children. He tells the truth.
So when the Enron scandal began to break and Bush was asked by reporters about his relationship with Enron chairman Ken Lay, one would have been forgiven for expecting Bush to admit that his ties to Enron are substantial. For the record, Lay is an old Bush family supporter, both of our current president and his father. Lay raised and contributed money for the senior Bush, who made him chairman of the organizing committee for the 1992 Republican convention in Houston. No company has given George W. more money over the course of his political career than Enron; Lay's first contributions to Bush were during his unsuccessful run for Congress in 1978. Lay donated $100,000 to Bush's gubernatorial campaigns (there are no contribution limits in Texas). During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush flew around the country on a corporate jet provided by Enron. Enron contributed $100,000 to Bush's inaugural committee; Lay and Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling each added $100,000 of their own. During the Florida recount, the Bush campaign set up a recount fund, limiting contributions to $5000. Both Lay and his wife gave the full amount. Add it all up, and since 1993 Enron and its employees have given Bush a grand total of $736,800. Oh, and the company gave the Republican party $1,138,990 in 2000; Lay himself has given the GOP $333,910 in soft money donations since 1998.
So let's just say the financial ties are pretty strong and go back a ways. But when Bush answered the reporters' questions about Ken Lay and Enron, you would have thought he was talking about somebody he barely knew. "He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994," Bush said. "And she named him the head of the Governor's Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken, and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020110-1.htmlexcerpt: Q When was the last time you talked to either Mr. Lay or any other Enron official, about the -- about anything? And did discussions involve the financial problems of the company?
THE PRESIDENT: I have never discussed, with Mr. Lay, the financial problems of the company. The last time that I saw Mr. Lay was at my mother's fundraising event to -- for literacy, in Houston. That would have been last spring. I do know that Mr. Lay came to the White House in -- early in my administration, along with, I think 20 other business leaders, to discuss the state of the economy. It was just kind of a general discussion. I have not met with him personally.
Q -- to inoculate and your administration politically from the fallout?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, Ken Lay is a supporter. And I got to know Ken Lay when he was the head of the -- what they call the Governor's Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor's Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken, and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy.
This is -- what anybody's going to find, if -- is that this administration will fully investigate issues such as the Enron bankruptcy, to make sure we can learn from the past, and make sure that workers are protected.
<snip>
Q What can you do about pensioners -- what can you do about pensioners now? Isn't that horse already out of the barn at Enron?
THE PRESIDENT: Our group is meeting, and they will bring recommendations here. They'll look at -- fully investigate what went on. My concern, of course, is for the shareholders of Enron. But my -- I have great concern for the stories -- for those I read about in the stories who put their life savings aside, and for whatever reason, based upon some rule or regulation, got trapped in this awful bankruptcy and have lost life savings.
And one of the things this group is going to do is take a good hard look at it. |
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