"Slick Willie" and "Kenny Boy"

Media Monitor ^ | 7/25/2006 | Roger Aronoff

[Mike Bates]

After Enron's former chairman Ken Lay died on July 5 of a heart problem, the mainstream media were quick to point out how President George W. Bush affectionately once called the convicted criminal "Kenny Boy." Numerous references were made to the close ties between the two.

SNIP

History shows, however, that Lay supported Ann Richards when George W. Bush first ran for governor of Texas in 1994. While it is true that Lay and Enron gave some $6 million to various candidates and both parties, mostly to Republicans, at least $1.5 million went to Clinton and the Democrats. What did Lay and Enron get in return? Numerous trips overseas with Commerce Secretaries and Energy Secretaries, help on at least 18 overseas business projects, and lots of financial support in return for campaign donations. Through the Export-Import Bank and OPIC, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, in loans and loan guarantees, Enron received close to $2 billion in, what shall we call it? Corporate welfare? Payback? Investigative reporter Paul Sperry did an excellent job documenting the benefits Ken Lay received from the Clinton administration.

Lay was a member of Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development and backed the U.N.'s global warming treaty. Enron participated in a U.N. conference to develop Communist China's coal reserves.

Prosecutors in the case against Enron executives Lay and Jeffrey Skilling say they had been providing false and misleading financial information from 1999 until Enron filed for bankruptcy in late 2001. When the company finally was forced to accept the reality of what was happening, there was one more effort to keep things afloat. A prominent Democrat, Robert Rubin, who had been Clinton's Treasury secretary, suddenly got busy.

Rubin had become the chairman of the executive committee at Citigroup, one of Enron's largest creditors.

[Hoplite]

Enron/Lay crimes under Clinton

Prosecuted under Bush

Trying to pin the Enron mess on one party or another is an exercise in the pot calling the kettle black as both parties were more than happy to take Enron money and protect and promote Enron interests until the company disintegrated.

If one wants to pin blame for the fiasco, one need look no further than Enron itself: Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow killed Enron through acts of commission, while Kenneth Lay and the Enron board, who had the primary responsibility of watching the shop, let it all happen through acts of omission.