Posted on 02/17/2003 8:51:08 PM PST by Hildy
Exactly! Do a Google search on "Enron" and "India" to find out how the Clinton administration and Ken Lay strong armed India to build a natural gas power plant, even though India had no NG resources (they'd have to buy the NG from Enron). One of the major reasons for the failure of Enron was the fact that India stopped making payments on the project. A number of well known business schools now use this as a case study for what NOT to do in the business world, as well as government corruption.
Mark
After that, all the bleating about how the rich got richer under Clinton through ill-gotten means, how can liberals defend Clinton on this when Reagan was savaged for eight years about how the rich got richer under his watch. If Reagan was guilty, why isn't Clinton?
Your friend's statement that Clinton's legacy will not be harmed by the events of the 90s is true. His legacy will be harmed in the 00s as we see how he enabled China and North Korea to obtain the ability to hit California with nukes. If Taiwan or South Korea is captured because the communists held us at bay by threatening to nuke L.A., I'd say the Clinton legacy will have been firmly established.
Clinton is but a minor part of what led up to 9-11. There was a collective national failure. But if there is piling on by the right about Clinton and 9-11 is it any more seemly than Senator Clinton proclaiming that Bush knew in advance from the floor of the Senate?
For their part, Republicans controlled the House during six years of the Clinton administration and four years of the Senate. Therefore, they should get some of the credit for the economic success of the 90s as well as blame for the security breaches that led up to 9-11.
Anyway, that's my food for thought. Incorporate what you wish into your next reply.
My guess is for the same reason that communist Prodestants, communist Catholics, and communist Aethists side with them: Because they're communist!
Just like conservative Jews, conservative Prodestants and conservative Catholics side with US supporting organizations.
Mark
Zing! You sound like good friends! ;)
Remember when The Bent One first got into office? One of the first things that he and the leftist congress did was to pass a bill making all compensation over one million dollars to CEO's (note: not rich stars, or athletes, or lobbyists, just CEO's) NON tax deductable. The corporations, wanting to have top talent in top positions had to ride a wire; how to pay these people what they were worth, while not getting screwed by the government for doing so. Well, along came the stock options plan. A company would pay a CEO only so much, but then give the option to buy stock in the company for really cheap. Well, what did the CEO's do? The falsely inflated the value of the stock then sold the options, to get the money that they RIGHTFULLY DESERVED but were being denied because of a socialist government that cannot abide people being successful without them. The only reason that these big business scandals happened in the first place is that the government used force to cause CEO's to act in a way that behooved them the most.
The optimal relationship is to do business as usual, to provide product or service for payment, and remain competitive in the hopes that these relationships will continue. But the Dims stepped in and made it unprofitable to continue the paradigm that results in all sides of the equation being equal and happy in return for being able to tell the 'people' that they screwed some rich bastard over real good. But these CEO's arent stupid, and they are going to get paid one way or the other. After all, they do deserve their pay, no matter how the Dims try to preach to everyone that they dont. And if your friend tries to say that they dont really 'work' for their money, ask him if he would rather pay Einstein to think, or to dig ditches. Not all work is physical, unless you are too stupid to understand the value of the fruits of coherent thought.
Hope that helps...JFK
Very well spoken, I might add, and so totally true...JFK
1990 - 1994 : (ENRON GIVES 42% OF ITS DONATIONS TO DEMOCRATS... AND GETS RESULTS, NOT INVESTIGATION)
1991 - 1992 : (ENRON, CLINTON ADMINISTRATION) During the 1991-92 election cycle, Enron gave $28,525 to the Democratic party while former Clinton Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Enron gave $42,000 to the Democratic party in the 1993-94 cycle. Source: PublicIntegrity.org 1992 : (CONGRESS, ENERGY BILL FAVORABLE TO ENRON) In 1992, a Democratic-controlled Congress approved a major energy bill that set the stage for a new wholesale electricity marketplace. Trading companies such as Enron could use the transmission lines of regulated utility companies to sell blocs of electricity to private customers. Source: Washington Post
AUGUST 1993 : (KEN LAY & BILL CLINTON GO GOLFING IN VAIL) McLarty, Clinton's former chief of staff, arranges an invitation for Lay, Enron's CEO, to play golf with Clinton in Vail, Colorado. This date irritated Oscar Wyatt, chief executive of Coastal, another natural gas company that had helped the Clinton election campaign raise funds. These connections to the Democratic administration helped Enron considerably. Source: Time Magazine
1994 : (MMT CONTRIBUTES $50, 000 TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TN TO ESTBLISH A CHAIR TO HONOR AL GORE'S SISTER) - "Nuclear Security Meltdown DOE worries more about leaks to Congress than to China," by Kenneth R. Timmerman The American Spectator June, 1999
1994 - 1996 : (POOR SECURITY AT US NUCLEAR LABORATORIES ALLOWS CHINESE NATIONALS UNESCORTED ACCESS) From 1994 to 1996, only two percent of some 1,500 Chinese visitors to DOE nuclear weapons design laboratories received any security checks whatsoever. At Los Alamos, for instance, the Chinese were "allowed unescorted after-hours access to controlled areas to preserve what one official described as an open 'campus atmosphere.'" Despite promises to correct the problems, DOE managers and contractors "have shown a lack of attention and/or priority to security matters." -General Accounting Office, GOA report, April 20, 1999 - "Nuclear Security Meltdown DOE worries more about leaks to Congress than to China," by Kenneth R. Timmerman The American Spectator June, 1999
1995 : (MMT PROMISES TO RAISE $50,000 FOR THE CLINTON-GORE RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN) - "Nuclear Security Meltdown DOE worries more about leaks to Congress than to China," by Kenneth R. Timmerman The American Spectator June, 1999
1995 - 2000? : (GORE-MBEKI BINATIONAL COMMISSION) "Bilaterally, the Department of Energy has strong programs in many African countries. Our longest running and largest effort is with South Africa, a program initiated in 1995 under the Gore-Mbeki Binational Commission. With South Africa, we have worked together on over 100 efforts on joint programs that provide solar power to hundreds of rural schools, clinics and homes, offer training to government and business energy experts, demonstrate low-smoke stoves that reduce health risks and carbon emissions, help to build energy-efficient homes, as well as policy advice and restructuring efforts in oil, gas, renewables, nuclear, nuclear waste, efficiency, electricity, coal and other areas. " - Source : Statement of Calvin R. Humphrey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy, Before the Subcommittee on Africa, Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, March 16, 2000 (Note: In the text, one billion equals one thousand million.) "Text: Africa "Key Source" for Energy Supply and Development : Senior U.S. energy official testifies before Congress," Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov
JUNE 1996 : (ENRON DONATES TO DNC) In June 1996, four days before India granted final approval to Enron's project, Enron gave $100,000 to the DNC.
JUNE 1996 : (INDIA APPROVES ENRON PROJECT)
1996 : (CLINTON ADMINISTRATION APPOINTEES HELP ENRON) In 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, stocked with Clinton appointees, helped Enron with a series of orders that weakened the monopoly of nuclear and coal-burning utilities. In July of that year, Enron gave $100,000 to the Democratic Party. Source: Washington Post
JANUARY 1997? : (O'LEARY RESIGNS POSITION AS SECRETARY OF ENERGY) In a twist that should no longer shock observers of the Clinton administration, almost as soon as Hazel O'Leary resigned as secretary of energy in January 1997, she joined the board of ICF Kaiser, the parent of the company that top DOE official Edward J. McCallum had cited for poor management of Rocky Flats. O'Leary remains on the Kaiser board today (June 1999), and her husband, John O'Leary, does consulting work for the group. Kaiser also hired Thomas Grumbley, a former aide to Al Gore who was put in charge of DOE's Office of Science and Technology. At DOE, Thomas Grumbley had "harpooned" Kaiser's performance at Rocky Flats, according to Mark Graf, the former security chief at Rocky Flats.Former aide to Al Gore Thomas Grumbley now works for Kaiser as president of its Environment & Facilities Management Group. - "Nuclear Security Meltdown DOE worries more about leaks to Congress than to China," by Kenneth R. Timmerman The American Spectator June, 1999 1997 : (AL GORE AIDE & DNC FUNDRAISER PETER KNIGHT IS HIRED BY MMT) - "Nuclear Security Meltdown DOE worries more about leaks to Congress than to China," by Kenneth R. Timmerman The American Spectator June, 1999
1997 : (FORMER AL GORE AIDE, IN CHARGE OF DOE'S OFFICE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, IS FOUND TO HAVE FUNNELED DOE CONTRACTS TO ANOTHER COMPANY, MMT, WHICH HAD HIRED OTHER GORE AIDES.) In 1997, the House Commerce Committee discovered that Al Gore aide Thomas Grumbley had funneled lucrative DOE contracts to Molten Metal Technology, after the company had hired Gore aide (and top DNC fundraiser) Peter Knight as its chief Washington lobbyist. MMT executives contributed $50,000 in 1994 to the University of Tennessee to establish a chair honoring the vice president Al Gore's sister, and in 1995 told Knight they would raise $50,000 for the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign, according to Commerce Committee documents. - "Nuclear Security Meltdown DOE worries more about leaks to Congress than to China," by Kenneth R. Timmerman The American Spectator June, 1999
OCTOBER 17, 1998 : (CLINTON SIGNS FOWLER AMMENDMENT REQUIRING PLA FRONT COMPANIES TO BE LISTED; CLINTON IGNORES LAW, LATER LIES ABOUT IT) The Clinton administration, however, often is not so quick to protect national security. Clinton signed the Fowler Amendment into law on Oct. 17, 1998, requiring that a list of companies controlled by Communist China's People's Liberation Army be published in the Federal Register by Jan. 15, 1999. So far, President Clinton has ignored the law and refused to reveal the Chinese army-owned businesses operating in America. According to House members, the Clinton White House claimed in September 1999 to have assigned the task of identifying the Chinese army companies to the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA, however, has quietly informed congressional leaders that the White House did not ask them to prepare such a list. Thus, the identity of the Chinese army front companies operating inside the United States continues to go unreported. - "Remember Los Alamos : Bill Clinton's National Security Comedy Act," by Charles Smith, World Net Daily, June 21, 2000
1999 : (CLINTON ADMINISTRATION, HUMPHREY, AFRICAN ENERGY INITIATIVE, BLUEPRINT FOR US-AFRICA PARTNERSHIP, RICHARDSON) "To demonstrate this commitment, last year Secretary Richardson announced the African Energy Initiative at Howard University. Under the Initiative, the Department of Energy vigorously engages in bilateral and multilateral efforts to promote sustainable energy development and regional integration. Secretary Richardson's African Energy Initiative builds upon President Clinton's commitment to Africa and the Blueprint for U.S.-Africa Partnership. The Blueprint, as you know, was signed in Washington, in March 1999, and delineates a road map to promote democracy, good governance, human rights, trade and investment, and global integration. " - Source : Statement of Calvin R. Humphrey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy, Before the Subcommittee on Africa, Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, March 16, 2000 (Note: In the text, one billion equals one thousand million.) "Text: Africa "Key Source" for Energy Supply and Development : Senior U.S. energy official testifies before Congress," Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov
MARCH 1999 : (AFRICAN ENERGY INITIATIVE, BLUEPRINT FOR US-AFRICA PARTNERSHIP, RICHARDSON) The Blueprint was signed in Washington, DC.
DECEMBER 1999 : (AFRICAN ENERGY INITIATIVE, US-AFRICA ENERGY MINISTERS CONFERENCE) Secretary Richardson hosted the U.S.-Africa Energy Ministers Conference in Tucson, Arizona. This Conference, a cornerstone of the Secretary's African Energy Initiative, represented the first time that Energy Ministers from Africa and the U.S. convened as a collective body to discuss the future of Africa's energy sector. The response was overwhelming. Representatives from 48 countries participated, including 41 Ministers. They expressed their desire to establish an ongoing process and agreed to meet again in South Africa toward the end of this year. - Source : Statement of Calvin R. Humphrey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy, Before the Subcommittee on Africa, Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, March 16, 2000 (Note: In the text, one billion equals one thousand million.) "Text: Africa "Key Source" for Energy Supply and Development : Senior U.S. energy official testifies before Congress," Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov
**** Five days after giving the Democratic National Committee $100,000, Enron executives were on a "trade junket" with then-Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. Enron netted more than $500 million in government assistance through contracts with foreign governments. - http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/000/769wnrjo.asp
Hildy, You can give credit to the Republican Congress but the truth is that it all happened while Clinton was president. If he could run today he would win by a landslide. Let's look at the record of Clinton's presidency.
360 billion came off the national debt.
22 million new jobs were created.
We had our longest economic expansion of eight years in our history.
The lowest unemployment rate in 30 years
The lowest crime rate and 100,00 new police officers added nation wide.
Welfare rolls became the smallest ever.
The largest deficit became the largest surplus.
Gun legislation was passed that never got through before.
More university graduates than ever before. The internet came to thousands of schools that could not afford it. Thanks for inventing it Al Gore!
These things happened under the Clinton administration and you can say whatever you like but the Republicans think they were responsible for all the above is a bunch of hogwash. Now that 43 is president we have a stock market that wiped out wealth, major terrorism that threatens our existence, real estate that is unaffordable, health care that most people cannot afford crime up and the deficit growing at an all time high. Meanwhile, we are cutting taxes so the rich do not pay dividends. Mr. Oil seeing gas hit all time highs and people not feeling safe. I think Bush is not doing a good job and I think if things stay the way they are he will follow Daddy as a one term mistake.
So Cyrano...what now?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.