The George W. Bush and Kenneth Lay Connection

Kenneth Lay is actually partly correct that crookedness wasn't the reason Enron went down. Sometimes one crooked part of Enron didn't know what the other crooked part of Enron was doing so indeed some 'bad' business decisions were made. But clearly Kenneth Lay has much in common with George W. Bush: both oil men have a charm that disguises what they do behind the scenes and both have a knack for spinning stories.

Truthout has a post by Robert Parry of Consortium News on the curious relationship between Bush and 'Kenney Boy':

As Enron's crisis worsened through the first nine months of Bush's presidency, Lay secured Bush's help in three key ways:

• Bush personally joined the fight against imposing caps on the soaring price of electricity in California at a time when Enron was artificially driving up the price of electricity by manipulating supply. Bush's resistance to price caps bought Enron extra time to gouge hundreds of millions of dollars from California's consumers.

• Bush granted Lay broad influence over the development of the administration's energy policies, including the choice of key regulators to oversee Enron's businesses. The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was replaced in 2001 after he began to delve into Enron's complex derivative-financing schemes.

• Bush had his NSC staff organize that administration-wide task force to pressure India to accommodate Enron's interests in selling the Dabhol generating plant for as much as $2.3 billion.

(snip)

By the 2000 presidential campaign, Lay was a Pioneer for Bush, raising $100,000. Enron also gave the Republicans $250,000 for the convention in Philadelphia and contributed $1.1 million in soft money to the Republican Party. Not only was Lay a top fund-raiser for the campaign, but he helped out during the recount battle in Florida in November 2000.

Lay and his wife donated $10,000 to Bush's Florida recount fund that helped pay for Republican lawyers and other expenses. Lay even let Bush operatives use Enron's corporate jet to fly in reinforcements. After Bush secured his victory, another $300,000 poured in from Enron circles - including $100,000 from Lay and $100,000 from Skilling - for the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Fund.

(snip)

Once in the White House, a grateful Bush gave Lay a major voice in shaping energy policy and picking personnel. Starting in late February 2001, Lay and other Enron officials took part in at least a half dozen secret meetings to develop Bush's energy plan.

After one of the Enron meetings, Vice President Cheney's energy task force changed a draft energy proposal to include a provision to boost oil and natural gas production in India. The amendment was so narrow that it apparently was targeted only to help Enron's troubled Dabhol power plant in India. [Washington Post, Jan. 26, 2002]

Other parts of the Bush energy plan also echoed Enron's views. Seventeen of the energy plan's proposals were sought by and benefited Enron, according to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. One proposal called for repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, which hindered Enron's potential for acquisitions.

It's a long article. And although Robert Parry does an excellent job of covering the relationship between Bush and Lay, I'm sure there's even more to the story. The Bush we know now is not the same Bush much of the country thought they knew when he was first elected. Americans are no longer willing to give Bush the benefit of the doubt as they did five years ago.