> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Doug Pensinger > Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 9:16 PM > To: Killer Bs Discussion > Subject: Re: Gray Davis Recall Election Set for Sep-Oct > > Jon Gabriel wrote: > > > > > No, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Bush > > administration tried to stop California from fighting Enron with price > > caps and we can safely assume that this was in part because Enron was > > lobbying the Bush administration to do so as reported in AP: > > (http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20020131/53224.html) Consumers > > definitely got screwed because of that and the general attitude at the > > time from the administration seemed to be 'blame the victim', which was > > simply inappropriate once the truth about Enron's business practices was > > made public. > > > > Some googled sites: > > > > http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002556.php3 > > http://www-irps.ucsd.edu/irps/innews/sdut-040401.html > > http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1c020601.html > > > > If this were a normal situation, price caps would have been a terrible > > idea that would have made the situation worse over time. Economists > > publishing in Fortune, the National Review and the Wall Street Journal > > all gave very clear and impassioned arguments as to why caps would > > encourage corporate disinterest in increasing supply or making upgrades > > to current equipment in CA. But afaik, they did so before the truth > > about Enron's price gouging was revealed. Since Enron was deliberately > > creating a crisis by boosting energy prices through the roof, price caps > > weren't just appropriate in this case, they were an absolute necessity. > > > > Also worth considering are the extremely close ties Bushco has to the > company. I believe I remember reading that Enron CEO Kevin Lay and the > Shrub attended each others family functions on a regular basis, and that > the Bush administration recruited something like a dozen Enron > employees for top-mid level positions so it isn't as if these people > were strangers to one another.
However to play devil's advocate, the administration could have bailed Enron out and opted not to do so. Just because members of the current administration were close to the Enron execs didn't mean those execs were above the law. Jon Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
