Keith, You'll have to help me with this, but what law has been broken by Lay and the others at Enron?
My thought is that the laws against "insider trading" might have been broken - but those are surely for the professionals on Wall Street - not for corporation executives. Can a corporation be sued for going broke? Certainly, the people who are responsible can be fired but isn't that all? Also, if while things seem to be all right - even very good - if the top people give themselves hefty bonuses, isn't that OK. After all, they are producing hefty dividends for the share-holders. Is there a law against it? As for the shareholders, there is no guarantee that dividends will always be paid. When you invest, you take your chances. "Investors" take their chances and it is anything but rare for companies to fold. As for the 401K people, in the UK, the Liberal Party of which I was a Poo-Bahish holder of offices (long before young upstarts like Keith arrived) we had a policy of "Portable Pensions" which essentially allowed employees to carry their pensions with them from job to job. Now, I realize how important that policy was. Yet, it is a normal practice for firms to create loyalty by contributing to 401K's (and other pension plans) so valued employees won't change jobs. If the firm collapses and the 401K pensioners lose everything, that is terrible - the worst consequence of the crash - but is it a crime? I strongly detest conspiracy laws, but could any of the stars of the performance by caught be "conspiracy to defraud" charges? So, what I want to know is why should Lay (or any others) be handcuffed? What have they done that is criminal? Tell me. Harry ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Keith wrote: >Will we ever see Kenneth Lay in handcuffs? No, of course not. Like Ebbers >of WorldCom, he's too big for that. It will be one of his underlings. > >If at all. > >Concern is already being raised that no Enron executives have been charged >with malfeasance so far. I don't think they ever will be -- or at least >not for a long time -- because evidence of too close relationships with >Bush and Cheney will be incriminatory. If and when Enron executives are >taken to court they will get off with relatively minor charges and >punishments, despite the fact that they have ruined thousands of lives. > >How will Bush and Cheney delay proceedings? Quite easily. They are >planning a major war in the Middle East. Americans will forget about >relatively trivial matters in the coming months. > >Let there be no mistake. Just as soon as Bush starts landing troops in >significant numbers in southern Iraq or Kuwait, Saudi Arabia will erupt in >a fundamentalist Islamic revolution. It might well erupt before American >troops are landed -- and then American troops will have to get in very >quickly to protect the oil wells. Also, it is highly likely that >fundamentalism in Iran -- somewhat sotto voce in recent years -- will >re-erupt. > >I think Saddam Hussein's statement yesterday that all Middle East Arabs >will unite against America will prove to be correct. Within a few months, >possibly a few weeks, America will be fighting against large armies on >three sides -- from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran. America can't possibly win >this sort of conventional man-intensive, tank-intensive battle because in >this sort of warfare numbers count -- besides there'll be too many body >bags to send home. > >I think we will find that America will threaten all the Muslim countries in >the Middle East with nuclear bombs (and may even use one or two as prompts) >to establish order. What Bush will do after then, goodness only knows, but >at least he will have established some sort of control over the >continuation of oil exports to America. He will keep his "allies" happy, of >course -- ensuring that Europe, Japan and China continue to receive Middle >East oil, and supporting Russia in its problems with its adjoining Muslim >nationalities. > >The coming Gulf War II will solve several problems for Bush quite besides >guaranteeing oil supplies to America and being able to brush Enron under >the carpet. It will help Congressional Elections in November. He'll be able >to reflate the economy from the depression into which it is currently >heading. And, finally, he'll be able to sweep to power for a second term. > >That's the strategy, anyway. It might not turn out quite like that. It will >probably be a lot worse. In the coming year or two I think we might see >savagery and deaths on a scale that hasn't been seen since World War II. > >Keith Hudson ****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 *******************************
--- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.380 / Virus Database: 213 - Release Date: 7/24/2002
