Enron Was an Equal Opportunity Corrupter

Re “The Company Presidency,” Opinion, Feb. 10: Kevin Phillips’ attempt to tie President Bush to the Enron debacle would be funny (and in some ways it is funny) were it not so dishonest.

Left out of the article are a few key facts. Such as the fact that Enron contributed hugely to just about every major politician in America. Sen. Joe (“Holier Than Thou”) Lieberman pocketed campaign contributions from Enron. Ann Richards, whom George W. Bush defeated in the race for the Texas governorship, also happily accepted Enron money. Many other Democrats, including Sen. Hillary Clinton, gladly cashed Enron checks. (After the company floundered last month, she donated it to charity.) Enron executives were aboard the famous Ron Brown (Commerce secretary in the Clinton administration) jet plane trips, courtesy of hefty campaign contributions to Clinton.

The hidden, and untrue, assumption buried in the Phillips article is that because President Bush has consistently favored energy deregulation (along with many other energy experts) and because Enron nominally did the same, that this somehow constitutes a quid pro quo. Phillips knows better.

Roger J. Buffington

Huntington Beach

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Kudos to Phillips. He raises the proposition as to which dynasty, the Bush family or Enron, built the other. It’s apparent that it was a mutual enterprise. Phillips chronicles the deception, the lies, the intrigue and the collaboration with the acuity of a surgeon’s scalpel.

Enron execs plead the 5th, former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling “can’t recall,” Vice President Cheney refuses to comply with the bipartisan General Accounting Office’s request and an endless list of Bush Cabinet members and appointees, ad nauseam, all point to an administration mired in muck. Isn’t it ironic that Teapot Dome was also over “energy”?

Thanks also to Patt Morrison for providing a little levity with her verse, “Red Ink and Ken” (Opinion), to an otherwise obscene and outrageous situation.

Dan Pellow

Los Angeles

*

Unlimited contributions from big corporations like Enron inflict the most corrupting influence on our government. They undermine the “one man, one vote” principle by tempting honest politicians to give preference to their contributor’s agenda.

Executives use company cash to pad the pockets of politicians. Enron’s executives bought their way out of government oversight so they could make billions at the expense of their shareholders, employees, retirees and power customers. Other corporations and unions do the same thing regularly. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!

Congress has a chance to end this abuse by passing the Shays-Meehan law. No more backpedaling. Now is the time for our representatives to stand up and represent us, the voters.

Robert Kittner

Granada Hills

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Everyone leaving Enron before the collapse seems to be absent of any knowledge of wrongdoing, but got rich. The people who stayed lost their jobs and their life savings. Who should we be looking for? Follow the money.

James Fenwick

West Hollywood