Tornado Alley (PROG)

[blackhawks]

There is NO Party full of more useful AND useless corruptible idiots than the GOP. A more fair assignment of culpability for the Enron scandal would have included the following.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron

During early 2002, Enron was awarded Harvard's (in)famous Ig Nobel Prize for "Most Creative Use of Imaginary Numbers". The various former members of Enron management team all refused to accept the award in person, although no reason was given at the time.

Enron's influence on politics

George W. Bush, sitting U.S. president at the time of Enron's collapse, received $312,500 to his campaigns and $413,800 to his presidential war chest and inaugural fund.[102]

Dick Cheney, sitting U.S. vice president at the time of Enron's collapse, met with Enron executives six times to develop a new energy policy. He refused to show minutes to Congress.[102]

John Ashcroft, attorney general at the time, recused himself from the DOJ's investigation into Enron due to receiving $57,499 when running for senate seat in 2000.

Lawrence Lindsay, White House Economic Advisor at the time, made $50,000 as a consultant with Enron before moving to the White House in 2000.[102]

Karl Rove, White House senior advisor at the time, waited five months before selling $100,000 of Enron stock.[102]
Marc F. Racicot, Republican National Committee chairman nominee at the time, was handpicked by George W. Bush to serve as a lawyer with Bracewell LLP, a firm that lobbied for Enron.[102][103]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron:_The_Smartest_Guys_in_the_Room

It also explores the strong political connections Ken Lay and Enron had, particularly to the administrations of President George H. W. Bush and his son, President (and earlier Governor of Texas), George W. Bush, and suggests that the Bush administration's lack of response during the California energy crisis could have been intended as a means of sabotaging then-Governor of California Gray Davis, who was speculated to be a strong potential challenger to the younger Bush in the 2004 Presidential election.

Indeed, the crisis was a contributing factor to Davis being recalled in 2003, which ended his political career. Skilling, who succeeded Lay as Enron's CEO on February 12, 2001, blames California's energy laws for the crisis and denies that Enron is acting inappropriately, infamously stating in a 2001 episode of Frontline that "We are the good guys. We are on the side of angels." Eventually, the Democratic-controlled United States Senate ends the crisis by imposing price controls. Bush's connections to Ken Lay come under scrutiny in the press, which intensifies after Enron's collapse.