Ghost in the Machine
Enron, Etc.
The Raptors Bite Back.
“‘We rely on those transactions,’ Mr. Lay said during the September meeting, according to Mr. Glisan. ‘They are imperative for us to hit our numbers and we will continue to do them.‘” Prosecutors begin to wrap up their case in the Enron trial with the testimony of former Enron treasurer Ben Glisan, Jr., who is currently serving a five-year prison term for his part in the fraud. (He created Enron’s “Raptors,” “four fragile financial structures…used to house assets and investments and to hide losses.”) According to the NYT, he “provided some of the strongest testimony against Mr. Lay heard by the jury so far.”
Enron’s End Run.
“Fastow, in a nervous but steady voice, spent most of his first six hours on the stand describing quid pro quo deals he arranged with Jeffrey K. Skilling, then Enron’s chief executive. He said Skilling was so obsessed with making the company look good for Wall Street that Skilling approved of sham deals that helped the company meet its earnings targets while Fastow…personally skimmed millions of dollars off the transactions.” Following last week’s damning testimony by Kevin Hannon (“They’re on to us“), former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow took the stand yesterday as part of a plea deal. The prosecution’s star witness in the Enron case, Fastow is “also prosecutors’ most personally tainted witness, a man who admitted to stealing and involving his wife in fraud and who described himself Tuesday as sometimes ‘obnoxious’ and ‘opportunistic.’” Sounds like he was in good company. Update: On Day 2, Fastow implicates Ken Lay, and the defense sharpen their knives.
Slick.
Well, I guess that explains why the GOP didn’t swear ‘em in. The Post obtains a smoking gun document that proves, contrary to their statements last week, big-time oil executives met with Cheney’s energy task force to determine the nation’s energy policy in 2001. No big surprise there — While Cheney has been trying to hide records of the meetings for years, we’ve known that 62 of 63 members of the task force had ties to the coal, nuclear, or oil industries, with nary an environmental group in sight. Plus, it was clear at the time that the final energy plan was tailored by Enron for Enron, and their ilk. Still, this does mean that Big Oil lied bald-faced to Congress (and specifically Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who asked them about this directly.) And, while perjury’s not on the table, “a person can be fined or imprisoned for up to five years for making ‘any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation’ to Congress.”
The Halftime Score.
Monica who? On the eve of Dubya II, Salon‘s Peter Dizikes offers a short but comprehensive list of this administration’s scandals thus far. Thirty-four and counting…not that you’d know it from watching the evening news.
Youa Culpa.
Former Enron chief Ken Lay attempts damage control in the New York Times. “‘If anything, being friends with the Bush family, including the president, has made my situation more difficult,’ Mr. Lay said in a recent interview, ‘because it’s probably a tougher decision not to indict me than to indict me.’” Yeah, ok, buddy.
California Scheming.
Transcripts emerge of Enron officials bragging about “stealing money from California…to the tune of a million bucks or two a day.” Whatsmore, it appears that former chairman and Bush buddy Ken Lay, who has not yet been charged with any Enrongate malfeasance, knew full well that his company was extorting millions from the likes of “Grandma Millie from California.” Shady.
The Puppet President.
There are conservatives and there are conservatives. Is Dubya a free market Friedmanite? Nope, just a stooge for business.
Werewolves of Baghdad.
Slate correspondent Daniel Benjamin pokes holes in Condi and Rummy’s recent spurious comparisons between postwar Iraq and Germany. Yep, it’s more revisionist history emanating from Team Dubya. In related news, Jack Beatty laments Dubya’s lack of postwar vision, which now seems ever more constrained to lining the coffers of Halliburton.
Summoning the Spirit of Enron.
After a week of considerable coverage for Dean (due to his second-quarter funding success), John Edwards tries to get back in the game by unveiling his corporate accountability plan. As usual, I think Edwards is playing this smart. The issue shores up his Populist creds while drawing attention to an area where Dubya is dismal. And Edwards still holds a trump card, in that he is the only top-tier candidate with an answer to the Dem’s Southern problem. It’d be nice to see Edwards, Dean, and Kerry go head-to-head-to-head in a real debate, but first the field still needs to be culled, of course.
Lest we forget.
The Corporate Scandals of 2002. You know, the ones that were all over the news before Saddam began his unchecked aggression again. Wait a tic…when did Saddam…? Now I’m confused.
Slinking out the Back Door.
Oh, and by the way, Harvey Pitt resigned yesterday, right after the polls had closed in the East. After all, we wouldn’t want to remind anyone of how thick the corporate corruption surrounding Dubya and his minions runs until after the election now, would we? As it turns out, the GOP-controlled Congress probably won’t look into SEC malfeasance anymore anyway.
The Other Shoe Drops.
Perhaps content that Saddam’s “resurgence” has snuffed out media coverage of Enrongate for the time being, Dubya tries to gut the SEC’s budget increase, making it impossible for the agency to fulfill the requirements of the recently-signed Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Absolutely shameful. And, as per usual, I think we can guess who’s the brains behind these latest shenanigans.
Wrestling Big Business.
After winning the Minnesota Democratic primary, incumbent Senator Paul Wellstone runs on corporate responsibility. Hey, he’d get my vote.
Market Fundamentalism.
Financier and philanthropist George Soros weighs in on the recent spate of corporate malfeasance and the dangers of “market fundamentalism.”
Talkin’ the Talk.
“The era of low standards and false profits is over…No boardroom in America is above or beyond the law.”. And with that, Bush signs the corporate reform bill. He then leaned into the microphone, made the Dubya face, and declared, “You can run but you can’t hide, Dick Cheney. We’re going to hunt you down like the agent of evil you are. You hear me talkin’, Halliburton boy?“
Setting the Record Straight
Ex-President Clinton fires back at Dubya on corporate abuse.
Don’t call it a comeback.
The stock market rallies almost 450 points today, but will it be enough to take the heat off Dubya?
There He Goes Again.
As GOP polls predict considerable electoral fallout from Enrongate, Dubya plans to regain the political initiative during the August congressional recess. Uh-oh.
Out of touch.
On a day which saw the stock market drop below 8000, Dubya (according to the Standard & Poors index, the worst President in 75 years) declares “the future’s gonna be bright.” Oh, good…I feel better already. As Time noted yesterday, “the President and congress appear to be zealously attacking corporate abuses the way Pilgrims would a dance hall. But get past the reformist posturing, and the proposed new laws add up to half-measures.
The Next to Fall?
The plot thickens…just when the stock market really doesn’t need any more bad news, turns out Citigroup helped Enron evade the law to clear $125 million in debt. Shameful…struggle to get by, and Citibank screws you with exorbitant credit interest rates. Live on the high hog, and they cut you an (illegal) sweetheart deal. Update: J.P. Morgan is in the mix too.
I’ll trade you my Ebbers rookie card for a Waksal…
Corporate Scandal Trading Cards…collect them all!
Shrinking Coattails.
In the wake of the administration’s corporate shadiness, GOP candidates run away from Dubya and his vice-president.
The Road to Perdition.
NYT editorialist Frank Rich deftly skewers Dubya yet again. “For [Bush's] first pitch, he appeared against a blue background emblazoned with the repeated legend ‘Corporate Responsibility.’ Next came a red backdrop, with ‘Strengthening Our Economy’ as the double-vision-inducing slogan. What will be strike three – black-and-white stripes and ‘Dick Cheney Is Not a Crook’? Maybe this rah-rah technique helped boost the numbers back when George W. Bush was head cheerleader in prep school. But he’s not at Andover anymore. Where his father’s rhetoric gave us a thousand points of light, his lopped a thousand points off the Dow.”
Stand by your man.
Dubya defends Cheney against charges of Halliburton shadiness.
The Ivy Cradle.
Much as the Bushes have derided Eastern elitist universities during their presidencies, it turns out Harvard kept Harken afloat during Dubya’s stint there. In related news, George Soros – another big Harken investor at the time – admits to David Corn he was “buying political influence” when he gave money to Harken. So much for Dubya’s business savvy.
Corporate Socialism.
Ralph Nader weighs in on the corporatization of America in the Post. “At stake is whether civic values of our democratic society will prevail over invasive commercial values.”
The People Have Spoken.
According to two recent polls, a majority of Americans think (a) Bush is owned by Corporate America and (b) Gore-Lieberman should not run again in 2004. Looks like the electorate is batting 1000 this morning.
Cheney’s Harken.
Lot of Enrongate coverage today, I know…but I’ve been out of it for a few days. Here’s a good recap on Cheney’s Halliburton shadiness.
Making Pitt stop.
John McCain devours Dubya crony and SEC chairman Robert Pitt (whom Dubya has ill-advisedly embraced despite the calls for his resignation) on Meet the Press.
Fortunate Son.
In the wake of WorldCom, industry experts doubt FCC Chairman Michael Powell’s ability and desire to put the brakes on the telecom meltdown.
Rescue attempts.
While Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan tries to assuage the market (something Dubya is seemingly incapable of), the Senate and House pass measures to stifle corporate malfeasance (and the stock market free-fall), thanks to a Republican “deathbed conversion.”
Do as I Say, Not as I Do.
Dubya calls for the end of a corporate loophole he himself profited from back in his Harken days. Meanwhile, this being an election year (and since I’m sure their profiles aren’t doing so hot right now), the Senate voted unanimously on several measures to curtail corporate malfeasance, a number of which go further than Dubya desired.
Running for Cover.
“In the long run, there’s no capitalism without conscience. There is no wealth without character.” I dunno, Mr. President…you seemed to do pretty well for yourself. In his much-anticipated speech yesterday, Dubya tried to put the brakes on the Wall Street sell-off and quell the growing questions surrounding his own stock shadiness (timeline here.) Needless to say, it didn’t seem to work.
Sinking deeper.
As Worldcom execs take the fifth and both Congress and the Dubya administration prep for damage control (for the latter, in a Wall Street speech tomorrow,) White House strategists look desperately for a way to avoid being hoisted by their own petard. Says Dubya of his Vice-President, who’s in deep with the Halliburton scandal: “There are good actors and there are bad actors; he’s one of the good guys.” May work for terrorists, George…doesn’t work so well for executive profiteers.
Corporate Finance Reform.
Meanwhile, John McCain weighs in on the corporate scandals and calls for the resignation of SEC Chairman (Dubya flunky) Robert Pitt. (Via the swankily redesigned Medley.)
Hitting .333.
Frank Rich weighs in with another discerning op-ed on Enrongate, in which he notes that the Bush administration has significant ties to FIVE of the companies currently under scrutiny – Enron, Halliburton, Andersen, KMPG and Merrill Lynch (which is why, of course, Dubya keeps talking about WorldCom.)
Now you’ve done it.
You’ve gone and ticked off Ralph. Nader calls for a probe into Dubya’s Harken stock dump.
Blame Business Casual.
Robin Givhan of the Post blames the recent corporate scandals on Dress-Down Fridays. Somehow, I don’t think most of these guys would be any more straight-laced in a power tie.
Pinterested
Visions
Before Midnight (9/10)
Currently Reading
Hidden Cities, Moses Gates
Omsbudsdog.
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