The Kenny Boy Lay and Jeff Skilling conviction was
gratifying, but neither lowlife should ever
see the light of day again. In the Great
2000-2001 California Energy Robbery, a group of 6 power
companies, led by Enron, through manipulating power production,
raised rates up to 90 fold. California people and firms were paying
as much in a day for electricity as they had in 3 months (Market Manipulation-CBS), threatening to shutdown the world's 6th
largest economy. Then in a breathlessly
audacious scam, the Republicans (who
had probably helped engineer it to punish
California for voting 12% more for Gore)
managed to use the 3-fold higher power contracts
Gray Davis signed with a gun to his and the
state's temple... to depose him in an unprecedented
recall and replace him with the Terminator.
Arnold quickly agreed to reduce the $9 billion
refund of the theft, getting much less in
a devils bargain with the power companies,
ordered by the Lay-selected FERC chairman,
Pat Wood. "Soon after Schwarzenegger took over from Davis, he signed off on a
series of deals with Reliant, Williams Company,
Dynegy, Entergy and the other power pirates
for ten to twenty cents on the dollar. Enron
paid just about nothing."Greg Palast "The energy crisis cost the state as much as $45
billion over two years in higher electricity costs,
lost business due to blackouts and a slowdown
in economic growth, according to the Public
Policy Institute of California."-CBS News
Another massive crime, still unearthed, was probably committed by Kenny Boy and participants in the meeting of the famous secret Cheney Energy Task Force. There, they no doubt discussed the desirability and feasibility of invading Iraq, and the oil bonanza it could produce. If this came out it would have scuttled the long planned invasion (by the Project for a New American Century), hence Cheney's desperate successful efforts to keep it draped with the veil of secrecy.
I discussed this in my piece END of BUSH's ROHYPNOL HONEYMOON?- onlinejournal April 12,2001
---"The Enron palm-greasing (lifting price-gouging controls on power) has devastated the California economy and bankrupted PG&E, which since all things roll downhill from California, will percolate malignantly through the rest of the economy. Bush may get the full scale recession he's been promoting. The bankruptcy bill payoff to credit card companies (his largest contributors) has a particularly bitter irony coming from a man who would have been forced into bankruptcy three times without rich family "friends" eager for the cachet and influence of the Bush name. He directly financially benefits from most of his legislation, just as he did in Texas. In these billions of dollars of sleazy corporate payoffs, Mr. Bush has in only two months become the most corrupt President in American history."---
And from Bush's Wanton War Oct 2002- "In his first act as President,
Bush cancelled the Clinton cap on exploding
California energy prices (up to 100-fold
increases, by criminal price fixing among
generators)- as a result Enron's revenues
ballooned from $25 billion in first half
2000 to $100 billion in the same period 2001-
even assuming a justified doubling in prices-
still $30 to $40 billion in criminal windfall
profits ripped from the pockets of voters
who had given his opponent a 12 point victory
and handed to his biggest contributor. This
shockingly corrupt and unreported act is
still the iceberg that might sink the Bush
administration." (Note: All of Enron's
numbers were, of course, lies, but even if
a third, it's still shocking levels of corruption.)
This California Energy Robbery was the first impeachable offense Bush conspired in (now 5 more*), and let's be clear about what was involved.
Raising prices:
1-3 fold is business
4-9 fold is price gouging
10-19 times is organized crime
20-40 times is massive institutional political corruption
90 times is terrorism and treason
We were close to invading Arabia in 1973 because OPEC raised oil prices only 4-fold. But when the crooked corrupt electricity cartel robbed California blind by raising prices 90-fold, the US government, via the FERC (whom Lay had helped appoint), sat on its hands. Enron, the other power companies, and their many confederates in the Republican Party committed economic terrorism against the people of California (13% of US GDP at $1.55 trillion) and therefore America. The fact that Republicans were able to avoid any blame and even use it to overthrow the Democratic Governor while the MSM slept, set the pattern for all the horrors to come of the Bush regime.
*Monstrous transfer of wealth + destabilizing the economy with tax cuts for the rich; Invading Iraq based on lies, Ignoring 750 laws by Presidential signing statements,
Promulgation of Torture throughout military in contravention of Geneva Convention, Massive criminal phone spying on citizens
