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Bush's Corporate Responsibility plan is pretty anemic -- not what you'd expect from a president desperate to keep the current crisis from becoming a major political liability.

For President Bush to pretend to be shocked that some of the nation's top executives deal from a stacked deck is akin to a madam feigning surprise that sexual favors have been sold in her establishment. Dubya may have gaps in his education, but ignorance of ''aggressive accounting'' techniques and other scams they don't teach in Biz 101 is not one of them.

Over the 4th of July weekend, stories about Bush's questionable behavior as an executive of Harken Energy became grist for the weekend talk shows. With today's Wall Street policy speech looming, the President and his men hoped that addressing the inevitable press questions about Harken the day before would take the steam out of the issue today.

Here is one of the most remarkable aspects of the still-unfolding financial scandals swirling around Worldcom, Xerox, Global Crossing, Enron, Arthur Andersen, Tyco and a growing number of other companies: The fraud occurred in the most heavily regulated and monitored area of corporate activity

An internal Securities and Exchange Commission memo from 1991 says President Bush repeatedly failed to file timely reports of his business interests and transactions before his election as Texas governor.

May 6, 2002 -- According to a new report released today, many of the U.S. government's largest contractors have repeatedly broken the law or engaged in unethical conduct. However, they are never even temporarily suspended, let alone debarred, from gaining additional government contracts. Smaller contractors are not so lucky. The report, profiled in U.S. News and World Report today, was published by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).

WASHINGTON (April 3, 2002) -- The Bush administration this week moved to oust a top scientific official targeted by ExxonMobil in a confidential memo to the White House. Bold language in the ExxonMobil papers released today by NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) reflects a brazen, behind-the-scenes effort by the oil company and other energy giants to disrupt the principal international science assessment program on global warming.

House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) relishes in describing the Marianas as his personal Galapagos Islands. The 14-island chain of Pacific Islands has long been DeLay's image of a perfect business environment -- virtually devoid of business or environmental regulations. Only one other entity, Enron, curried more favor with DeLay.

The administration of President George W. Bush relied exclusively on the advice of energy companies - many of which donated large sums of money to the Republican Party - in formulating its controversial energy strategy, according to government documents released this week.

While most people believe that Enron is an important political issue, the Democrats have not succeeded in turning this to their political advantage. The main fallout, as far as public opinion is concerned, is that a large majority favors, and very few people oppose, campaign finance reform; and a substantial plurality favors a new federal government agency to regulate accounting firms.

AUSTIN, TX -- A little more than a year after more than 200 ''Pioneers'' narrowly helped put him in the White House, George W. Bush has rewarded at least 43 of these elite fundraisers with federal appointments.

Here are some facts and figures about Enron. As of June 2000, Enron had contributed $10,265 to Sen. Slade Gorton 's Campaign (Center for Responsive Politics).

This investigative report the uncovers close ties between the GOP candidate and Enron Corportations CEO.

Just before dawn on June 3, 1997, police officers forcibly entered the homes of several women in Veldur, a fishing village in western India, dragging them into waiting police vans and beating them with sticks.

The administration's energy program, developed by Vice President Dick Cheney in secret meetings -- six of them with Enron officials -- could have been written by lobbyists for the now failed company.

A few months after the White House got a list of recommended candidates from former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, a friend and backer of President Bush, two of them were appointed to a federal energy commission.

Top executives say Williams Companies faces huge losses due to deals with Enron. But a lawsuit says they were covering up the company's own Enron-like activities.

Now that the holiday season has passed, please look into your heart to help those in need. Enron executives in our very own country are living at or just below the seven-figure salary level...right here in the land of plenty.

During former defense secretary Richard Cheney's five-year tenure as chief executive of Halliburton, Inc., his oil services firm raked in big bucks from dubious commercial dealings with Iraq. Cheney left Halliburton with a $34 million retirement package last July when he became the GOP's vice-presidential candidate

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