By MARC McDONALD
So Hillary Clinton has decided to return donations linked to disgraced fundraiser Norman Hsu.
OK, good: that was the right thing to do.
And while we're on the topic of campaign donations, I have a question for the Republicans.
When will George W. Bush return the $1.14 million that his campaign received from Enron?
You remember Enron, don't you? It was only the most evil corporation in the history of American capitalism (and that's really saying something).
And while it's unclear exactly what Hsu ever got for his efforts to raise money for Clinton, it's quite clear what Enron got in return for the cash it gave Bush.
For a start, Enron got a seat at the table to meet in secret with Dick Cheney to help plan the country's energy policies. Bush also went to bat for Enron and fought against federal price caps that allowed Enron to price-gouge millions of energy customers in California, a fiasco that nearly bankrupted that state. As a result, Enron reported increased revenues of almost $70 billion from the previous year.
As Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) put it, "senior Enron executives were enriching themselves at the same time that Enron was lavishing large campaign contributions on President Bush and the Republican Party and apparently influencing the administration's energy policies."
The whole sordid Bush/Enron saga is way too sweeping and complex to go into detail here. But suffice it to say, the entire rotten mess towers over the nickel-dime, chump-change Norman Hsu affair.
And, unlike the Hsu case (which was quite limited in its impact), the Enron affair ultimately was very costly to millions of ordinary Americans. These ranged from shell-shocked California energy customers to thousands of screwed Enron employees, who were forced to invest their retirement plans in company stock that plunged in value even as top executives were raking in millions by cashing in their shares when Enron stock was at its peak.
The MSM held Clinton's feet to the fire until she decided to return the Hsu donations. Now, will the pundits demand that Bush return the $1.14 million that his campaign got from Enron?
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9 comments:
"Now, will the pundits demand that Bush return the $1.14 million that his campaign got from Enron?"
Um, no. That's different. God wanted Bush to have the money. He surely doens't want Hillary to have it.
IOKIYAR
PIAPS MAY HAVE RETURNED THE MONEY, BUT THE BLOOD STAINS ARE STILL ON HER FILTY HANDS!!!!
I'm as anti-Bush as a person can probably be, but didn't several Democrats accept Enron donations as well?
http://www.opensecrets.org/alerts/v6/enron_cong.asp
http://www.opensecrets.org/alerts/v6/enron_pres.asp
Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'd like to cite your post in my own blog. Thanks!
And will he return the money raised by Alan Fabian, indicted for fraud and money laundering. Fabian paid for the Inaugaration Party in 2004.
Fabian was also Romney's National Finance Manager.
re:
>>>I'm as anti-Bush as a person
>>>can probably be, but didn't
>>> several Democrats accept Enron
>>> donations as well?
Yes, and some Log Cabin Republicans have given money to the GOP.
But to try to portray the Enron scandal as anything other than a Bush/GOP scandal is as misleading as calling the GOP the party of gay rights.
Yes, some Dems got Enron funds---but it was nickel/dime chump change, compared to the millions of dollars that Enron lavished on the GOP and Bush.
The post is kind of whiney, and the format is yawningly predictible. "OK, you caught my guy screwing a sheep, but what about all those goats your guy screwed? Wah!!!" I know you are not really that agahst (how the hell do you spell that word)that politicians take dirty money in order to fund their campaigns. Instead of pointing out the boring and the obvious, how about taking a fresh approach and propose some solutions instead? How about this: If you are caught taking illegal campaign contributions, you may not return to the evil contributor. Rather, you must pay ten times the amount to the opposing candidate. Now THAT would make some good drama!
By the way, the Enron contributions to both parties were legal. Distasteful contributions are not the same as illegal contributions.
No kidding! Has ANY Republican EVER returned any ill-gotten campaign funds???
re:
>>>By the way, the Enron
>>>contributions to both parties
>>>were legal.
I think the jury is out on this.
re:
>>> Distasteful contributions are
>>>not the same as illegal
>>>contributions.
The jury is out on this, as well. Remember, Hillary voluntarily returned the Hsu money. If it'd been an illegal transaction, then there would've been nothing voluntarily about returning it.
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