Progress Report:

[Guest guest]

> Thu, 08 Jul 2004 09:01:42 -0700

> Progress Report:

> " Center for American Progress "

> <progress

>

 

 

Center for American Progress - Progress Report

 

 

by David Sirota, Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and

Jonathan Baskin

 

 

 

July 8, 2004

WAR ON TERRORCapture, Good; Politicization,

BadCORPORATEKenny Boy SurrendersCIVIL LIBERTIESVeto

Threat 'Hysteria'

UNDER THE RADAR

 

 

CORPORATE

Kenny Boy Surrenders

 

Former Enron-CEO Ken Lay surrendered to the FBI this

morning after being indicted on criminal charges

expected to include fraud, conspiracy and insider

trading. The indictment focuses on " a series of

optimistic statements Lay made to analysts and

employees in the months before Enron's fall, which

cost thousands of workers their jobs and retirement

savings. " If convicted, Lay " could face many years in

prison and multimillion-dollar penalties. " Eleven

former Enron officials have already pled guilty or

been found guilty at trial. But Lay's indictment has

much broader significance. Lay is a close personal

friend of the President, who calls him " Kenny Boy, "

and was the first person the administration turned to

on important issues of energy policy. Even as Lay

finds himself in federal custody, his influence

continues to guide the administration's energy policy.

 

THE KEN LAY PLAN NOW OFFICIAL ADMINISTRATION POLICY:

According to Vice President Dick Cheney, Lay met

privately with him in April 2001 " to talk about

energy. " Lay was " the only chief executive of a major

player in the electric power industry to confer

privately with Cheney as he formulated his national

energy strategy. " Lay said that he was " flattered that

[Cheney] decided to meet with me, and at least hear me

out as to some of the things I thought were pretty

important that should be considered for his report. "

At the meeting, Lay handed Cheney a memo outlining

" eight points spelling out Enron's case for why

federal authorities should refrain from imposing price

caps or other measures sought by California officials

to stabilize runaway electricity prices. " At the time,

Enron was manipulating the market to bilk hundreds of

millions of dollars from West Coast ratepayers, with

company traders caught on tape " gloating over the

crisis they helped create. " Nonetheless, " seven out of

eight recommendations were adopted in the

administration's final energy plan. " And the president

is still pushing the Ken Layplan as the solution to

the nation's energy woes.

 

BUSH APPOINTED LAY'S RECOMMENDATIONS TO FERC:

According to Lay, shortly after Bush became president,

he " had two or three meetings with various people in

the White House on the whole issue of energy policy. "

On one of those visits Lay says he " presented a

list...which, in fact, had some recommendations as to

people that we thought would be good commissioners [on

the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)]. " The

commission is an extraordinarily powerful agency that

controls regulation of the nation's energy industry.

Subsequently, Lay was called upon to conduct phone

interviews with potential nominees to FERC. The White

House has confirmed that " two people on Ken Lay's list

#8211; Pat Wood and Nora Brown #8211; were in fact

picked by President Bush for seats on the [five

member] FERC. "

 

FERC COMMISSIONER CLASHES WITH LAY, IS REPLACED BY

BUSH: In the first months of Bush's presidency, Lay

called then-Chairman of FERC Curt Hebert and asked him

to force companies to grant Enron access to the

electrical grid. According to Hebert, he was not

" willing to do what [Lay] wanted me to do. " PBS was

told Lay threatened to withdraw political support from

Hebert if he didn't comply with Lay's request. By May,

Vice President Cheney was already referring to Pat

Wood #8211; one of the commissioners recommended by

Lay who supported opening up the electrical grid

#8211; as the new Chairman of FERC. In August,

President Bush replaced Hebert with Wood. Wood

subsequently approved Lay's request that Hebert had

rejected as bad policy.

 

LAY AND ENRON WERE BUSH'S #1 CONTRIBUTORS: All the

access Lay had to the White House didn't come cheap.

Enron was the #1 all-time contributor to George W.

Bush #8211; contributing $550,025 to his campaigns by

mid-1999. Lay himself donated $250,000 in soft money

to Bush's political campaigns. He also was a Bush

Pioneer in 2000, meaning he personally raised over

$100,000 for the president. Lay and other Enron

executives pitched in another $300,000 to pay for

Bush's inauguration festivities.

 

CIVIL LIBERTIES

Veto Threat 'Hysteria'

 

Facing the prospect of an embarrassing defeat in the

House of Representatives, the White House issued a

rare veto threat last night of a major spending bill

should amendments pass that restrict the Patriot Act.

Ignoring concerns from scores of states, cities and

towns across the country, the White House is targeting

an amendment sponsored by Reps. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

and Butch Otter (R-ID) that, if passed, would limit

the Justice Department's ability to " require book

dealers, libraries or others to surrender records "

about ordinary Americans. The president " has not yet

vetoed a bill sent to him by Congress " #8211; and the

veto threat is seen as proof that the White House is

worried the legislation has enough votes in both

parties to pass. If the amendment passes, it will move

to the Senate, where Sens. Larry Craig (R-ID) and

Richard Durbin (D-IL) have sponsored similar

legislation in the past. If the measure reaches the

president's desk, he would have to kill it by

rejecting a bill that funds the entire Departments of

Commerce, Justice and State.

 

TELL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO RESIST WHITE HOUSE

THREATS: The vote on the amendment in the House is

scheduled for today. Contact your members of Congress

and tell them to resist the White House's veto threats

and intimidation tactics on the Patriot Act. Also,

tell them to support the broader Civil Liberties

Restoration Act (Senate bill S. 2528 or House bill

H.R. 4591) #8211; comprehensive legislation to reform

the Patriot Act by limiting the government's ability

to conduct secret arrests, requiring individuals be

advised of the charges brought against them, and

upholding federal privacy laws.

 

ASHCROFT'S 'HYSTERICAL' CLAIMS MISLED PUBLIC ON

LIBRARY SEARCHES: When Congress first considered

bipartisan legislation restricting these sections of

the Patriot Act, Ashcroft " mocked " critics, accusing

them of " baseless hysteria. " According to the 9/21/03

Hartford Courant, in the first eight minutes of one

speech during the debate about the bill, the attorney

general called his critics " hysterical " six separate

times. He then deployed his top spokesman, Mark

Corallo, to deny that the library provisions had ever

been used, even after the 11/1/03 newsletter of the

American Library Association revealed that FBI agents

in the summer of 2003 formally contacted at least 14

libraries " with requests for patron-record

information. " In fact, the Justice Department

ultimately acknowedged that the provision has been

used. Sign the petition calling for Ashcroft's

immediate removal from office.

 

DOING THEIR OWN SURVEY: Because of the Justice

Department's deception, AP reports " the American

Library Association plans to launch a survey of

thousands of libraries to determine how many times

federal agents " have used Patriot Act provisions to

secretly obtain records of bookstore patrons. An

earlier survey conducted by the University of Illinois

suggests that by December 2001 the FBI had already

approached 85 libraries concerning records searches.

 

 

 

 

 

MILITARY #8211; CODY IS WORRIED: Gen. Richard Cody,

the Army Vice Chief of Staff, made a startling

admission yesterday. At a hearing of the House Armed

Services Committee, he charged that " recent troop

deployments have taken a toll on US readiness to

deploy elsewhere, and even to replace troops currently

deployed in combating US-led military efforts in Iraq

and Afghanistan. " Said the general: " Are we stretched

thin with our active Reserve component forces right

now? Absolutely. We just did the largest move of the

Army since World War II. " He then added military

officials " are concerned about it. " As NBC Nightly

News reports, " It's one thing to hear the media and

analysts say the US forces are stretched too thin

across the globe. It's quite another to hear a

four-star general admit it. That's just what happened

today in Washington, and it raises a lot of questions

about what the US may be able to do. "

 

IRAQ #8211; CACI'S GET-OUT-OF-JAIL-FREE CARD: Great

news for misbehaving corporations! The Bush White

House will not hold you accountable. The General

Services Administration [GSA] told CACI International

Inc. that it will not be banned from doing business

with the federal government. The company was deeply

involved in the scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in

Iraq and one employee was specifically named in Maj.

Gen. Antonio Taguba's report as being " directly or

indirectly responsible " for encouraging the horrific

abuse and torture and " clearly knew his instructions

equated to physical abuse. " The company is under five

separate investigations for its role in the abuse.

 

CIVIL LIBERTIES - PENTAGON NOT FOLLOWING SUPREME COURT

ORDER ON DETAINEES: The New York Times reports that

the Pentagon yesterday announced a series of steps

" that would let detainees at Guant#225;namo Bay, Cuba,

challenge their status as enemy combatants from the

war in Afghanistan and the campaign against

terrorism. " The new procedure was " hastily devised to

head off a possible flood of litigation after a

Supreme Court ruling last week requiring that the

prisoners be allowed to challenge their legal status

before a neutral party, like a federal court. "

However, the procedures do not satisfy the Court's

ruling that detainees are entitled to access to

federal courts to plead their case. The new rules also

prohibit a detainee from having legal representation

at the military proceedings, only allowing them to

have " a non-lawyer military officer " assist them.

 

HOMELAND SECURITY #8211; HUMAN RESOURCES CONTRACT GOES

TO...: The Department of Homeland Security needed some

help with human resources, so where did it go for

help? You guessed it: a global defense contractor. The

Washington Post reports the Department has agreed to

pay Northrop Grumman Corp., a defense contractor which

develops weapons technology, " as much as $175 million

over three years to help develop, manage and run the

new agency's personnel system. " Northrop Grumman's

personnel reorganization is likely to " restrict union

bargaining rights in key areas, " and union officials

are calling the contract " a misuse of $175 million,

saying the work could be done more cheaply in-house.

'It's amazing,' said Mark Roth, general counsel for

the American Federation of Government Employees. 'They

combined 22 agencies, each with their own personnel

office, and they are going to a defense contractor . .

.. to create and evaluate their own program. Why don't

they just take the money and burn it?' "

 

HEALTH CARE #8211; PFIZER STEPS UP: The Hill reports

the drug giant Pfizer " is launching what it calls the

'pharmaceutical industry's most comprehensive

initiative' aimed at reducing drug costs for

Americans, in particular those without health

insurance. " The move may put pressure on other drug

companies to follow suit, but is also seen as a move

to derail bipartisan efforts to permit seniors to

purchase lower-priced FDA-approved medicines from

Canada. Interestingly, Pfizer's move calls into

question industry assertions that lower prices would

mean devastation for drug companies. As the Medicare

Rights Center's Robert Hayes says, Pfizer's discounts

" show that the drug industry will continue to thrive

even with dramatic price cuts. " In fact, a recent

Boston University study shows that drug companies may

break even or actually make more profits with lower

prices because more consumers would be able to buy

medicines.

 

#160;Don't Miss

DAILY TALKING POINTS: Fight Against Terrorism Pegged

to President's Re-election Calendar

 

IRAQ: The Columbia Journalism Review examines how

Ahmad Chalabi played the press.

 

SMALL BUSINESS: House of Representatives thwarts Bush

attempt to slash small-business loan subsidies.

 

CORPORATE CORRUPTION: 2002 PBS expose on Ken Lay's

ties to the White House.

 

Contact The Progress Report:

pr.

 

 

 

 

#160;Daily Grill

 

" I have no ambition whatsoever to use [the war on

terror] as a political issue. "

 

#8211; President Bush, 1/24/02

 

VERSUS

 

" A White House aide told [Pakistani Lieutenant General

Ehsan ul-Haq] last spring that 'it would be best if

the arrest of killing of [any] HVT [High Value Target]

were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or

twenty-eight July' #8211; the first three days of the

Democratic National Convention in Boston. "

 

#8211; The New Republic, 7/7/04

 

#160;Daily Outrage

The General Services Administration says CACI is still

allowed to receive new government contracts, even

though the company is currently under multiple

investigations for its involvement in the Abu Ghraib

torture scandal.

 

#160;Archives

Progress Report

 

Columns

 

Cartoons

 

Sign up for e-mail delivery of The Progress Report