Enron Tapes Air Dirty Laundry

[ClassWarrior]

Enron Tapes Air Dirty Laundry

LOS ANGELES, June 1, 2004

When a forest fire shut down a major transmission line into California, cutting power supplies and raising prices, Enron energy traders celebrated, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports.

"Burn, baby, burn," they said.

Four years after California's disastrous experiment with energy deregulation, Enron energy traders can be heard – on audiotapes obtained by CBS News – gloating and praising each other as they helped bring on, and cash-in on, the Western power crisis.

"He just f___s California," says one Enron employee. "He steals money from California to the tune of about a million."

"Will you rephrase that?" asks a second employee.

"OK, he, um, he arbitrages the California market to the tune of a million bucks or two a day," replies the first.

The tapes, from Enron's West Coast trading desk, also confirm what CBS reported years ago: that in secret deals with power producers, traders deliberately drove up prices by ordering power plants shut down.

-snip-

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/01/eveningnews/main620626.shtml

[Cocoa]

1. these fucks seem to like Bush

"When this election comes Bush will f------g whack this s--t, man. He won't play this price-cap b------t."

Crude, but true.

"We will not take any action that makes California's problems worse and that's why I oppose price caps," said Mr. Bush on May 29, 2001.

Both the Justice Department and Enron tried to prevent the release of these tapes. Enron's lawyers argued they merely prove "that people at Enron sometimes talked like Barnacle Bill the Sailor."



Gee, I wonder why Ashcroft doesn't want people to hear this?

[oneighty]

5. They also talk

like Captain Morgan the pirate as he sacks California. Hang em from the highest yard arm!

180

[bluestateguy]

2. I'm so glad that company fell apart

and I have little or no sympathy for their Bush loving employees: they got what they deserved and learned their lesson. Perhaps they will vote differently next time.

[salinen]

3. They'll use the few bad apples

analogy again.

[Lorien]

4. I hope and pray that EVERY Californian

gets to hear these tapes and realize how these scum sucking evil GOP bushlickers royally screwed them! :grr: :nuke: :mad:

[AndyTiedye]

9. CA Republicans are competing with the Log Cabin Repubs and Black Repubs

for the Chickens-Voting-for-Colonel-Sanders Award.

[blm]

10. Ca Dems should use these tapes in antiBush ads.

.

[amber dog democrat]

6. This can't be true.

Its just a few low echelon individuals who acting on their own let Enron down.
Please don't jump to the conclusion this represents something systemic.

Nothing to see here folks, you may move about your business, move along, move along.

[boobooday]

7. They wanted Ken Lay to be Secretary of Energy

I'm surprised Bush didn't do that.



http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Snellius]

8. Skilling joke: "What's the difference between California & the Titanic?"

"At the least the Titanic had the lights on when it went down"

So when do Cheney and Bush go to jail for shilling for these vicious thieves? "Flawed deregulation plan" "Laws of supply and demand" "price caps ruin the market" Bushit! And when does Arnold Swollenpecker go to jail for a cutting a deal with them?

[Just Me]

11. Lovely *LOL*,.... n/t

[havocmom]

12. So what sort of deal did the gropenator make with ENRON on fines?

Hasta la vista, baby!

We need to keep front and center the nasty remarks about stealing from Grandma and about how helpful bush* was about denying any sort of price caps

Then we need to also keep front and center the DOJ attempt to keep the tapes off the air.

Hasta la vista, junta. Viva la abuela!

[FreakinDJ]

17. Fraction of a Penny on the dollar

$250,000 against $9 billion

Way to go Arnold

[FreakinDJ]

13. I hope Kerry uses this in ads for California

It conclusively proves what all of us Californians have known for quite some time. That Bush helped Enron rip off 9 Billion from California.

At the same time the Texas Chamber of Commerce was in California luring away the profitable Hi Tech businesses that have been the back bone of California's economic success for decades.

Like this wasn't planned out long in advance.

It was a raid on the 5th largest economy in the world Pure and Simple. Orchestrated by Bush with the help of Pete Wilson.

How any American can vote republican and look himself in the mirror today is a mystery to me

[dusty64]

14. A mystery to me also

,but unfortunately ahnold will come out unscathed and it will be quickly buried. The memory hole has got to be getting pretty full by now. Is this getting any coverage outside of cbs?

[FreakinDJ]

15. Sad thing is it is about to happen again

Round 2 of Energy Maipulation coming this summer to a California near you

[rawstory]

16. Any new link?

?

[Moderator]

18. Duplicate topic, please discuss here, thanks

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=595513