The streets of America are a little bit safer today, as another dangerous offender is taken into custody. Close on the heels of the dethroned homemaking queen, former Enron boss Ken Lay surrendered himself to the FBI this week, with eleven counts of white-collar crime adding new girth to his resume.
The charges stem mostly from Layís supposed role in covering up billions of dollars in Enron losses in the months leading up to the energy speculatorís spectacular collapse in 2001. The actions that earn Lay his reputation as a true dirtball, however, are conspicuously absent from the list of inditements.
Not one of the eleven counts is related to Layís role in manipulating the California energy market, or Enronís participation in the corporate conspiracy to use deregulation to siphon money out of the pockets of taxpayers and utility customers.
Consumer groups in the US, such as the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), are demanding that Lay be held accountable for what they are calling ìenergy crimes.î According to FTCR Director Douglas Heller, “Ken Lay set America on the disastrous path towards energy deregulation and used it as license to steal.î
Now energy legislation doesnít just get up and change all by itself. If one wants something done in America, having friends in the White House is the most efficient way to do it. Simply saying Ken Lay has influence in government, however, is a gross understatement.
Again adding to the original list of charges, Lay is guilty of using massive chunk of cash to buy his way into the circles of Americaís political elite. Ken Lay and Enron are the largest financial donors to George W. Bushís political career, with nearly $2 million in contributions to Bushís 2000 presidential campaign. In all, Enron has dumped $4.2 million into the lap of the Republican party, and Lay has personally tossed almost a million in cold, hard cash in Bushís direction.
The Republicans are not basking in Enronís love all alone, however. Nearly thirty percent of Enronís campaign contributions for the 2000 election cycle were to the benefit of Al Gore and the Democrats. Going further back in history to the most recent Democratic regime, Layís influence within the Clinton administration was heavy enough to compel Clinton cabinet members to threaten the government of Mozambique, vowing to cut their aid if they did not award a government pipeline contract to Enron.
Layís political influence even reaches across bordersówhere funding of the Conservative Party in Ontario bought Enron seats on handpicked government advisory groupsóand over oceans: the Enron-funded Blair government quickly lifted a moratorium on new gas-fired power plants in Britain after a quick dose of Layís lobbyists.
Despite his track record, ìreckless and wanton perversion of democracyî is not one of the charges Lay will be defending himself of in the coming months. Has the lionís share of Layís dubious deeds simply fallen under the radar of Americaís public prosecutors? Or have they conveniently forgotten the true definition of bribe ?