|
February
13, 2002
Alexander
Cockburn
Banning
the Koran
George
Monbiot
American
Imperialism
February
12, 2002
Uri Avnery
The
Great Game:
Oil, Sharon and Iran
Tommy
Ates
Black
Land Loss
February
11, 2002
Walt Brasch
The
Synergizing of America
John Troyer
Enron's
Deep Throat?
February
9, 2002
John Blair
Criticize
Cheney, Go to Jail
February
8, 2002
CounterPunch
Wire
Ashcroft
the Bigot
Molly
Secours
Racism
and Real Estate
Wole Akande
World
Economic Forum:
The Aftermath
Cockburn/St.
Clair
Dita
Sari Tells Reebok
to "Shove It"
February
7, 2002
Patrick
Cockburn
Taliban's
War on Chess
John Chuckman
Howdee,
Dick!
Tariq
Ali
Mullahs
and Heretics
February
6, 2002
Amira
Hass
On
the Edge of the
Non-Violent Demonstrations
Vivian
Berger
Sentenced
to Rape
Vladimir Georgiyev
Russian Intelligence:
War on Iraq Begins in Sept.
Tom Turnipseed
"Axis
of Evil" a Cover for Corporate Corruption?
David
Vest
The
Enron Creature
February
5, 2002
Norman
Madarasz
Dispatch
from Pôrto Alegre
Tom Malinowski
What
to do with
Our "Detainees"?
Dita Sari
Why
I Rejected the
Reebok Human Rights Award
February
4, 2002
Eric Miller/Beth
Daley
Five
Weapons Systems
That Bilk the Taxpayers
Kenneth
Roth
Dear
Condoleezza,
You've Misstated the
Geneva Convention
Robert
Jensen
The
Occupation Must End
Shahid
Alam
How
Different Are
Islamic Societies?
David
Vest
Everybody
Says I Loathe You
John Chuckman
American
Politics of Grief
February
3, 2002
Zoltan
Grossman
War
and New Military Bases
February
2, 2002
Francis
Schor
Carlucci's
Strange Career
February
1, 2002
Dr. Susan
Block
The
Great Ashcroft Cover Up
Jeremy
Voas
Why
We're Suing Ashcroft
David
Vest
10
Things I Know About Him
January
31, 2002
Rahul
Mahajan
The
State of the Union:
A New Cold War
Dave Marsh
Miles
Copeland, War
and the Future of Music
John Pilger
The
Colder War
Alexander
Cockburn
American
Journal:
Killer Dog, Weird Couple
Dr. Susan
Block
Blowback
and Daniel Pearl
January
30, 2002
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Linda
Lay, Hill and Knowlton and the Tears of a Clown
Jack McCarthy
Free
Noelle Bush!
Michael
Ratner
Memo
to Bush: Adhere to
the Geneva Convention
Jay Moore
Proud
to be an American?
Susan
Block
The
Great Pretzel Swallower
and Guantanamo Porn
January
29, 2002
Gary Leupp
Why
This War Was, and Remains, Utterly Wrong
Alexander
Cockburn
The
Birds of Kandahar
Patrick
Cockburn
Afghan
Opium Trade
Back in Business
January
28, 2002
Larry
Chin
Brosnahan
for the Defense
Mokhiber/Weissman
Tyranny
of the Bottom Line
George
E. Curry
Civil
Rights Nominee Called Affirmative Action "Racist"
Sen. Russ
Feingold
Campaign
Finance Reform?
Think Enron
John Chuckman
Liberal?
Media?
A Photographic Journal of Life
in an Afghan Refugee Camp
By Judith Mann
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
(Click Here to Order from CounterPunch
Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!)
INSIDE
EXCLUSIVE
TO
COUNTERPUNCH
SUBSCRIBERS
Published Oct. 15, 2001
8-Page Special Issue
War Diary
CIA's Assassination Plan a History of
Torture in US Prisons
bin Laden and Bush
Business Connections
Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden Hype
of US Food Bombs
Peter Linebaugh on
Pakistan
Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher
Jiang Zemin Tells Bush:
Nuke 'Em
Search
CounterPunch
Read Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The New Crusade:
America's War on Terrorism
By Rahul Mahajan
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair
Buy
This Explosive
New Book at an
Amazing Discount!
Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual
|
February 14,
2002
Letter to Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush:
About You and Enron
By Joan Claybrook
The Honorable Jeb Bush
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0001
Dear Governor Bush:
Florida's pension fund --for which you
chair the oversight board --lost $334 million on Enron stocks
and bonds in the wake of the company's collapse. Many of the
pension fund's investments were made as Enron's stock was plummeting
in value and financial problems at the company were being publicly
revealed. Investigations into the fund's losses are now being
conducted by the Florida attorney general, the Florida State
Board of Administration and a committee appointed by the state
House of Representatives.
Because of the conflicts of interest
resulting from your strong ties to Enron and your extensive entanglements
with the company, we call for you to recuse yourself from making
any decisions or taking any actions relating to these investigations,
and from taking an active role in any lawsuits against Enron,
Arthur Andersen or other entities related to the Enron collapse.
We also call on you to refrain from taking any actions on behalf
of the Board of Administration that relate to Enron.
Your longstanding relationship with the
company and its executives requires that you step down from any
potential involvement in bringing Enron to justice. It is a state
and national imperative that any wrongdoing be fully and independently
investigated and that these investigations avoid even the appearance
of conflict of interest.
We make our request because:
You have been a business partner with
Enron. In 1995, you invested nearly $92,000 in an Enron affiliate,
Enron Liquids Pipeline, and sold your interest 10 months later
for a $7,100 profit;
You appointed Walter Revell to be chairman
of the Florida 2020 Energy Study Commission, which was established
to develop energy strategies for the state. Mr. Revell is a 25-year
friend of Ken Lay. The policies set forth by the commission could
have greatly benefited Enron;
In 1999, Enron subsidiary Azurix proposed
a scheme under which it would help pay for Everglades restoration
in exchange for water rights. Approximately two weeks after Enron's
plan was proposed, you appointed James Garner III, an Azurix
lobbyist, to the Governor's Commission for the Everglades;
Enron has been a generous contributor
to your campaign and to Florida Republicans. Enron, its subsidiaries
and its employees contributed $420,000 to Florida political campaigns
between 1995 and 2001, more than 80 percent of that going to
Republicans, according to the St. Petersburg Times. And the Florida
Republican Party received at least $76,500 from Enron towards
your election in 1998, state records show;
According to Florida Department of State
records, you accepted nearly $20,000 from Enron, its subsidiaries,
and the company's accounting and law firms, during your 1998
campaign, including $6,500 directly from Enron executives;
Ken Lay reportedly gave money to the
Foundation for Florida's Future, a think tank you founded (the
foundation refuses to reveal its funders or the amount of their
gifts);
The Board of Administration's deputy
executive director is Coleman Stipanovich, brother of J.M. "Mac"
Stipanovich, a Republican political consultant and lobbyist who
ran your gubernatorial campaign in 1994;
In January of this year, Richard Kinder,
former Enron president and large donor to your brother, George
W. Bush, and the Republican Party, held a fundraising event for
you at his Houston home, which you attended;
Enron and its employees contributed $312,500
to your brother's 1994 and 1998 Texas gubernatorial campaigns,
and another $113,800 to his presidential campaign. Enron also
gave $10,500 to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund and $300,000 to
the Bush-Cheney 2001 Inaugural Fund, according to the Center
for Responsive Politics.
Other prominent officials have recused
themselves from involvement in any investigation or litigation
involving the company. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft did
so, as did John Cornyn, attorney general for Texas. Three federal
judges have recused themselves, as has the entire U.S. Attorney's
office in Houston.
In light of the fact that other public
officials have acknowledged their conflicts and reacted accordingly,
we believe that you owe the people of Florida a complete explanation
of the extent of your ties with Enron. We ask you to:
Disclose all contacts you have had with
Enron executives or agents since you have been governor and explain
the nature of those contacts;
Tell the public when you knew Enron was
in financial trouble, particularly whether you had knowledge
of Enron's shaky financial condition as the state pension fund
was buying shares that were rapidly declining in value;
Explain what safeguards you put in place,
or attempted to put in place when you became governor to ensure
that such dramatic pension fund losses would not happen; and,
Tell Floridians what measures you plan
to enact to ensure that such losses do not occur again.
We look forward to your making this information
available to the public.
Sincerely,
Joan Claybrook
President
Public Citizen
|