Yesterday a jury convicted former Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling on all counts related to fraud and dirty dealing in the collapse of Enron corporation, the giant energy corporation that was headquartered in Houston.
Just as we started taking bets on the demise of Enron when the lights went out in Beverly Hills back in 2000 while the company was playing the GOP-rigged California energy market like a crooked a slot machine, we’re now accepting wagers on when Bush will pardon his friend and former financial backer, “Kenny-Boy” Lay.
Lay gave Bush $100,000 during the 2000 election, and the sent another $10 grand to Florida to help with the Bush v. Gore recount.
After the truth came out about Enron — largely based on reporting by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, whose book, “The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and the movie thereof, are both excellent sources for information on this story — President Bush pretended he barely knew Lay.
But George Bush did know Ken Lay, and tried to help him in all sorts of ways before the truth came out about Lay’s criminal activities:
As Enron’s crisis worsened through the first nine months of Bush’s presidency, Lay secured Bush’s help in three key ways:
–Bush personally joined the fight against imposing caps on the soaring price of electricity in California at a time when Enron was artificially driving up the price of electricity by manipulating supply. Bush’s resistance to price caps bought Enron extra time to gouge hundreds of millions of dollars from California’s consumers.
–Bush granted Lay broad influence over the development of the administration’s energy policies, including the choice of key regulators to oversee Enron’s businesses. The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was replaced in 2001 after he began to delve into Enron’s complex derivative-financing schemes.
–Bush had his NSC staff organize that administration-wide task force to pressure India to accommodate Enron’s interests in selling the Dabhol generating plant for as much as $2.3 billion.
So when will Lay be pardoned — on last Bush’s last day in office (may it come soon) or before Lay’s first day in jail?
So? What is your bet and what are the odds?