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In California, Ken Lay (largest Bush campaign contributor) and company gouged Californians. Enron held California hostage, hoarding energy while Californians suffered through rolling blackouts. They scammed California for BILLIONS. And, AFAIK, the energy crisis is the primary reason California is having such a huge budget shortfall. But yet Gray Davis (and I'm not a fan or supporter of him) is taking the blame even though he stood up to Enron and with Clinton's help, imposed price caps and restored some regulations. But before you guys harp on me about the recall, read the rest of my post.
Power de-regulation allowed Enron to fleece California. And then Enron screwed it's investors while the big kahunas ran off with billions. And only one person has gone to jail. But California isn't the only state to get screwed by deregulators and power companies. Montana got screwed by such deregulation as well. But this story is unknown to most. Former REPUBLICAN governor Marc Racicot signed the deregulation bill for the state, despite overwhelming public opposition.
That was 1997. By 2000, energy prices had become so inflated in the new "energy trading markets" that Montana heavy industry could not afford to buy power. So jobs were lost. Racicot was defeated in the next election, and went to work for Enron lobbyists and the Bush admin, who both lobby states for utility deregulation. In 2002, Montana had its own Enron collapse when Touch America's stock shares, the formerly regulated Montana Power Company, fell to under $1. Corporate executives received millions in bonuses despite this collapse. Investors and people lost money, and the company has sold to a South Dakota energy company.
These 21st robber barons have friends in high places... namely, President Bush. Power regulations go back to the FDR era. They were put in place for a reason. They keep prices low, safety and reliability high, and prevent abuses by companies. Why get rid of them? I have yet to hear one reasonable argument FOR power deregulation.
And now we have this mess in the Northeast. The causes are generally unknown as of now. There's mass conjecture, finger pointing, and people are scrambling to fix the problem. Despite the specific technical cause, I believe the culture of privitization is the ultimate problem here. Listening to Bill Richardson (governor of NM, IIRC), former Energy Secretary under Clinton, power deregulation has lead to cuts in staff, maintenance, and "modernization" in the industry. Despite what right-wing think-tanks will tell you, deregulation RAISES PRICES and DECREASES what little competition there is in the energy industry.
The culture in the energy industry, fueled by deregulation, is the primary culprit in this newest problem. Companies have cut corners on quality, and such a disaster was only a matter of time. In the coming months, we'll hear rhetoric from Bush, saying we need "modernization" of the system, and he'll probably sponsor an "Energy Modernization" bill which will include pork barrell clauses and deregulation clauses that will ultimately lead to more problems.
FDR banned utility companies from contributing in any way to political parties. No soft money, no hard money... no money at all. But in 1992, George Bush Sr., in the final days of his presidency, cut such regulations. And in 2000, power companies contributed $16 million to the Republican presidential campaigns. In 1998, power companies spent $39 million to defeat Ralph Nader's referendum which would have prevented the deregulation that led to Enron's theft from Californians. These companies spent an additional $37 million on lobbying and campaign contributions to get the deregulation passed. They promised deregulation would lead to 20% decreases in costs. This guarantee was even in the preamble of the legislation. This 20% decrease turned into 300% increases and rolling blackouts.
The problem in New York can be traced back to governor Pataki, who picked industry cronies to lead his utility commissions. Yes, that's right. He let the wolves guard the henhouse. These commissions scrapped the caps on power prices, and allowed Niagra Mohawk to NOT PERFORM MANDITORY MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADES previously dictated by regulations. After this, Pataki allowed a foreign company, National Grid of England, to buy Niagra Mohawk. The English owners then cut 800 jobs which gave executives $90 million in bonuses. And then... we get BLACKOUTS.
This trend isn't limited to the US. In Brazil, Houston based industries bought Brazilian power utilies. They then cut workers and maintenance costs... enjoyed millions in bonuses, and then boom... BLACKOUT in Brazil. Brazilians have dubbed the blackouts, "Rio Dark".
But Americans still haven't caught on yet. Deregulation leads to job cuts, bonuses for rich energy executives, then blackouts. But the media doesn't tell this story. Bush will get in front of the cameras and tell us he's going to fix things. There was a bill sponsored in 2001 in June that would have given $350 million in LOANS to power companies in the Northeast to upgrade and conduct maintenance, specifically, transmission grids. But Bush lobbied against legislation earlier in his administration. Republicans voted along party lines and such legislation never saw the light of day. Republicans defeated the legislation, voting it down 3 TIMES! California Congressman Sam Farr (D) sponsored the bills. In addition to defeating such legislation, Bush defeated Clinton's executive orders that prevented power companies from manipulating markets.
These issues: the recall in California, Enron, the blackouts... THEY ARE ALL RELATED. I'm sorry to beat the same dead horse here, but Republicans are the problem here. And Bush is King of them all.
But of course the swelling masses on 'Poly will dismiss what I say as just another Bush bash... and that's really what's sad.
Discuss
Power de-regulation allowed Enron to fleece California. And then Enron screwed it's investors while the big kahunas ran off with billions. And only one person has gone to jail. But California isn't the only state to get screwed by deregulators and power companies. Montana got screwed by such deregulation as well. But this story is unknown to most. Former REPUBLICAN governor Marc Racicot signed the deregulation bill for the state, despite overwhelming public opposition.
That was 1997. By 2000, energy prices had become so inflated in the new "energy trading markets" that Montana heavy industry could not afford to buy power. So jobs were lost. Racicot was defeated in the next election, and went to work for Enron lobbyists and the Bush admin, who both lobby states for utility deregulation. In 2002, Montana had its own Enron collapse when Touch America's stock shares, the formerly regulated Montana Power Company, fell to under $1. Corporate executives received millions in bonuses despite this collapse. Investors and people lost money, and the company has sold to a South Dakota energy company.
These 21st robber barons have friends in high places... namely, President Bush. Power regulations go back to the FDR era. They were put in place for a reason. They keep prices low, safety and reliability high, and prevent abuses by companies. Why get rid of them? I have yet to hear one reasonable argument FOR power deregulation.
And now we have this mess in the Northeast. The causes are generally unknown as of now. There's mass conjecture, finger pointing, and people are scrambling to fix the problem. Despite the specific technical cause, I believe the culture of privitization is the ultimate problem here. Listening to Bill Richardson (governor of NM, IIRC), former Energy Secretary under Clinton, power deregulation has lead to cuts in staff, maintenance, and "modernization" in the industry. Despite what right-wing think-tanks will tell you, deregulation RAISES PRICES and DECREASES what little competition there is in the energy industry.
The culture in the energy industry, fueled by deregulation, is the primary culprit in this newest problem. Companies have cut corners on quality, and such a disaster was only a matter of time. In the coming months, we'll hear rhetoric from Bush, saying we need "modernization" of the system, and he'll probably sponsor an "Energy Modernization" bill which will include pork barrell clauses and deregulation clauses that will ultimately lead to more problems.
FDR banned utility companies from contributing in any way to political parties. No soft money, no hard money... no money at all. But in 1992, George Bush Sr., in the final days of his presidency, cut such regulations. And in 2000, power companies contributed $16 million to the Republican presidential campaigns. In 1998, power companies spent $39 million to defeat Ralph Nader's referendum which would have prevented the deregulation that led to Enron's theft from Californians. These companies spent an additional $37 million on lobbying and campaign contributions to get the deregulation passed. They promised deregulation would lead to 20% decreases in costs. This guarantee was even in the preamble of the legislation. This 20% decrease turned into 300% increases and rolling blackouts.
The problem in New York can be traced back to governor Pataki, who picked industry cronies to lead his utility commissions. Yes, that's right. He let the wolves guard the henhouse. These commissions scrapped the caps on power prices, and allowed Niagra Mohawk to NOT PERFORM MANDITORY MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADES previously dictated by regulations. After this, Pataki allowed a foreign company, National Grid of England, to buy Niagra Mohawk. The English owners then cut 800 jobs which gave executives $90 million in bonuses. And then... we get BLACKOUTS.
This trend isn't limited to the US. In Brazil, Houston based industries bought Brazilian power utilies. They then cut workers and maintenance costs... enjoyed millions in bonuses, and then boom... BLACKOUT in Brazil. Brazilians have dubbed the blackouts, "Rio Dark".
But Americans still haven't caught on yet. Deregulation leads to job cuts, bonuses for rich energy executives, then blackouts. But the media doesn't tell this story. Bush will get in front of the cameras and tell us he's going to fix things. There was a bill sponsored in 2001 in June that would have given $350 million in LOANS to power companies in the Northeast to upgrade and conduct maintenance, specifically, transmission grids. But Bush lobbied against legislation earlier in his administration. Republicans voted along party lines and such legislation never saw the light of day. Republicans defeated the legislation, voting it down 3 TIMES! California Congressman Sam Farr (D) sponsored the bills. In addition to defeating such legislation, Bush defeated Clinton's executive orders that prevented power companies from manipulating markets.
These issues: the recall in California, Enron, the blackouts... THEY ARE ALL RELATED. I'm sorry to beat the same dead horse here, but Republicans are the problem here. And Bush is King of them all.
But of course the swelling masses on 'Poly will dismiss what I say as just another Bush bash... and that's really what's sad.Discuss
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