How big is the Enron scandal going to be in the end? I’ve read a ton of stories I wanted to link to, but I’m not linking to any of them. Some highlights: Enron’s former CFO has hired David Boies to represent him. Seems like he made plenty of cash before the implosion, and sees himself as being in real trouble. The Democrats are bludgeoning President Bush with this scandal, but Enron doled out plenty of cash to both parties over the past few years. I guess when it comes to taking cash handouts, there’s plenty of bipartisan cooperation. Arthur Andersen is in real trouble because its auditors destroyed documents that people are now very interested in seeing. Some people are speculating that this could be the end of Andersen altogether. They doled out plenty of cash to politicians in both parties as well. The New York Times reports that 29 Enron insiders sold off 17.3 million shares of stock starting in 1999 and ending in mid-2001, worth a total of $1.1 billion.
Also worth paying attention to is the list of people who have recused themselves from the Enron investigation. So far we have the attorney general (and his chief of staff), the Texas state attorney general, and the entire US Attorney’s office in Houston. In the last article I linked to, we have the Texas state AG’s spokesperson saying that he won’t recuse himself. I guess he changed his mind.
Anybody have a link to the full transcript of Pervez Musharraf’s speech? Here are some highlights, but I can’t find the whole thing. The full text of India’s response is available.
Price of power is an article from The Observer that gives an overview of Enron’s political connections and the fraud that brought them low. The article is chock full of interesting details, you just have to wade through a lot of loaded terms and unsubstantiated insinuations (generally a good idea when you’re reading articles from The Guardian or The Observer).
Ed Ward on Bob Wills, the inventor of Western swing.
They called Bill Clinton “President Bubba,” but I never heard of him fainting while swallowing a pretzel while watching a football game on TV. I’m just saying.