It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Enron: So, Who is About to Go Broke?

[McCamy Taylor]

In 2000, the unthinkable happened. The presidential election was stolen. Not through sneaky methods like electronic vote hacking . The SCOTUS intervened to shut down the lawful count of votes in Florida that would have put Gore over the top---committing a violation of judicial ethics in the process since they ruled based upon the identity of the parties in the case. Republican politicians committed RICO violations when they sent their underlings down to Florida to stage a "spontaneous protest" designed to shut down vote. Ken Lay gave his resources, including his corporate jet to Bush's lawyers. Why? Why break so many laws? Why trash so many reputations?

A year later, we found out that Enron was a house of cards. The world's "Biggest" corporation and Bush's biggest donor was a scam. Thanks to Bush, Ken Lay was able to delay the end a little bit longer. Bush energy secretary, Nora Brownwell (picked by Lay) enabled the price gouging of California, the so called "California" strategy which Army Secretary and former Enron exec Thomas White bragged about. The state department negotiated with the Taliban so that Enron could profitable pipeline across their territory. When the Taliban backed out of the deal, the Bush administration promised to rain down a carpet of bombs. And, after 9-11, they did just that. Almost the first thing that Bush did (after reading "My Little Goat&quot was declare war. Then, he asked Congress to give Enron a huge infusion of cash as a financial stimulus in the wake of 9-11. Unfortunately for Ken Lay, while the GOP controlled House was more than happy to oblige, the Democratic Senate said "Why does the world's biggest company need so much money?" and refused---at which point, Enron promptly folded.

Everything that happened after that was part of the Enron coverup. The 2002 election was stolen to shut down the Senate investigation into Enron. Iraq was invaded on the day that the Enron report---which detailed the price gouging---was released. The war served as an effective media distraction. California's Dem governor, Gray Davis was recalled and Arnold installed in his place in order to shut down the civil suit against Enron. Since Valerie Plame had to be outed in order to get the thumbs up to invade Iraq, the 2004 election had to be stolen so that Bush would be in office to pardon Scooter Libby so that he would not rat out the rest of the conspirators----

All that shit we put up with, all those deaths, all that misery in order to save one miserable company that did not actually do anything and which wasn't actually rich.

Given the obvious parallels between the 2000/2004 stolen elections and this stolen election you have to wonder Who is about to go broke?

The right wing will claim it is about ideology, but that is bullshit. Ideology can bide its time. It can wait. The last thing ideology wants is to draw negative attention to itself. Ideology wants, above all else, to look moral, ethical, patriotic.

Who is about to go broke? Russia? Falling oil prices have wrecked havoc in Venezuela. What's propping up the former Soviet Union? If Russia goes into recession will Putin be able to keep his power (and his secret billions)?

Who is about to go broke? The Koch Brothers? Foreign competitors are threatening their Georgia-Pacific lumber company. Same for Dixie paper. With oil cheap and abundant, no one is going to pay them a gazillion dollars to stockpile US oil. Why have they kept their company private? How are they able to finance so many elections and buy so many candidates without any obvious return on their investment?

Who is about to go broke? Maybe it's some silent partner in the conspiracy who has managed to stay in the shadows. All I know for certain is when I see this brazen a crime being committed with no regard for public opinion or the consequences, it is usually about money.

[RKP5637]

1. I've had friends who have pulled out of the market taking a wait and see approach. n/t

[rwheeler31]

2. I have the same fear,

pulling some funds out on Jan. 20th, energy and drugs seem most likely but who knows.

[vinny9698]

3. This time it is going to be much worse. Bush at least had competent people but with no ethics.

Trump has incompetent people with no ethics. Nepotism at it's best. He has run his company with nepotism and he thinks he can do the same with the Oval Office.

[Scruffy1]

4. It's Us.

Whatever happens the oligarchy will land on it's feet. We'll be screwed.

[demtenjeep]

5. me

https://www.gofundme.com/pamelas-crohns-disease-relief

[ucrdem]

6. KBR?

How about BP?



Haven't heard much from either lately . . .

[BlueCaliDem]

7. Hopefully, not California again, thanks to enery price gouging. eom

[Hugin]

8. There are some real problems in South Korea.

Could be.

[Riftaxe]

9. So we hate Enron Employee

Paul Krugman now?

he has been about right half the time which puts him in firm entrenchment of other financial soothsayers?

if 4 articles in one month back to back actually makes anything he says true, notify me...it will be a miracle in itself.

Assholes like krugman stole my retirement.

[SecularMotion]

14. WTF?

Some people have accused me of an ethical lapse because I served briefly on an Enron advisory board in 1999 - even though I disclosed that relationship the only time I wrote about the company (rather favorably) for Fortune, back in May1999, and again the first time I wrote about the company (in a highly critical article) for the New York Times, which I did in January 2001. Since then I've been pretty hard on Enron, to say the least: I criticized the firm's role in the California energy crisis, and have not been kind as the firm's own problems have surfaced.

http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/enron.html

[dembotoz]

10. Trump is all in for the elites. He will love coddle and protect them

I see problems for the sick and vulnerable

[mopinko]

11. i used to make a button- step one- steal the election

step 2- steal everything.

[suegeo]

12. Kick

I esp. liked this part of your writing: All I know for certain is when I see this brazen a crime being committed with no regard for public opinion or the consequences, it is usually about money.

[suegeo]

13. I wish you'd add a DU poll to this post

So that we could vote on the party we think is going to be propped up.

Russia is my vote, since they orchestrated Coup 2016

[liberalla]

15. this will be a post to remember and revisit as events unfold...

~plenty to think on here. thank you.

[anarch]

16. the entirety of western civilization?

honestly it's kind of feeling to me like the beginning of the end of our whole way of life; it's like the start of the fall of Rome.

Our current economic model, and the wasteful/destructive lifestyle that it more or less encourages, is unsustainable in the long run...I'd think things would change one way or another over the next thousand years or so; the degenerate oligarchy's current tactics seem focused entirely on short-term profits and maintaining their tenuous grasp on power, in spite of overwhelming evidence of an impending (or perhaps ongoing) climate catastrophe, and in spite of the political will of the younger generations.

Add in technological advances such as automated production of goods, and continuing advances in the development of artificial intelligence, all of which would in a perfect world make everyone's lives easier by reducing the amount of human labor required to produce and distribute the necessities of life to everyone...well, there's no way the wasteful system we have now can go on for that much longer.

I think we're close to being at the point of crisis. We could, as a society, work together to find a new way of living that embraces the beneficial aspects of technology and mitigates the damage caused by human excesses--or we could collapse into chaos, every person for themselves, just fighting to survive amongst the ruins. Either way, something's got to give, and probably sooner than otherwise with "conservative" policies in place.