Bush the 'enabler'

from Oregonlive.com Bush enabled Enron's scheme Thursday, June 24, 2004 The outright malice revealed in the new Enron tapes (News Focus, June 15) is exceeded only by the outright corruption of a Bush administration that enabled and prolonged the 2001 Western power crisis. George W. Bush actively campaigned in 2000 against the price controls then in place, arguing for 'open markets.' But the only market ever opened was the segment already dominated by Texas companies such as Enron and Dynegy, leaving the rest of the industry hamstrung. Enron then ran prices up by shutting down plants, overloading transmission lines and flooding the market with bogus transactions. When Western senators threatened to reimpose price caps, Dick Cheney consulted head crook Kenneth Lay and testified against caps the following day. He even had the nerve to blame the 'shortage' on environmentalists. It is no coincidence that 'the Crooked E' was Bush/Cheney's biggest contributor in the 2000 campaign. DANIEL A. WRIGHT Southwest Portland "