www.american-partisan.com/cols/2002/king/qtr1/0201.htm
Clinton Counsel Lanny Davis Therefore, it was somewhat intriguing to switch on the TV last week and find the indefatigable Clinton apologist Lanny Davis (shown, left) on a number of talk shows, playing down the Enron angle and practically exonerating the Bushies. It turns out that ole Lanny may have had a reason for subtly urging the Dems to drop Enron, because they have a similar huge potential scandal roiling up to a boil right under the collective nose of the nation. On Monday, 28 January 2002, telecommunications giant Global Crossing filed for bankruptcy, becoming the 4th largest company in American history to do so. Yet, we hear no Democratic calls for justice, no trumpeting of the fate of the little guy investors and 401k-stiffed workers, no cries of corruption and political intrigue. The media - so frenzied about Enron, are strangely disinterested when it comes to the Global Crossing case. Global Crossing was founded in 1997 and promptly raised 20 billion in capital to build a fledging telecommunications corporation. During the ensuing years, Global Crossing took on billions of debt in order to build an undersea fiber optic empire. Global Crossing and Enron both shared the same independent auditor - the now beleaguered firm of Arthur Andersen. Andersen acted in a duel role as auditors/consultants, a position made possible by legislation pushed through in 1995 by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). Public Interest Research Group, limited liability for lawyers and accountants for aiding and abetting corporate fraud by their clients, making them liable only for their proportionate share of the fraud. This law benefited firms like Andersen greatly, because it removed most of the penalty for covering up fraudulent practices by corporate clients. In Enrons case, the 100 million per year they paid Andersen in consulting fees surely could have affected Andersens willingness to keep mum on the firms dubious accounting practices. The accounting industry supported Senator Dodd mightily, contributing $345,903 to him during the years 1993 and 1997. Arthur Andersen gave Dodd more cash than they did any other Democrat, contributing a total of $54,843 during this same time frame. The securities industry also ponied up $523,551 to Dodd, likewise contented with the law that limited their liability from securities lawsuits. When the SEC threatened to bar the auditor/consultant practice, Dodd (with then-Democrat Rep. Billy Tauzin, now R-LA) jumped back into the fray and got the SEC to agree not to issue this ban. Companies like Enron and Global Crossing were thus able to hide their huge debt burden and obfuscate their actual profit/loss ratio. Global Crossing's employees have been informed that their 401-k's may very well be worthless, and that their health benefits have been ended as of 31 January 2002. Other interesting evidence has also recently simmered to the surface. Last summer, the Bush Administration cancelled a $400,000,000 contract with Global Crossing. Various companies had complained that the bidding process for the DoD job was unfair, and that Global Crossing was being pushed by someone behind the scenes. It turns out that Global Crossing did have some friends in the White House - just not the Bush White House. In 1997, the founder of Global Crossing, Gary Winnick, hired Terry McAuliffe - currently the head of the DNC - as a consultant. Winnick suggested that McAuliffes $100,000 fee be paid in GC stock. In late 1999, McAuliffe admitted that he had parlayed these shares into an 18 million dollar windfall. Winnick subsequently donated one million dollars to the Clinton Library. Global Crossing also paid for a major fundraising dinner for Tom Daschle, and donated thousands of dollars to Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) - currently the lead pitchman for the Enron/Bush case. Global Crossing, and its management, became major donors in the political scene. When Winnick was queried about the cash infusions, he simply stated that he would not apologize for seeking access. The same kind of access, no doubt, that Enron was seeking when it donated heavily to George W. The same kind of access that Enron CEO Kenneth Lay - now the media-proclaimed most hated man since Kenneth Starr - actually got from the Clinton Administration, when his $100,000 donation to the first Clinton Inauguration earned him not only 11 sleepovers in the Lincoln Bedroom, but several cozy junkets to Russia, India, Indochina and China with Ron Brown. The access that provided some Administration arm twisting of Indochinese President Suharto - with an accompaniment of highly coveted American taxpayer cash, of course, - that subsequently allowed Enron to build a power plant there. That plant, and the ratification of the Kyoto treaty, were to be the saviors of Enron; When a desperate Kenneth Lay came a-calling, the Bush White House told him no. When the Bush Administration cancelled the flawed DoD contract, the seeds of GCs collapse - sown in the field of their own irregular business conduct - were harvested. Global Crossings failure caused them to become the second Enron.
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