This is rather interesting, and more than a bit disturbing. The article's about two months old, but given the fact that he was just elected governor of California, the insinuation that Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the aid of President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is helping Enron and other energy companies avoid paying $9 billion in reparations to the California for the massive bilking of the state that took place during the energy crisis last year is even more relevant now than when it was first published. It's also frighteningly plausible.
As is generally the case, somewhere in the middle lies the truth. ("We sit around the pond and suppose; the truth sits in the middle of the pond and knows." Rob't Frost) Gray Davis shot the entire state in the foot with excessive regulatory actions that did bankrupt PG&E, a would-be Enron competitor, but also drove out much of CA's corporate tax base. It was his problem, not the Federal government's, to fix. Was Enron, led by Lay, one of this century's biggest crooks, out to profit excessively from the situation? Absolutely. Were Bush and Cheney? Probably not; it would have been entirely too obvious. Was there some payback here for Enron's political contributions? Probably, but Enron contributed equally to the Democrats and Republicans, and where there are contributions, there is always payback. ("There can be no effective control of business as long as their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a simple nor an easy task." Teddy Roosevelt, 1910)The entire energy situation, nationwide, is very complicated. To try to sum up what transpired in a couple paragraphs is impossible.
P.S. What is really frighteneing is that someone with Arnold's (lack of ) qualifications for Governor can become the #1 guy in California. Maybe we could get a Terminator & The Rock ticket in 2008.