This statement assumes that this was the first opportunity these elected officials had to intervene on Enron's behalf. The reality is that for years, many of our elected officials have intervened on behalf of Enron by deregulating the energy industry in ways that allowed Enron to transform itself into an energy giant. What else would the Enron contributions be buying? They were buying influence. They were buying deregulation.
A basic question that Mr. Simons does not address is why Enron was allowed to develop its freewheeling corporate style in the first place. The dismantling of governmental regulatory mechanisms process that began with gusto during the Reagan administration, that continued during the first Bush administration, that was enthusiastically pursued by the Clinton administration, and that was put into high gear during the second Bush administration are what allowed companies like Enron to operate in this new and disastrous fashion.
There was, in fact, another way in which the Bush administration could have intervened, a way that would not have been seen by the public as a quid pro quo. The Bush administration could have sought to protect the workers who lost their life savings when Enron collapsed. But they did not. And so it is imperative that the administration act now to make sure that justice is done and that those responsible are prosecuted to the full extent of the law, instead of simply being bailed out by their victims.
The central principle upon which our Republic was founded is that power must be balanced by power in order to achieve a free society. If we believe in limiting governmental power to protect our citizens, why should we allow unregulated corporate power to destroy their lives?
Cynthia Annett,
Oskaloosa
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