Notes For Friday, January 31, 2003

"WE KNOW ABOUT SPEAKER BYRD'S DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR, BUT IS HE "CLINICALLY DELUSIONAL"? Johnnie B. Byrd Jr., speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, has revealed himself to be the worst incarnation of a politician -- a demagogue. He did that at Plant City the other day with an expensively staged accusation that the Florida Senate is scheming to raise taxes by $11.5-billion. No such conspiracy exists, and Byrd would have to be clinically delusional to believe seriously that it does." St Pete Times editorial.

6:16 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

WILL JOHN ELLIS HELP ENRON OUT? As "Enron fights limit on power plants in Broward", one wonders if John Ellis Bush will step in, at least behind the scenes, and help his long time friend, the corrupt Enron corporation. Read about the Governor's ties to Enron, and as you might expect there are many, in this Feb 4, 2002, open letter alleging "extensive conflicts of interest" - from Joan Claybrook, the president of Public Citizen.

- "He has been a business partner with Enron. In 1995, he invested nearly $92,000 in an Enron affiliate, Enron Liquids Pipeline, and sold his interest 10 months later for a $7,100 profit."

- "He appointed Walter Revell, a longtime friend of former Enron CEO Key Lay, to serve as chairman of the Florida 2020 Energy Study Commission. Bush also appointed James Garner III, lobbyist for Enron subsidiary Azurix, to the Governor’s Commission for the Everglades. Azurix wanted to obtain water rights in Florida."

- "Enron, its subsidiaries and its employees contributed $420,000 to Florida political campaigns between 1995 and 2001, more than 80 percent of that going to Republicans, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Additionally, Bush accepted nearly $20,000 from Enron, its subsidiaries, and the company’s accounting and law firms during his 1998 campaign, including $6,500 directly from Enron executives, according to Florida Department of State records."

- "Enron and its employees contributed $312,500 to President Bush’s 1994 and 1998 Texas gubernatorial campaigns, and another $113,800 to his presidential campaign. Enron also gave $10,500 to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund and $300,000 to the Bush-Cheney 2001 Inaugural Fund, according to the Center for Responsive Politics."

- "Former Enron CEO Ken Lay reportedly gave money to the Foundation for Florida’s Future, a think tank the governor founded."

- "In January [2002], Richard Kinder, former Enron president and large donor to Jeb Bush’s brother, President Bush, and the Republican Party, held a fundraising event for Jeb Bush at Kinder’s Houston home, which Jeb Bush attended."

5:57 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]