Pinto
Aug 19, 2003, 10:45 PM
link (http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0817-07.htm)
More important, however, Schwarzenegger still wonÕt respond to questions about why he was at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills two years ago where he, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and junk bond king Michael Milken, met secretly with former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay who was touting a plan for solving the stateÕs energy crisis. Other luminaries who were invited but didnÕt attend the May 24, 2001 meeting included former Los Angeles Laker Earvin ÒMagicÓ Johnson and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle.
Magic Johnson??? Why would he be at such a meeting? Is he very political?
Fearing that Davis would take steps to re-regulate CaliforniaÕs power market that Lay spent years lobbying California lawmakers to open up to competition, Lay recruited Schwarzenegger, Riordan, Milken, and other powerful business leaders like Bruce Karatz, chief executive of home builder Kaufman & Broad; Ray Irani, chief executive of Occidental Petroleum; and Kevin Sharer, chief executive of biotech giant Amgen.
The 90-minute secret meeting Lay convened took place inside a conference room at the Peninsula Hotel. Lay, and other Enron representatives at the meeting, handed out a four-page document to Schwarzenegger, Riordan and Milken titled ÒComprehensive Solution for California,Ó which called for an end to federal and state investigations into EnronÕs role in the California energy crisis and said consumers should pay for the stateÕs disastrous experiment with deregulation through multibillion rate increases.
A person who attended the meeting at the Peninsula, which this reporter wrote about two years ago, said Lay invited Schwarzenegger and Riordan because the two were being courted in 2001 as GOP gubernatorial candidates. A week before the meeting, Davis signed legislation to create a state power authority that would buy, operate and build power plants in lieu of out-of-state energy companies, such as Enron, that the governor alleged was ripping off the state.
I hope that instead of a breath of fresh air in American Politics, Arnie doesn't just turn into the same old stink.
More important, however, Schwarzenegger still wonÕt respond to questions about why he was at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills two years ago where he, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and junk bond king Michael Milken, met secretly with former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay who was touting a plan for solving the stateÕs energy crisis. Other luminaries who were invited but didnÕt attend the May 24, 2001 meeting included former Los Angeles Laker Earvin ÒMagicÓ Johnson and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle.
Magic Johnson??? Why would he be at such a meeting? Is he very political?
Fearing that Davis would take steps to re-regulate CaliforniaÕs power market that Lay spent years lobbying California lawmakers to open up to competition, Lay recruited Schwarzenegger, Riordan, Milken, and other powerful business leaders like Bruce Karatz, chief executive of home builder Kaufman & Broad; Ray Irani, chief executive of Occidental Petroleum; and Kevin Sharer, chief executive of biotech giant Amgen.
The 90-minute secret meeting Lay convened took place inside a conference room at the Peninsula Hotel. Lay, and other Enron representatives at the meeting, handed out a four-page document to Schwarzenegger, Riordan and Milken titled ÒComprehensive Solution for California,Ó which called for an end to federal and state investigations into EnronÕs role in the California energy crisis and said consumers should pay for the stateÕs disastrous experiment with deregulation through multibillion rate increases.
A person who attended the meeting at the Peninsula, which this reporter wrote about two years ago, said Lay invited Schwarzenegger and Riordan because the two were being courted in 2001 as GOP gubernatorial candidates. A week before the meeting, Davis signed legislation to create a state power authority that would buy, operate and build power plants in lieu of out-of-state energy companies, such as Enron, that the governor alleged was ripping off the state.
I hope that instead of a breath of fresh air in American Politics, Arnie doesn't just turn into the same old stink.
