In mid-September the President went to New Orleans, stood up in front of the bright lights, and promised the country that its government would do everything possible to help New Orleans and the Gulf Coast recover.
Apparently, though, it's not possible for the Administration to stop settling old scores.
Reuters yesterday ran this report, titled "Entergy Appeal for New Orleans Aid Rejected:
The Bush administration has denied requests from Entergy Corp. for $350 million in federal aid to help rebuild the company's electric generating facilities in storm-ravaged New Orleans, according to documents obtained by Reuters on Friday.
"We believe that transferring federal tax dollars to the bondholders and shareholders of a private firm is inappropriate," said Allan Hubbard, President George W. Bush's top economic adviser who also chairs a White House council on rebuilding the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
Hubbard conveyed the message in a November 18 letter to Entergy Corp. Executive Vice President Curt Hebert, who is a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The letter was part of a bitter exchange between the White House and Entergy last month. Entergy has warned of more than $1 billion in damages, and its New Orleans unit was forced into bankruptcy.
The first thing that caught my eye about the story was the ludicrous notion that the Bush administration was refusing to bail out the bond- and shareholders of an energy company. This goes completely against their whole raison d'etre, and I couldn't figure it out.
But something else was nagging at me. Hebert . . . Hebert . . . where had I heard the name before?
Well, I heard it here:
Former FERC Commissioner Curtis Hebert Jr. told CNN in January that Enron had lobbied Congress and other government officials for changes in energy policy that would help the company.
Hebert said Lay told him "he and his company, Enron, could no longer support me as chairman," when Hebert would not make a policy change Enron supported.
Hebert left the FERC in August.
Enron, once listed as No. 7 on the Fortune 500, filed for bankruptcy in December amid allegations it engaged in questionable accounting practices, hid losses, lied about profits, and later destroyed financial documents as investigations multiplied. It was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
And here:
The official line from the Bush administration is that Ken Lay and Enron received no special treatment from the White House, that executives from Enron repeatedly called the White House and received the cold shoulder from the fine, upstanding cabinet members of the Bush team.
But as more information leaks out about the meeting between Ken Lay and Vice President Cheney, the more evidence there is that Lay did indeed get preferential treatment from Cheney and the Bush administration.
[. . .]
The new PBS show "Now With Bill Moyers" goes even further. Moyers' show suggests that Lay had a hand in ousting outgoing FERC Chairman Curtis Hebert, because Hebert didn't agree with Lay on the construction of a national energy grid, which would have benefitted Enron a great deal.
Hebert is hardly a liberal, although he was appointed to FERC by Bill Clinton in 1997. he was a Mississippi utility regulator, and a protege of no less than Trent Lott. President Bush thought highly enough of Hebert to name him Chaiman of FERC in January 2001. In the past, Hebert was criticized for being too laissez faire on energy matters, but he opposed Lay on the creation of the national energy grid, and on August 14th, Hebert was replaced by Pat Wood.
At the time, the Bush Administration claimed that Hebert was not forced out, but Moyers show seems to hint that if Hebert had played ball with Lay, Lay would have supported Hebert's continuation as chairman of FERC. Since he did not, Lay in essence said 'off with his head' and Cheney, the Bush administration's hatchet man, told Hebert he was history.
Not only did Hebert oppose the creation of a national eneregy grid, he finally imposed price caps on energy for the Western states in May 2001. Lay was bitterly opposed to price caps on energy as he made clear in the memo to Cheney. So by getting Hebert removed, Lay was doing no less than dictating energy policy to Dick Cheney and the White House. No influence??? Balderdash!
So, just to get this straight: New Orleans will suffer more because the Bush Administration wants to get even with Curtis Hebert for having the temerity, four-and-a-half years ago, to question the authority of Ken Lay.
See? The hustle never ends. You think you can close the file on some of this stuff, but you never can. You'd think if there was one damn time the president could get past personal rancor and do the right thing for the people of a city he helped destroy. But no--they're always there, biding their time, waiting for the chance to shiv you if you cross them one little bit.
This is a government of thugs.
The MOQUOL--I Can Save You, America!