Politics: Of Vengeance
It seems that there is an explanation behind why the Justice Department response to the Arthur Anderson, Enron and WorldCom scandals has been weaker than the bull-dog attack against Martha Stewart and Samuel Waksal. It isn't that everyone hates Martha, and it isn't necessarily that Martha Stewart is being targeted because she is a successful woman in a man's world (though I feel there is a lot of creedence for that theory). It might just be about politics.
Check out the numbers from the FEC. Sam Waksal, who was sentenced to seven years for insider trading, donated more than $90,000 to Democrats for state or federal Democratic party organizations in the last few electoral cycles. Martha Stewart made $100,000 in straight soft money donations to Democratic organizations, and gave an additonal $65,000 in joint fundraising to Democratic organizations.
What about Bernie Ebbers, who helped to perpetrate one of the biggest frauds and biggest bankruptcies in corporate history? The WorldCom multimillionaire hasn't been charged with a crime, even though two recent reports clearly lay the blame at his feet. And what's his giving portfolio like? Ebbers gave more than $50,000 in political donations, the vast majority of which went to Republicans (and to a couple Democrats who, surprise, surprise, sit on committees that oversees telecommunications).
Ken Lay, who presided over another massive fraud, incorporating a great deal of lying and cheating, and possibly helped to bring about the energy market collapse in California, is surely a target for investigations, right? Wrong. Uncharged with any crime, Lay lives free while his victims mortgage homes and empty savings accounts just to survive after losing all their savings in Enron stock. In soft money alone, Lay put out $350,000, almost all of it to the RNC, except for a $25,000 election week 2000 donation to John Ashcroft's Senate campaign, wherein he lost his seat to a corpse. Kenny Boy's hard money is hard to add up, but barring a contribution to the Democratic Enron hometown Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Lay's contributions are all to Republican candidates, officeholders or PACs.
Other Enron notables like Jeff Skilling have similarly lucrative giving histories. Skilling dropped a cool hundred grand in soft money to the RNC and the NRCCC. Then another forty grand on other hard money gifts. And Mr. Skilling enjoys non-criminal status to this day.
Of course, you might say, Andrew Fastow went down, charged with 78 counts of whatnot and heretofore. But Fastow's FEC record reveals only a meager $2,700 in contributions, far below the Bush Cheney 'Pioneer' giving level of $100,000, and obviously far below the invisible line that protects a donor from prosecution.
It seems that there is an explanation behind why the Justice Department response to the Arthur Anderson, Enron and WorldCom scandals has been weaker than the bull-dog attack against Martha Stewart and Samuel Waksal. It isn't that everyone hates Martha, and it isn't necessarily that Martha Stewart is being targeted because she is a successful woman in a man's world (though I feel there is a lot of creedence for that theory). It might just be about politics.
Check out the numbers from the FEC. Sam Waksal, who was sentenced to seven years for insider trading, donated more than $90,000 to Democrats for state or federal Democratic party organizations in the last few electoral cycles. Martha Stewart made $100,000 in straight soft money donations to Democratic organizations, and gave an additonal $65,000 in joint fundraising to Democratic organizations.
What about Bernie Ebbers, who helped to perpetrate one of the biggest frauds and biggest bankruptcies in corporate history? The WorldCom multimillionaire hasn't been charged with a crime, even though two recent reports clearly lay the blame at his feet. And what's his giving portfolio like? Ebbers gave more than $50,000 in political donations, the vast majority of which went to Republicans (and to a couple Democrats who, surprise, surprise, sit on committees that oversees telecommunications).
Ken Lay, who presided over another massive fraud, incorporating a great deal of lying and cheating, and possibly helped to bring about the energy market collapse in California, is surely a target for investigations, right? Wrong. Uncharged with any crime, Lay lives free while his victims mortgage homes and empty savings accounts just to survive after losing all their savings in Enron stock. In soft money alone, Lay put out $350,000, almost all of it to the RNC, except for a $25,000 election week 2000 donation to John Ashcroft's Senate campaign, wherein he lost his seat to a corpse. Kenny Boy's hard money is hard to add up, but barring a contribution to the Democratic Enron hometown Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Lay's contributions are all to Republican candidates, officeholders or PACs.
Other Enron notables like Jeff Skilling have similarly lucrative giving histories. Skilling dropped a cool hundred grand in soft money to the RNC and the NRCCC. Then another forty grand on other hard money gifts. And Mr. Skilling enjoys non-criminal status to this day.
Of course, you might say, Andrew Fastow went down, charged with 78 counts of whatnot and heretofore. But Fastow's FEC record reveals only a meager $2,700 in contributions, far below the Bush Cheney 'Pioneer' giving level of $100,000, and obviously far below the invisible line that protects a donor from prosecution.
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