It turns out that Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Enron's Kenny Boy Lay and other Republican superstars to help plan the fake energy crisis and drive up utility costs. Now he wants to be governor. Arnold should be in jail.
From Salon Magazine:
Exerpt:
Joe Conason's Journal
When Arnold Schwarzenegger gets around to attacking Gov. Gray Davis for the state's energy fiasco, someone should ask why he appointed Pete Wilson his campaign chairman.
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Aug. 11, 2003 | Arnold's secret meeting with Kenny Boy
If you're compiling a list of public figures even less popular in California than Gray Davis, one name is likely to top it: former Enron chairman Kenneth "Kenny Boy" Lay. Voters in the Golden State are behaving like sheep these days, but even the dimmest of them can probably remember how Enron and the other corporate vultures descended on them during the electricity "crisis" of 2001.
What California voters may no longer remember, however, is that after the third wave of rolling blackouts hit their state, Kenny Boy quietly summoned a select group to the Beverly Hills Hotel on May 11, 2001. And they may also have forgotten that one of the prominent Republicans who showed up at Lay's request was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On June 21, 2001, the Associated Press reported that "Lay met secretly with California Republicans at the Beverly Hills Hotel and pushed a plan that called for ratepayers to pay the billions in debt racked up by the state's public utilities. The plan contended that federal investigations of price gouging are hindering the situation." According to William Bradley, the L.A. Weekly's sharp political columnist who wrote about Enron for the American Prospect, the meeting revolved around Lay's plans to "preserve deregulation" in California. The L.A. Times noted that Lay was seeking the support of Schwarzenegger and the other GOP luminaries for even greater deregulation. Apparently Lay wanted help in saving a lousy system, squeezing the unfortunate Californians even more, and avoiding accountability for their plight.
Marc, you're absolutely correct on this. Arnold is not what his publicists present him to be. I have family in Austria, Arnold's home country, and from what I've gathered, Arnold's views are not consistent with, and in actuality diametrically opposed to the vast majority of people living there.
Posted by: migs at August 16, 2003 11:28 AMJust because one is invited to a meeting does not necessarily mean that one agrees with the majority decision or helped to create the plan.
Posted by: Does it matter? at August 17, 2003 02:16 PM"Just because one is invited to a meeting does not necessarily mean that one agrees with the majority decision or helped to create the plan."
Perhaps not, but once you are aware of the plan, you are a part of it. Either you actively work against it, or you accept your part in it's outcome.
Posted by: Hey Zeus at August 22, 2003 10:56 AM