Maybe it's just me getting my game on before our upcoming elections here in BC, but it seems to me that there is far too little coverage of corpoate crime here at dKos. For instance, here in today's NY Times, on the front page, is an article detailing how ENRON managed to shut down a power plant in California AT THE HEIGHT of the energy shortages there in 2001. This was a contributing cause to rolling blackouts the next day. Aren't we all glad it wasn't our children or parents who happened to be attached to life-sustaining medical equipment on that day(sarcasm). These evil corporations are not only looting the economy, they are, literally, willing to kill people to make a profit.
More below the fold...
Here's an excerpt from the article:
EVERETT, Wash., Feb. 3 - In the midst of the California energy troubles in early 2001, when power plants were under a federal order to deliver a full output of electricity, the Enron Corporation arranged to take a plant off-line on the same day that California was hit by rolling blackouts, according to audiotapes of company traders released here on Thursday.
snip...
In one January 2001 telephone tape of an Enron trader the public utility identified as Bill Williams and a Las Vegas energy official identified only as Rich, an agreement was made to shut down a power plant providing energy to California. The shutdown was set for an afternoon of peak energy demand.
snip...
The next day, Jan. 17, 2001, as the plant was taken out of service, the State of California called a power emergency, and rolling blackouts hit up to a half-million consumers, according to daily logs of the western power grid.
snip...
Previous tapes released by the district last summer showed Enron officials joking about how they were "stealing" more than a $1 million a day from California and fleecing "Grandma Millie" while bringing Enron record profits.
Other tapes released on Thursday showed Enron executives discussing their fear of going to jail for manipulating power markets in Canada and the United States. And memos showed that Enron practiced as early as 1998 to create artificial shortages and run up prices and extend the market manipulation to Canada.
I don't know about you, but this stuff just pisses me off to no end. Take the poll.