NP more Bush, funny stuff!

[Doug Millison]

Bush's Magical Mystery Tour
JULY 30: If George W. Bush were cast as a TV sitcom character he would have
to be modeled after ad man Darrin of Bewitched or Astronaut Roger of I
Dream of Jeannie - a hapless fellow whose success hinges almost entirely on
the extraordinary powers of others.

And so it was when the presidency hung by a thread in Florida during the
last election. A contentious recount was underway and the genies that had
gotten Bush so far assembled en masse to assure his victory over Al Gore.

Only now are those last-minute efforts fully becoming known. According to
papers filed with the IRS on July 15, nearly $14 million magically poured
into the Bush/Cheney Florida recount effort - four times the amount raised
by the Gore/Lieberman camp.

The money flowed in so fast, and in such enormous chunks, that Bush
campaign officials - unaccustomed to Bush's perennial good fortune - were
dumbfounded. "I think we were a little bit stunned by the amount we
received," Benjamin Ginsberg, a Bush attorney for the recount, told USA
Today.

According to IRS documents, the Bush campaign took in $13.8 million, most
in large contributions. Listed among those large contributors were Bush and
Cheney's two most reliable genies - Enron and Halliburton.

While the Gore/Lieberman campaign filed its IRS disclosures of their
Florida recount expenditures months ago, the Bush's recount fund filed the
required forms at the very last moment allowed by law. July 15 was the
final day of an IRS amnesty program for groups that hadn't already complied
with the law.

"They obviously begrudgingly disclosed, and did it way after the fact,"
said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.
"It's better than nothing, but it would have been better to have disclosed
it when the money was coming in."

The filings show that as soon as a recount was announced, Bush forces moved
quickly. Money was no object. They dispatched over 100 lawyers to Florida
and Texas, booking hundreds of plane tickets, rental cars and hotel rooms.

Among the expenditures listed was a payment of $13,000 to Enron Corp. and
$2,400 to Halliburton Co. for the use of their corporate jets and other
unspecified services.

"Eighteen months after the election, we find that the (Bush) administration
literally flew into office on the Enron corporate jet," said Jennifer
Palmieri, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. "The
administration's close ties with unscrupulous corporations like Enron and
Halliburton prevent it from showing real leadership on corporate reform."

Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and his wife also donated $5,000 apiece,
according to the filings.


....more good stuff at
http://www.thedailyenron.com/documents/20020730085550-68379.asp