Ken Lay Gets Bush 41's Blessing
Ain't it good to know you've got a friend?
 
Fellow Billionaire and former Enron chair Ken Lay, who faces up to 175 years in prison for his creative business practices, says he's received a message of support from former president George H. W. Bush, according to Friday's Financial Times.

Lay believes W. himself has refrained from calling him "for obvious reasons," and that he has returned the favor. No news there. The Prez and Lay have been keeping their distance for some time now, even though Lay and his wife have personally donated over 100K to Bush's election campaigns and 2001 inaugration, respectively, and nearly a billion dollars to Republican candidates. And despite their legal troubles, Enron remains high on the list of Bush's top donors -- and donations, as a recent study has proven, usually lead to contracts and other favors from the Bush Administration. (As well they should -- what are campaign contributions for?)

While we certainly understand Lay's need to play coy with the Bushes, we're glad to see that the old ties are still going strong. After all, Billionaire blood is thicker than water -- and it's certainly thicker than the billions of dollars that Enron siphoned from the citizens of California. As we all know, money works best when it collects in one person's pocket. Those middle-class Californians probably would have just blown it on groceries.






- posted by Colin A. Faver