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a bunch of clowns! If anyone still wonders why the American people
have such disregard and even contempt for Congress, they need only
watch a few hours of congressional hearings on Enron. I don't think
most dictatorships could run better show trials. I'm waiting for
Representatives Billy Tauzin and John Dingell to pull a Nikita Khrushchev
and start banging one of their shoes on the table for attention.
I don't know
whether executives at Enron violated any criminal statutes, securities
regulations, or pension rules. I don't know whether they conspired
with auditors from Arthur Andersen to cook the books, or with creditors
like Citigroup to conceal the true financial condition of the company.
But I do know one thing: The group demagoguery being practiced by
Congress contributes nothing to the public's knowledge about Enron's
bankruptcy — or to the pursuit of useful information in the
formulation of public policy.
Of course,
the irony of congressional handwringers denouncing Enron executives
for screwing the little people is not lost on most conservatives.
These are many of the same politicians who continue to perpetuate
the myth that Social Security benefits are actually paid out of
a trust fund when, in fact, they long ago misappropriated those
retirement funds to support unrelated federal programs. This is
the biggest financial scam in the history of man, involving hundreds
of billions of dollars and tens of millions of largely unwitting
taxpayers and pensioners. While Congress heaps praise on whistleblowers
inside Enron, who purportedly sought to alert top management of
the company's coming financial collapse, those who dare to question
the practices and solvency of the Social Security program are denounced
roundly and hysterically.
Congress also
has legislative oversight responsibility for the rest of the federal
bureaucracy. The General Accounting Office, an arm of Congress,
has stacks of reports exposing waste, fraud, and abuse throughout
the government — from the Education Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency to the Interior Department and Health and Human
Services. Billions and billions of tax dollars are mismanaged or
unaccounted for in hundreds of programs involving student loans,
Indian trust funds, unemployment compensation, grants to nonprofit
environmental groups, farm subsidies, food stamps, Medicare and
Medicaid funds, and on and on. Yet despite the overwhelming evidence
of widespread abuse, not only will every one of these budget items
receive generous increases in funding, but Congress plans to create
a massive new entitlement for prescription drugs, among other things.
The unvarnished
truth is that Enron's collapse is of no direct consequence to most
Americans. We haven't invested in Enron — or we've invested
a small amount through widely diversified mutual funds. Despite
the mantra that Enron's was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history,
at its peak the company employed a workforce of only 19,000, 4,500
of whom have received pink slips. To put this in perspective, last
month Ford Motor Company announced it was laying off over 20,000
employees. And since the beginning of the recession, over 1,000,000
workers have lost their jobs. Enron's bankruptcy simply does not
merit the attention of a dozen congressional committees.
Moreover, and
unlike the systemic mismanagement and malfeasance that pervade the
federal government, Enron's dealings are in no way typical of corporate
America. The overwhelming majority of businesses are law-abiding
and ethical. They care about their employees, they manage their
finances — including pension funds — responsibly, they
make public a true accounting of their financial health, and they
contribute mightily to the nation's unparalleled economic prosperity.
There's every
indication that the Enron executives who appear to have failed in
their fiduciary responsibilities to investors and employees, or
who may have violated the law, will be dealt with by federal and
state law enforcement and regulatory authorities. And that's as
it should be.
What's troubling
is the transparent attempt by too many in Congress to use Enron
to advance their political agendas. Some hope to damage the Bush
administration by creating a web of suspicion involving meetings,
past associations, and campaign contributions. Others are using
Enron to disparage capitalism itself and promote bigger government.
And still more are grandstanding to impress their constituents,
or to inoculate themselves from criticism for their own past associations
with the company.
In the end,
little benefit will come from these hearings. They afford little
more than the sorry spectacle of public officials abusing the public's
trust in the name of the public interest.
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