LABJ FORUM: Power Politics Gone Too Far?
With Enron Corp.’s fallout, many are wondering whether the Bush Administration was aware of the energy trader’s questionable accounting methods and whether the company’s political ties will affect subsequent regulatory actions brought against Enron. In the midst of those questions is the longstanding debate over campaign finance law. The Business Journal asks:
Do you think there should be a change in campaign finance laws to guard against conflicts such as those being attributed to Enron?
Hal Dash
President
Cerrell Associates Inc.
The Enron debacle really points to the need for reforms in the business world, in terms of accounting and in terms of management pushing employees into an over-investment in company stock. Certainly what’s disappointing in my field, public relations, is how in some respects the media were misled by Enron’s own PR machine, spinning and slanting the reality of the company in order to push up the stock price to artificial levels.
Frank Zerunyan
Partner
Sulmeyer Kupetz Baumann & Rothman PC
Because of that solely? Not necessarily. I think Sen. John McCain made the point way before the Enron debacle about finance reform. But I’m not sure I’m prepared to say because of Enron. I am reserving judgment on Enron. Their friends went into both parties. I haven’t seen any evidence whatsoever that the current administration has done anything wrong with respect to Enron.
Mary Lee-Wlodek
President
Association for Corporate Growth and Proactive Marketing
I think they’re mutually exclusive. While some politicians benefited from Enron’s financial success, I doubt they’d knowingly endorse Enron’s alleged fraudulent activities in exchange for campaign contributions. At the time the contributions were made, I believe politicians are cognizant to avoid taking money from people they believe would hamper their success, or future success, so I think there are natural checks and balances. This surprised everybody; it was no different from the dot-bombs of the world.
Howard Banchik
President
Westwood Financial Corp.
Not only because of Enron. I’ve always been an advocate of limiting the amount of contributions. I feel it’s an ongoing conflict of interest. If politicians are forced to take large amounts of money from various entities, with how the system works today, there’s no way they can’t feel beholden to those people. The amount of time and money a politician needs to spend today in order to get elected takes away from the effectiveness of being a good politician.
Bruce Corwin
Chairman
Metropolitan Theatres Corp.
Absolutely. The whole question of campaign financing is long overdue. There is a strong movement on both sides of the aisle for this measure, and it’s time to make it happen. This is just another example of what’s been going on for years.
