(no subject)

[athelind]

Sometimes, they really are out to get you.

Tapes: Enron plotted to shut down power plant

(CNN) -- A Washington state utility released audiotapes Thursday that it said revealed bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. plotted to take a power plant off-line in 2001 to jack up electric prices in Western states.

That same day, shortages of power forced rolling blackouts in northern California that affected about 2 million customers.

No big surprise on my end. It was pretty obvious to anyone paying attention that "deregulation" caused the "power crisis" of 2001, and that Enron was deliberately shutting down plants to extort more money out of the state.

This is the "New World Order" of the current Administration. This is the "Ownership Society". Handing public trusts over to profiteering corporations -- do you really think that "privatizing" Social Security is going to come out any better than this?

My reserves of outrage are tapped. All I have left is a sense of resigned inevitability. Welcome to the United States of BOHICA.

If there are still any corporate lackeysonservatives who read my journal, please, please try to defend deregulation in the comments. I need a good target.

Comments

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Coporations? Doing bad? Well shit, who saw that one coming. ^_^ I've been waiting for open conflict between the corps and people.

[hafoc.livejournal.com]

Oh, come now, come now, Athelind. Don't you know that the Honest Businessmen will always do what's right out of Enlightened Self-Interest?

All sarcasm aside, I'm disappointed by this revelation, but not surprised by it. Working in my job, I've run into stuff vaguely like this (although on a much smaller scale). Besides, the fact that the power was there one day and then, after you deregulate, presto changeo! It's gone! That's just a bit too convenient.

Of course I'm a conservative-- in the "keep your hands off peoples' personal liberties" sense and in a "law and oreder" sense. (I don't consider myself liberal because I don't think big government spending programs are the answer to every problem. I work for government. I should know.) Friend Liberal, I think we can shake hands in outrage over this one. These guys are criminals, and we should treat them as what they are-- no matter how expensive their shoes may be.

PS..

[hafoc.livejournal.com]

By the way, I've always thought the Enlightened Self-Interest thing breaks down because there's more than one corporation in the market. For example: Sure, if Conglomo really did run everything they'd have to pay their workers well and take care of them, etc., because otherwise they'd have no customers to buy their products. But in our competitive system you can abuse your workers and then sell to someone else's workers.

Yeah, these cut-throat capitalists are all in favor of good wages and treatment for workers-- their competitor's workers.

[araquan.livejournal.com]

It simply comes down to this:

A government service agency exists to provide a service.

A corporation exists to make profits. Any services or products it produces along the way are a means to that end.

Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with this, but one must always bear it in mind when deciding what should be privatized and what should not- and it's a subtle matter that seems to escape many (most?) people. The emphasis on the money rather than the service will have effects on the quality of said service, and it's suspect to think that things would be cheaper as a result of this money-centric viewpoint.

[richardf8]

The way I see it, when the Supreme court used the fourteenth amendment to turn corporations into persons, we exchanged one form of slavery for another.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

YES. Exactly.

(They used the 14th to justify that?)

[silussa.livejournal.com]

It would be indefensible, if California had actually deregulated the power industry.

What they did do was deregulate power generation at the wholesale/production level, but not at retail (what consumers paid), which was kept tightly controlled.

As required, the California utilities divested themselves of the generating capability, and most other companies didn't get in; you don't jump into an industry where you're guaranteed to lose money, after all.

And thus, the groundwork was set for Enron to sweep in.

I would point out that deregulation has worked elsewhere where the utilities were not required to sell their generators (http://www.newsbatch.com/electric.htm) and customers are actually allowed to select their providers.

That Vile Libertarian

[jirris-midvale.livejournal.com]

I'm all for deregulation -- provided that there are checks and ballances in place. The deregulation that occured in california was retarded. There really wasn't any competition on power.

Unfortunately this day and age it's difficult to deregulate any comodity because 2 or 3 companies control all of it.

I think Hafoc said it better than I can: We knew these guys were criminals. Them? Cause crimes? Duh.