Bushwhacked_ Life in George W. Bush's America Large Print - Molly Ivins [89]
The question is usually answered in Washington with platitudinous blather about the complexity of the transactions, the number of competing interests, and the dangers of overreacting and bringing on unintended consequences.
The truth is that the Bush administration can’t seize the assets of “they” who have so much because “they” is “the government.” Dubya Bush might have been a perfectly suitable president to preside over the bubble economy of the 1990s. But now we’ve got ourselves saddled with a guy who can’t clean up the mess after the bubble burst, because his corporate sponsors made it all happen.
Diane and her husband, Ed, are more than a half million dollars poorer for what Enron did to Portland General Electric. Diane, like her friend Kate Widme, was a short-timer. Ed has worked at Portland’s Trojan nuclear plant since 1982. The two of them are middle-aged, recently married, and so much in love they practically lit up a dark Italian restaurant in Longview where we met.
Ed also wonders how this could have happened to him. “We’re a good company. We’re a power-generating company. We make something of value. We also own Electricos Brazileros.”
In March 2000 Ed had $500,000 in his PGE/Enron 401(k). He managed to hold on to $45,000 because he moved some of his money out of Enron stock. “Want to know what I’m buying?” he said. “Telayfonos day Mayheeco,” he said, in painful gringo Spanish. Teléfonos de México, the privatized company that took the place of Mexico’s nonfunctioning public utility, has split its stock once in the three months since Ed bought it. “Doubled my value and it pays dividends,” he said.
We live in interesting times. George Bush and Ken Lay have driven a middle-aged American union man to flogging a Mexican stock.
Diane didn’t do so well. Her retirement was tied up in Enron stock, and her 401(k) account is almost worthless. She does have a stock-option certificate Enron sent its employees to celebrate an earnings milestone. “They gave us an option to buy fifty shares of stock,” she said. “Thirteen each year.” The company made a big deal of it, Diane said, mailing out a fancy option certificate. By the time she could exercise her option it was too late. Enron’s stock was in the tank. “It’s not all bad,” Diane said. “The certificate is worth two hundred fifty dollars on eBay.” That’s about $225 more than the Enron stock in her retirement account is worth.
Diane and Kate Widme printed up T-shirts that read: IF THIS IS THE U.S.A., WHERE IS MY 401(K)? The back of the shirt was marked with Enron’s tilted-E logo and the lines WE SELL: STOCKS—SHARES—TEE-SHIRTS. The two women sold the red, white, and blue shirts at an Enron party at the Riverview. The bartender at the Ol’ PasTime Tavern bought two. “To support my friends,” she said. “I sleep in one of them.” If Diane and Kate (there is a certain Thelma and Louise quality about them) had just used Enron’s mark-to-market accounting, they could have declared tens of thousands in T-shirt profits. As it turned out, they covered the expense of buying and printing the shirts.
“Ken Lay. Linda Lay. They say they are broke,” Diane said. “They don’t know what broke is. Broke is looking for change in your car seat for money for food for your kids. I’ve done that, and that’s broke. I don’t think they understand what they did to us.”
At least the Tillotsons have each other.
And a plan.
“Market America,” said a beaming Ed Tillotson. “It’s a home franchise business. You can buy anything from them. I’m going to focus on health and nutrition.” The Tillotsons’ enthusiastic discussion of Market America quickly turns to a recruiting rally. Anyone who can sell vitamins, health-care products, nutritional supplements—and the Market America program, earning profits from each associate signed up—can start planning retirement.
Diane has a friend in Market America. “Her husband is an attorney and he’s doing less attorney work,” Diane said. “Kind of getting out of that because they’re making so much money.”
Ed prompts Diane, reminding her of “a