THE ENRON LOWER FORTY
Democratic House leader Dick Gephardt spent part
of his Memorial Day weekend in Texas, stumping for cash and
candidates, including U.S. Rep Gene Green, who
diverted his leader away from fundraising to speak to about 40
former Enron employees about the injustices of the Republican-led
House and Senate.
“No donations here,” cracked a Democratic staffer to colleagues
upon entering the church where the meeting took place. Gephardt
didn’t blame the Enron collapse on Republicans, but pointedly
attacked them for passing a measure last week that in his view
didn’t go far enough to extend new protections to pensions. “The
bill was weak,” chimed in Green, whose district includes parts of
Houston.
Green’s people had set up the church meeting as a photo-op for
local news outlets. While some former Enron employees were
apparently aware it was a media event, others were angered by
Gephardt’s seeming uninterest in answering their questions after
the TV cameras were turned off.
“I guess some people didn’t understand that the purpose of the
event was really to bring greater coverage for these ex-Enron
employees,” says a Democratic House staffer. “Simply by being
there, Mr. Gephardt and Mr. Green reminded all Americans of what
Enron had done, what capitalism not held to the rule of law could
do. Just because he didn’t address every question or concern
doesn’t mean he doesn’t care.”
POST-BONO
Senior White House members believe that Treasury Secretary
Paul O’Neill may leave the administration if he
successfully lobbies Congress to pass the tax simplification plan
he intends to bring before Congress this summer and early fall. The
legislation, which would not include any tax cuts, would bring to
fruition one of the larger goals he set for himself as head of
Treasury. “He helped get us the tax cut, and simplifying the tax
code is a real hot button issue for him,” says a White House policy
aide. “If he got most of what he wanted out of the tax
simplification bill, that might be the perfect exit line for
him.”
O’Neill has stayed around longer than most people in Washington
expected. Many had him tabbed for exiting Treasury no later than
six months into the job. “Everyone assumed he’d step out of line
and embarrass the administration or something,” says the White
House source. “But he’s generally done a good job. He’s performed
better for this administration than anyone might have
expected.”
BAD INTERNALS
Democrats got bad news from a recent survey by party pollsters Penn
Schoen Berland. With a three percent margin of errors, registered
voters said that if an election were held tomorrow, 40 percent
would vote Democratic while 35 percent would vote Republican.
“It’s still early, but if you were a Democrat, you’d hope there
would be a bigger spread, taking into account the margin of error,”
says a staffer on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
More chilling: the approval/disapproval rating for congressional
Democrats was 51-36. Congressional Republicans got virtually the
same results: 51-40. “That sucks,” says the Senate source.
A Democratic National Committee pollster says the Penn Schoen
Berland numbers aren’t as bad as they might seem. “We still come
out ahead, and you have to remembers that a wide majority of
Americans support a divided government,” says the pollster. By this
he means a Republican White House and a Democrat-controlled Capitol
Hill. “There is a comfort level for that that Republicans will have
a tough time overcoming.”
