Petrelis Files

In America, most people accused of a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty, but that presumption is not extended to the founder of Enron, Kenneth Lay.

The White House and Bush/Cheney reelection campaign officials distanced themselves from Lay, although he was one of the largest donors to Bush's campaigns, and made significant contributions to Republican PACs and candidates.

Democratic presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry, who has not accepted a dime from Lay, in a speech last week to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, made reference to recent big business scandals.

"Our tax codes have gone from 14 pages to 17,000 pages. Let me ask you: Any of you got your own page? Exxon's got its own page. Enron's got its own page. Halliburton's probably got its own chapter," Kerry said.

Doesn't sound to me as though Kerry looks too kindly on these corporations and their ways of conducting business.

But that didn't stop Kerry's campaign's from accepting a $250 donation from an Enron accountant back in May, which is the only check he received from the firm's employees for presidential bid. His senatorial campaign in 2001 cashed a $1,000 check from an executive of Enron Wind, a subsidiary of the firm.

(Today's Boston Herald ran a story by reporter David R. Guarino about Lay's ties to Kerry and his wife Teresa, which claims Kerry returned the $1,000, but I can't locate any Federal Election Commission records showing he indeed gave back that money. [1] )

Kerry also raked in $3,999 from two Halliburton employees this year.

Exxon leaders and employees have coughed up $13,550 so far in 2004 for Kerry's White House aspirations.

Sen. John Edwards received no donations from Enron and Halliburton employees, but he did get $1,000 in February from an Exxon manager for his presidential campaign.

The subtotal amount Kerry and Edwards have received from these three corporations is $19,799.

The Democratic National Committee is also not adverse to cashing checks from these corporations.

In the current election cycle, two Enron lawyers donated $1,750 to the DNC Services Corporation, while an Exxon tax advisor, two lawyers and a geologist contributed $4,340, and one Halliburton attorney contributed $200. Subtotal in these donations comes to $6,290.

Total amount received by Kerry, Edwards and the DNC from Enron, Exxon and Halliburton in just recent campaign cycles is $26,089. [2,3,4]

In the grand scheme of American politics, that is an extremely paltry amount of money, but it is also an enormously embarrassing symbol of something wrong with how we elect our officeholders.

We allow candidates to criticize some big businesses and their leaders, especially when accused of wrongdoing, but give politicians a pass on using contributions from the same corporations' executives and employees.

As America waits for Kenneth Lay to go on trial, I'll watch Kerry, Edwards and the DNC use tainted corporate dollars on their road to the White House.

Sources:
1. Boston Herald story
2. Open Secrets
3. Political Money Line
4. Federal Election Commission