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March
1, 2002
Editorial
Column by Mike Schiller, author of "Created Equal"
Visit www.mikeschiller.com
Text & photo (c) 2001-2002 Mike Schiller
Congress Attempts
To Divert Attention Away From Government Corruption Scandal
By
Mike Schiller
In an attempt to divert public attention away from the government
corruption aspects of the Enron scandal, both Bush and Congressional
leaders are stooping to a new all-time low. In typical Bush-logic-speak,
congress attempted to blame Wall Street Analysts for "not
speaking up." This is simply misinformation and blatant
propaganda akin to the assertion that the votes in Florida
had "already been counted three times." Like the
vote-count-lie, to the average person who didn't follow the
events closely enough, it seems plausible.
Yet
anyone who knows anything about how Enron's accounting practices
became publicly known would tell you that the analysts on
Wall Street were the first people to truly call attention
to the issues which led to Enron’s collapse. Most major
financial firms has issued “Sell” recommendations
prior to the point at which Congress acknowledged any problem
with Enron at all. How can congress criticize analysts for
something congress itself failed to recognize. These analysts
do not work for Enron. They have no stake in seeing one company
do well over another. These firms make money no matter whose
stock they sell. They rely on the same public disclosure documents
as everyone else, and combine that with information regarding
a company’s year-to-date performance and relative performance
to the S&P 500 to make their decisions, along with studies
on consumer and business trends.
 At
the time most analysts were changing their rating to "Sell,"
Congress was still seriously considering legislation to plunder
the arctic wildlife refuge and Enronize the nation's energy
industry laws. The mainstream media was trying desperately
to downplay the significance of the recommendation changes.
This smear campaign against Wall Street has no more substance
than the "white house vandalism" scandal that was
later revealed to be a hoax. As with the fake "vandalism
scandal," it's disappointing to see some congressional
Democrats actually falling into Bush's trap. Anyone with an
objective eye can clearly see that Enron's corrupt business
practices were first brought to light by the analysts. Congress
did not even acknowledge an Enron problem until months after
most firms had already issued a strong "Sell" recommendation.
The public, of course, doesn't understand this because they
weren't reading the financial trade papers at the time. So
Bush and Congress tell more lies and distort the truth in
their attempts to find someone else to blame for a problem
that can only be blamed on the Republican Party (and a few
Texas Democrats). It’s time to focus attention on the
real problem, which is the sheer flaws in Bush’s domestic
energy and economic agenda, and the fact that Enron was permitted
to manipulate electricity prices in California with the help
of several Bush administration officials. Wall Street was
as victimized by Enron as the investors and laid-off employees
were.
None
of this would have happened if the media, covered companies,
and investors, would listen to the analysts more often. When
an analyst lowers a company's recommendation, the company
should welcome it as a signal that changes to their business
plan must be made. They should be thankful that there are
people who are smart enough to recognize business trends and
dispense advice that could actually help them to better themselves.
Any company who tries to retaliate against an analyst, just
because the analyst lowers their recommendation rating, is
actually making a serious mistake. If Enron, or any other
company truly wanted to succeed, they should be proactive,
not reactive. The real crime committed was perpetuated by
the mainstream news media, which tried to suppress the stories
about Enron's impending collapse until the last minute, even
as the company was being downgraded by Wall Street. The analysts
exposed Enron for what it truly was. They were the first people
to publicly speak about Enron's unsavory practices. They were
the first people to disclose to the public that there was
a problem. Bush had been silent. Congress was silent. The
media was silent. Yet the analysts spoke up the moment they
were able to show there was a problem. In fact, that's probably
why these politicians are so bitter. The Analysts were the
real whistle-blowers in this case, the true Heroes, and they
deserve to be praised, not chastised for it.
Mike
Schiller is the author of "Created Equal?" a poem about
the denial of marriage rights to gays and lesbians. He has
completed his first book, "Sentences I Freed From
The Ropes They Tried To Weave Around Me." due out
this spring. He also runs a successful poetry web site,
www.mikeschiller.com
, which currently averages over 3,000 visitors per month.
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