WASHINGTON -- It may look like Enron Corp. is the only game in town, but that would be far from the truth. A lot is going on these days, although Enron certainly has taken a big chunk of the capital's attention. There are hearings galore and press conferences in between. To what end? Good question. This fascinating story of greed and connivance begs to be told and retold. It appears that the lessons of the collapse of the energy giant will be applied to pension reforms and securities laws and regulations. There will be a light at the end of this tunnel, and American business will operate in a somewhat more controlled environment. Henceforth, auditors will not be consultants to the same clients.
The most important happening of early February is always the presentation of the president's budget. Taken at face value, the budget is the game plan for government spending, but in reality it is much more. It is the president's long-range vision for America. It is the president's political strategy -- the result of countless hours of considerations and debate among the bureaucrats who craft it and interested parties who seek to persuade them of the value of their causes.
The first direct benefit of the Enron scandal occurred in the early hours of Feb. 14, when the House of Representatives passed the Shays-Meehan Campaign Finance Reform bill. On final passage, 41 Republicans joined all but 12 Democrats in voting for the bill.