Gray Davis is a political non-entity. He has been expelled from office. The people of California have spoken.

I haven’t had my say yet…

Those 1.5 million signatures, collected in the recall campaign, only mean that Davis’ position as governor is subject to another vote. He is still my governor and I did not waste my vote last November.

I think it might be appropriate to examine the supposed evil deeds that put him in this fix.

He bungled the 2001 energy crisis.

That seems to be his major failure. Barring some petty griping from special interests and an increase in car registration costs, he has done a respectable job.

It could even be said that the energy crisis was brought on by President Bush serving the interest of major power producers that are his political bedfellows, and not any failure by Gray Davis.

In 2001, many questioned the closed-door meetings on energy policy conducted by Vice President Dick Cheney. Even now, claiming executive privilege, the Bush Administration is keeping secret the details of these discussions with industry insiders.

Why the secrecy? Was Pat Wood III, the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, directed by the administration to ignore profiteering on the part of energy traders in California?

The California Public Utilities Commission thinks so.

Major traders who profited in the billions of dollars and were part of Cheney’s energy task force, also colluded to withhold power from the state grid operator at critical moments in the winter and summer of 2001. This revelation comes not just from the CPUC, but from FERC auditors as well.

Large scale Bush contributors, like Enron CEO Kenneth Lay seem to have been paid back directly for their contributions with several mandates in 2001 that the FERC oppose price controls. This directive came straight from the president.

President Bush enforced a strict attitude in favor of business interests at the FERC even as electricity rates in the California spot market climbed well over 1000 percent of normal “peak demand” rates.

Enron, Dynegy, CMS Energy and Reliant Resources, all traders accused of market manipulation, used ominous sounding nicknames like “Get Shorty” and “Death Star,” for their plans to “Game,” the California energy market. These companies succeeded beyond their wildest dreams only to eventually fold under accusations of accounting impropriety (They even brought down their accounting firm, Arthur Andersen).

Much of the profit was taken by top level executives and investors. The rest of those billions of dollars vanished into thin air with the faith of American investors.

This bungling by the president and his staff has sent the American economy into a downward spiral.

To this day FERC officials spend much of their time opposing attempts by California municipalities and utilities to sue and recoup some of the money bilked from California residents in the summer of 2001.

The Bush Administration consistently leaves average citizens hit hardest by the swings of our market economy.

In the two years since the energy crisis in California the Bush Administration has done little to alleviate the economic crisis that started here and has spread across the country. Investor confidence has remained shaky because of accounting scandals stemming from that crisis. Unemployment is at its highest level in more than two decades.

Bush has slashed domestic spending to pay for two wars and an ill-advised tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, Bush is racking up a deficit of $401 billion for a year in which a $353 billion surplus was predicted.

In California, there have been no blackouts since 2001 and an agreement has been reached bringing our deficit of nearly $38 billion down to approximately $10 billion.

Davis has dealt with budget constraints brought on by the imploding technology economy without gutting schools, police protection, or other community services.

Voters have lost faith in the Governor for no reason. His policies while not popular are more fiscally responsible than voters give him credit for.

Everyone in the public sector has had to tighten their belt, but California under the stewardship of Davis is in better shape than the rest of the nation.

The energy market was deregulated and collapsed on his watch. Nevertheless, Gray Davis made the best of a bad situation.

I feel he deserves his position and the respect of Californians.

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