The Enron scandal involved a great deal of "contributions- in order to get things done in their favor. Enron and its affiliates gave more than two million dollars in soft money contributions to Democrats and Republicans during the 1999-2000 .
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election cycle. On top of that, Enron gave $280,043 directly to members of Congress. Over the past decade, Enron has given five million dollars to federal candidates. In fact, seventy-one senators and one hundred eighty-six house members have reported taking contributions from Enron over the last decade. As more and more contributors give huge donations to parties or members' committees, politicians become increasingly helpful to their donors. Enron received special treatment on Capitol Hill because of the millions of dollars it donated to politicians, often $100,000 at a time. Enron received special exemptions from federal regulations that allowed it to practice questionable activities that have now bankrupt the company. Enron received a number of privileges for its contributions. Enron's principal business, commodities trading, was successful largely because of the deregulation of the commodities market. Enron's contributions also bought it foreign contracts. In 1994, the Export-Import Bank approved a three hundred and two million-dollar loan toward a three billion-dollar Enron controlled power plant in India. President Clinton took an interest in the deal, asking the U.S. ambassador to that country and his former chief of staff, Thomas F. McLarty, then a presidential adviser, to monitor the proposal. Mr. McLarty, who later became a paid Enron director, spoke with Mr. Lay on several occasions about the plant. In 1996, four days before India granted approval for Enron's project, the Enron contributed $100,000 to the Democratic Party. In addition, "the Clinton administration threatened to cut Mozambique's aid in 1995 if it did not award a pipeline contract to Enron.