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#1
12-01-2003, 09:49 AM
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Halliburton .. The Real Story
I am so completely sick and tired of hearing these Bush-hating, left-wing, Saddam-appeasing neo-socialists rant and rave about Halliburton that I could ..... well ... I could just spit. What morons. These are people who hate capitalism, hate the profit motive, and believe that every evil visited on the world is done so in the name of corporate greed. Losers, all.
To listen to these irrational cretins you would think that this entire war in Iraq was being fought for one purpose, to enrich Halliburton. It would be not at all surprising if some of these anti-capitalist geeks believed that Bush arranged for those airplanes to fly into the World Trade Towers for that one purpose .. enriching Halliburton. Try this experiment. The next time you hear some liberal parrot squawk about Halliburton just ask them one simple question. "Well, pal --- since you're such an expert on Halliburton, why don't you tell me just what it is that Halliburton does? Name one product or one service that Halliburton provides." Don't hold your breath waiting for cogent answer. Part of the perceived evil that is Halliburton is the fact that Dick Cheney once ran the company. As everyone knows, we should strive mightily to avoid ever placing anyone with the know-how and ability to run a multi-million dollar corporation in a position of responsibility in the political realm. Actually making a success of yourself in the private sector disqualifies you for public service, while not having any actual discernable private sector job skills is the supreme qualification for public service. So ... let's get to the bottom of this. Did Bush or Cheney do something underhanded or illegal in handing some rather lucrative contracts to Halliburton for infrastructure and other work in Iraq? We'll start with another question you can ask your bedwetting leftist friends. Ask them if they've ever heard of LOGCAP. They will tell you that they don't know what that is. You won't be at all surprised. LOGCAP is the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program created by the United States Army. It is a program that uses a competitive bidding process to award a contract to a corporation to be on call to provide whatever services the Army might need ... right then. Some brilliant thinkers in the Army came to the conclusion that it might not be such a swell idea to screw around with competitive bidding processes for logistics and other services during wartime. Imagine that. Halliburton won the competitive bidding process for LOGCAP in 1992. They then lost that bidding process five years later in 1997. In spite of the fact that Halliburton no longer held the LOGCAP contract, Bill Clinton went ahead and awarded a no-bid contract to Halliburton to do some work in the Balkans supporting U.S. peacekeeping actions. Odd, isn't it. The same people who are screaming about Halliburton right now had absolutely nothing .. nada .. nunca .. not one thing to say about Halliburton when it was the Clinton Administration that was handing out contracts .. with no bidding, by the way. You might also be interested in knowing that Al Gore was quite a fan of Halliburton. Gore's reinventing government panel had some very complimentary things to say about Halliburton and the services it provides to the U.S. government. Ahhh ... but what does Al Gore know, right? That brings us to 2001. It's time for bidding on the LOGCAP contract again. Halliburton is right in there, and wins the bid. This means that at the time of the Iraq War Halliburton had the bid for providing logistical and other services to the U.S. government. They were the go-to company. So, along comes the U.S. Army with a fat contract for Halliburton to put out oil-well fires in Iraq and all hell breaks loose. To the left this is all the proof you needed to show that this whole war was about oil and enriching Bush pals. Recap: Clinton awards no-bid contract to Halliburton at a time when Halliburton did not hold the LOGCAP contract. Bush awards contract to Halliburton at a time when Halliburton DID hold the LOGCAP contract. So ... one last question for your mindless leftist friends. Well .. make that two questions. Ask them if Clinton went into the Balkans to enrich Halliburton. They'll say no. Then ask them if Bush went to Iraq to enrich Halliburton. They'll say yes. At this point do all that you can to have your friend institutionalized .. for they are beyond all help. --Excerpted from www.boortz.com Mike
__________________
_____ 1979 300 SD 350,000 miles _____ 1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy _____ 1985 300TD 270,000 miles _____ 1994 E320 not my favorite, but the wife wanted it www.myspace.com/mikemover www.myspace.com/openskystudio www.myspace.com/speedxband www.myspace.com/openskyseparators www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic 
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#2
12-01-2003, 10:48 AM
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I'm not surprised at all over that article. The real irony is how the idiot leftists wonder why anybody with the thought capacity of a gnat question their credibility.
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#3
12-01-2003, 12:38 PM
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What a load of rubbish! The facts with regards to Haliburton are even more blatent than Usama having anything to do with 9/11...
I think youre so far up Bush's a*s that if he told you he were a woman you'd probably believe him... Listen and try to understand, sonny. George the Chimp is a lying thief. His administration is made up of lying thieves...Trouble is, they have suckered a nation into believing in them.... Open your eyes - kiddo...Don't vote CHIMP! This administration is robbing you blind. Where you may not see or feel the effects of this now, your kids certainly will! 
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#4
12-01-2003, 12:51 PM
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Quote:
Judging from the adamacy of your response, the facts presented in that article sting you quite a bit. This country is long overdue for people to quit running around chiming in on how their political party can do no wrong, and start paying critical attention to what goes on in BOTH parties. You just may find out how little you like what you see.
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#5
12-01-2003, 03:04 PM
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Quote:
Botnst
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#6
12-01-2003, 03:08 PM
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This could get good.
 Stay tuned 
__________________
past MB rides: '68 220D '68 220D(another one) '67 230 '84 SD Current rides: '06 Lexus RX330 '93 Ford F-250 '96 Corvette '99 Polaris 700 RMK sled 2011 Polaris Assault '86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)
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#7
12-01-2003, 03:09 PM
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Quote:
I am up NO ONE'S a$$, least of all Bush's or any Republican, for that matter...I disapprove of the way he's handling a great deal of things--the expensive, intrusive "Patriot Act" is the first thing that comes to mind, along with his rampant non-military spending, his refusal to do more to cut government bloat and waste, and to deal with ineffective, archaic programs like Social Security, etc., the ridiculous, obscenely expensive and ineffective "War on Drugs"..... ...but the way he is handling the Iraq situation suits me just fine. So give us some FACTS, "Sonny", and we'll listen. Otherwise you're just blowing off steam, and that proves nothing...except that you have no solid argument. Mike
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_____ 1979 300 SD 350,000 miles _____ 1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy _____ 1985 300TD 270,000 miles _____ 1994 E320 not my favorite, but the wife wanted it www.myspace.com/mikemover www.myspace.com/openskystudio www.myspace.com/speedxband www.myspace.com/openskyseparators www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic
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#8
12-01-2003, 03:15 PM
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Reply tp Waytoo......
A really great rant; too bad you didn't ( or couldn't) actually say anything comprehensible. You did not counter one fact, or assertion; like most of your ilk ( I just love that word), you are strong on emotion, but weak on the intellectual argument. If you want to debate ideas, come on back, I'm sure there are some here who would like ti chance to help you change your mind.
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#10
12-01-2003, 03:46 PM
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Quote:
__________________
I'd rather argue against a hundred idiots, than have one agree with me. — Winston Churchill
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#11
12-01-2003, 04:07 PM
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Quote:
Being "open minded" does not excuse mindless opinions that are contradicted by facts. Mike
__________________
_____ 1979 300 SD 350,000 miles _____ 1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy _____ 1985 300TD 270,000 miles _____ 1994 E320 not my favorite, but the wife wanted it www.myspace.com/mikemover www.myspace.com/openskystudio www.myspace.com/speedxband www.myspace.com/openskyseparators www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic
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#12
12-01-2003, 04:47 PM
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Quote:
George
__________________
I'd rather argue against a hundred idiots, than have one agree with me. — Winston Churchill
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#13
12-01-2003, 05:09 PM
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Quote:
But it doesn't make the facts any less factual, either! :p Mike
__________________
_____ 1979 300 SD 350,000 miles _____ 1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy _____ 1985 300TD 270,000 miles _____ 1994 E320 not my favorite, but the wife wanted it www.myspace.com/mikemover www.myspace.com/openskystudio www.myspace.com/speedxband www.myspace.com/openskyseparators www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic
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#14
12-01-2003, 05:31 PM
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...facts? You want facts? You can't handle the facts!
Apologies to Mr. Nicholson... Haliburton is an excellent case study in corporate welfare, graft and war profiteering: Iraq Contracts Shrouded in Secrecy http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/1800/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published On: 09/10/2003 06:50 PM Before bombs even began falling on Baghdad, the Bush administration awarded a secret, no-bid contract to repair and operate Iraq’s oil infrastructure -- worth up to $7 billion -- to Kellog Brown & Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Halliburton, a Houston-based oil services and construction company. Halliburton/Brown & Root Contracting Abuses In a 1997 report, the General Accounting Office revealed that Brown & Root Services -- performing work under an earlier LOGCAP contract in the Balkans -- charged the Army $85.98 per sheet of plywood. The actual price tag was $14 per sheet. In performing work in Kosovo, Brown & Root Services overcharged taxpayers by overstaffing projects and providing more goods and services than necessary, according to a 2000 GAO report. For example, it provided nearly twice the electricity necessary for the army’s facilities and cleaned offices four times a day. A former employee charges that Brown & Root defrauded the government out of millions by inflating prices for repairs and maintenance at the former Fort Ord, California military installation. The Justice Department and the Department of Defense are reportedly investigating the matter. Brown & Root’s parent company, Halliburton, is the subject of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a shareholder lawsuit for allegedly issuing false and misleading statements over its accounting on construction jobs. Typically, when the government is awarding such a contract, particularly one of this size, it releases a project description on which anyone can bid. Prospective contractors are then evaluated based on their quality, reliability, and price. The fact that this process was not adhered to -- that KBR was handpicked by the administration -- has caused many to cry foul. Vice President Cheney, after all, led Halliburton prior to the 2000 election and collected more than $33 million in stock following his departure. In fact, Cheney continues to profit from the company’s success, receiving payments of more than $160,000 a year. The White House quickly denied charges that the vice president was involved or that favoritism played a role. Yet suspicion persisted as the administration refused to release even basic information about the deal with KBR. Without competitive bidding, U.S. taxpayers cannot be assured that they are getting the best plan at the best price. In this case, the administration claimed that it had little choice -- that quick action was required and that KBR was in the best position to deliver. An Open-Ended Contract On top of the March contract, KBR has also received more than $425 million in work from the Army for various other projects relating to Iraq. KBR did not have to bid to receive many, if not all, of these jobs -- the work came in the form of “task orders” or assignments under the earlier LOGCAP contract. The LOGCAP contract was awarded to KBR on a “cost-plus” basis, meaning that the contractor receives payment for its expenditures as well as an additional percentage of those costs. Such awards are susceptible to abuse because they give companies an incentive to pad their profits by increasing costs. The fact that work is being awarded to KBR in this way is particularly alarming given the company’s track record (see boxes on right). KBR’s work in Iraq under LOGCAP has included the repair of “an extravagant presidential palace being used by Americans,” according to the Los Angeles Times (5/9/03), as well as assistance to the Pentagon’s Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA). When asked specifically what is covered by KBR’s assignment to assist ORHA, an official with the reconstruction agency told the Los Angeles Times: “I guess the real question is, what doesn’t it cover?” More Secret Deals The Bush administration followed a familiar pattern in awarding contracts to repair Iraq’s crumbling infrastructure (including water systems, power plants, roads and bridges, and schools and hospitals). In particular, this included a $680 million contract won by the engineering-construction firm Bechtel Corp. -- a company that shelled out more than $770,000 to Republicans between 1999 and 2002, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This contract, the largest of the post-war awards, was the product of a closed process in which the administration secretly invited a number of politically well-connected companies to submit bids. These lucky invitees -- Bechtel, Fluor Corp., KBR, Louis Berger Group Inc., Parsons Corp., and Washington Group International Inc. –- contributed a combined $3.6 million in individual, PAC, and soft money donations between 1999 and 2002, 66 percent of which went to Republicans. Interestingly, of these companies, Bechtel -- the ultimate winner -- contributed the largest amount of money to Republicans. Bechtel also claims George Schultz, former secretary of State under the first Bush administration, as a board member. Unanswered Questions In the case of KBR, why did the administration decide to forgo competitive bidding even for long-term work? Why is so much work being routed through KBR’s open-ended LOGCAP contract, which includes incentives to run up costs? Why was the contract for infrastructure repairs closed to just five handpicked companies (all generous contributors to the Republican Party)? Why was MCI/WorldCom awarded a no-bid contract given its suspect qualifications and even more suspect ethical transgressions? These questions can only be answered if the administration lifts the veil of secrecy and fully explains the contracts. Unfortunately, this seems unlikely considering the track record.
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#15
12-01-2003, 05:55 PM
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I don't know Mike
I know I am not mindless and I'm not exactly sure what left you mean when you refer to the "left" but in my opinion all the politicians at the Bush/Clinton level are pretty much the same
whether they are left or right. Remember, I voted for Perot and remember him mentioning that great "sucking sound" as the jobs leave. I can hear it pretty good from here.Good posting  .
__________________
Jim
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