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- 98acura, on 10/12/2007, -29/+220I hope, on january 21st, 2009... there are charges brought up against bush and cheney for this ***** war..
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -10/+158http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2003/Cheney-Halliburton-Lautenberg25sep03.htm
Senator Frank Lautenberg Releases CRS Report
Confirming Cheney's Deferred Salary and Stock Options
"WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Frank R. Lautenberg released a CRS Report today that confirms that receiving deferred salary and holding stock options in a corporation does constitute a "financial interest" under Federal ethics standards. This finding directly conflicts with statements released by the Vice President's office after it was revealed that the Vice President continues to receive deferred salary from Halliburton and holds 433,333 Halliburton stock options. The controversy arose when Vice President Cheney made the following statement on the September 14th edition of Meet the Press:
'And since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.'
After the Vice President was confronted with information to the contrary, his office continued to deny any financial tie, arguing that by taking out an insurance policy on the deferred salary and assigning his after-tax proceeds from the sale of unexercised options to charity, a financial interest no longer existed. The CRS Report explicitly rejects this dubious line of reasoning, finding that financial ties continue despite those steps."
Yeah. That's it. It's going to Charity ... my grand-kids' trust funds. - etherag, on 10/12/2007, -11/+125@kylesellers... Really? Clinton awarded a contract for a war that was almost 4 years away? He was truly prescient....
- otheruser, on 10/12/2007, -13/+103http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/images/chart0306.gif
- etherag, on 10/12/2007, -3/+86@kylesellers - That's funny, because the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program Contract (LOGCAP) that you're talking about... yeah, they were given that under clinton, but that ended in 1997, when they lost the bidding for the second LOGCAP contract, because GAO found that they had overrun their estimated costs in the balkans by 33%. In 2001, when bush was in office, the contract was given back to them.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/report.aspx?aid=366 - smitting, on 10/12/2007, -11/+77How is this news? People really don't know that Dick Cheney is directly profiting from this war by now? This war wouldn't make any sense without knowing that.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -20/+85Cheney is a ***** criminal.
- Bushlied, on 10/12/2007, -12/+77This type of ***** only happens in third world countries, right? Where government contrators get hired as a VP.
- aspec, on 10/12/2007, -7/+44Paul Allen isn't able to force microsoft profits by misleading america into a war.
- OYAHHH, on 10/12/2007, -4/+40@otheruser
While,
I'm not a fan of Cheney, I do believe in being truthful. The stock price chart that was linked to otheruser is false. The correct financial chart can be found here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HAL&t=5y
Still a pretty nice runup. - ArchieAndrews, on 10/12/2007, -5/+35At what point does Moore participate in the awarding of govt contracts again?
- EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -5/+34The deferred salary isn't exactly a red herring. It's just complicated. The main issue is that if Halliburton went out of business, that salary could stop. So Cheney bought an insurance policy against that happening to theoretically make the issue neutral. And then there was an issue of whether he could profit from the insurance policy... But no matter how you slice it, that the 4 year deferment was a tax dodge. But the question I have yet to see answered is why, in his final year before he became VP, did he even get that big a salary, deferred or not. Halliburton's stock price had not yet skyrocketed. Did they have a fortune teller on staff?
Would it be ethical, for example, for the company to say, "here's your last regular paycheck, plus a big bonus for no particular reason, and we'll spread this out over your tenure in public office so you can continue the life to which you're accustomed." Apparently so. But if the intent was to (p)reward Cheney for his future help, then that's unethical.
It'll also be interesting to see if Cheney goes back to his old job with a big signing bonus. - kylesellers, on 10/12/2007, -40/+68From the article:
"The Vice President has sought to stem criticism by signing an agreement to donate the after-tax profits from these stock options to charities of his choice, and his lawyer has said he will not take any tax deduction for the donations."
Go ahead and digg down (even though I stated no opinion whatsoever and merely quoted the article). - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+36Why are people surpised? This is old news, everyone just refused to believe it.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -7/+35One would have thought. Apparently not.
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton#Ties_with_Dick_Cheney - tpodr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+30And which public office does Mr Moore hold? And which Federal ethics standards is Moore requested to conform to, as an elected officeholder?
- kent1146, on 10/12/2007, -11/+38Except Michael Moore isn't the Vice President of the United States. I'd say that difference is sufficient enough to not be counted as hypocrisy.
- kooft, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30Or does it mean that Cheney has 433,333 reasons to see Haliburton do well?
From 'How Stuff Works' on stock options:
The price the company sets on the stock (called the grant or strike price) is discounted and is usually the market price of the stock at the time the employee is given the options. Since those options cannot be exercised for some time, the hope is that the price of the shares will go up so that selling them later at a higher market price will yield a profit.
Sounds like financial interest to me. - TubaTechno, on 10/12/2007, -25/+50"It's funny because everyone forgets that Halliburton won the contract from Clinton. Go ahead and digg me down now."
Actually they lost that contract but Clinton took it away from the winner and gave it to Haliburton. I expect to get buried no less... - Myko, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28"Halliburton got a no-bid contract from the Clinton admin for work in the Balkan wars.
I guess they were not evil at that time. Took the current admin to corrupt them......"
Technically it wasn't no-bid at the time, they lost the bid and it was given to them by Clinton. Then as noted above it ran out in '97. Bush gave them the contract again for Afghanistan/Iraq. - kingkilr, on 10/12/2007, -5/+273, repeating of course!
- jcounterman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20Did you just defend politicians?
- Myko, on 10/12/2007, -11/+31"It's funny because everyone forgets that Halliburton won the contract from Clinton. Go ahead and digg me down now."
For serious? I think you're thinking of Kosovo, buddy. Get your ***** straight. - omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22It occurred to me that most of you don't know what the "no-bid contract" that Halliburton was awarded actually IS.
It is LOGCAP, short for Logistics Civil Augmentation Program. It was created in the early 1990's because of the oil fires in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war (the first one). The purpose was to award it to a company every 4 years (I believe) in a bidding war. The lowest bid would win the contract and be on-call for the military to perform any duty that fit the LOGCAP description (which in the early 1990's, consisted of putting out oil fires and rebuilding Iraq's oil-related infrastructure). The on-call duties were not to be put into a bidding war, precisely because a bidding war takes time, and often, if you have millions of barrels of oil on fire, you don't want to wait. Halliburton won the first bidding war, and held the first LOGCAP contract up until 1997, when another company won the 2nd bidding war. President Clinton, for reasons outside the scope of this summary, decided to take the LOGCAP contract from the other company and give it back to Halliburton in 1998 for the goings-on in Kosovo. In 2001, the contract was up for another round of bidding, and Halliburton won it again. They've held the contract since then, which requires them to effectively be on-call for various duties whenever the military needs them.
To sum up: Calling the LOGCAP contract a "no-bid contract" is factually incorrect, and displays an alarming amount of ignorance. - littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22Given the current climate of inquiry in just what the hell has been going on for 6 years, I think it's time that people have another look at this.
I'd like to know how many of the entire Administration's friends and family have options in good old HALLIBURTON? - littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -7/+25I really wish they would take the pop-ups off this site linked in the initial post:
Here's the story:
Cheney's Halliburton stock options rose 3,281% last year, senator finds
RAW STORY
An analysis released by a Democratic senator found that Vice President Dick Cheney's Halliburton stock options have risen 3,281 percent in the last year, RAW STORY can reveal.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) asserts that Cheney's options -- worth $241,498 a year ago -- are now valued at more than $8 million. The former CEO of the oil and gas services juggernaut, Cheney has pledged to give proceeds to charity.
The above graph released by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) charts the value of the Vice President's holdings in Halliburton in the past year.
Advertisement
“Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina contracts," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial ties to Halliburton once and for all.”
Cheney continues to hold 433,333 Halliburton stock options. The company has been criticized by auditors for its handling of a no-bid contact in Iraq. Auditors found the firm marked up meal prices for troops and inflated gas prices in a deal with a Kuwaiti supplier. The company built the American prison at Guantanamo Bay.
The Vice President has sought to stem criticism by signing an agreement to donate the after-tax profits from these stock options to charities of his choice, and his lawyer has said he will not take any tax deduction for the donations.
However, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded in Sept. 2003 that holding stock options while in elective office does constitute a “financial interest” regardless of whether the holder of the options will donate proceeds to charities. CRS also found that receiving deferred compensation is a financial interest.
Cheney told "Meet the Press" in 2003 that he didn't have any financial ties to the firm.
“Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest," the Vice President said. "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.”
Cheney continues to received a deferred salary from the company. According to financial disclosure forms, he was paid $205,298 in 2001; $162,392 in 2002; $178,437 in 2003; and $194,852 in 2004. - omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -21/+37This has already been debunked. Cheney will never get $.01 (that's point zero one dollars) of his stock options' worth. See: http://www.factcheck.org/article261.html
- jpbleuu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17sorry but this is what happens when the country is run by ceo's and not politicians.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Not to jack my own post but the more one learns about HALLIBURTON the deeper the Rabbit Hole becomes.
HALLIBURTON Operates in Iran To This Day Despite Sanctions
"It's just another Halliburton oil and gas operation. The company name is emblazoned everywhere. Halliburton says the operation — videotaped by NBC News — is entirely legal. It's run by a subsidiary called 'Halliburton Products and Services Limited,' based OUTSIDE the U.S."
http://www.digg.com/politics/HALLIBURTON_Operates_in_Iran_To_This_Day_Despite_Sanctions
HALLIBURTON and its Massive Operations in Venezuela
"In a July filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, HALLIBURTON said its energy services group, which helps companies drill for oil, had double-digit sales growth in Venezuela in the first six months of 2006, offsetting a decline in Mexico."
http://www.digg.com/politics/HALLIBURTON_and_its_Massive_Operations_in_Venezuela
HALLIBURTON Watch
http://www.digg.com/politics/Halliburton_Watch - Phrag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15There is nothing wrong with owning Halliburton stock. There is something wrong with being a large factor in a push to go to war against the will of our allies, giving no bid contracts worth billions of dollars to Halliburton, allowing many of these contracts to run huge overhead costs and then lying about having no financial interest in a Halliburton when infact you have a huge financial interest in them.
The only reason not to impeach Bush is because it would leave Cheney in charge. - EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14If Paul Allen were running for government, he would also be required to at the very least put his stock in a blind trust (which would need to diversify) so he couldn't profit from his official power. That's basic ethics. So your point was?
- Phrag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13So it was Clinton who gave no bid contracts to Halliburton in Afghanistan and Iraq.... several years before we were at war with either of them... riiiiiiiiiight....
- kent1146, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19Why is anybody surprised? It was never about fighting terrorism (Iraq has no ties to 9/11 or Al-Qaeda), or gay marriage, or stem cells. It's always been about money.
Cheney was on the board of Halliburton (oil). GW Bush used to be on the board of the Carlyle Group (defense contracts). We happen to go to war in an unpopular, oil-rich country, despite the fact that half of the US and most of the world think it's a terrible idea. The entire Republican administration has been corrupt from the very start (and thank god that Colin Powell has enough decency to get out when he could).
This is supposed to be the "CEO administration". But these CEOs are from the era of Enron, WorldCom, etc. Again, why is anybody surprised? - chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -9/+20LOL - no *****. Wait, Steve Jobs has over a million shares of Apple? WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!
- lokiworks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Damn your country is screwed up!
Plenty of room up here in Canada.. if you don't mind the cold. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Cheney ain't the only one profiting:
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (Documentary)
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815181/ - zephc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Rule of Acquisition #34: War is good for business.
- g3buz, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15an unverified story? have you considered thinking? you know, for yourself?
http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=254119&
they gave a quote from a US senator. it's really hard to verify that.
but don't let the facts get in the way of your tidy world view. if you don't actually think, you can write off quotes from senators as unverified! - izzie2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11A little research on a company named Kellogg Brown and Root (a.k.a. Halliburton) might show you the name of one of thier recruits back in the 40's named George H.W. Bush.
Gotta love those co-inky-dinks eh? - squidi, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15"Yeah, the whole war was started to make Cheney money."
No ones saying the war was specifically started to make cheney money, more that he would work for his own financial benefit. The fact that his best buddies and business associates are arms manufacturers who WOULD start a war to make huge profits is more indicative of why the war was started....
Think you need to do some lernin about the military industrial complex boy - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -12/+20Did we forget that he was the former CEO of Halliburton? Does Paul Allen still own MSFT stock? probably.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Now is a good time. Better than never.
- mikelieman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10When does that agreement regarding the disposition of the options expire, I wonder?
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Really ?!?
* Rushes To Front Page To Digg Them All * - geronimo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10This elite group of politicians makes money on the way up and the way down. They sell chemical weapons to Saddam then they execute him. They sell stinger missiles to the Taliban then they rid Afghanistan of the Taliban temporarily, all the time making sure to get piece of the action. The Taliban will be back and you can count on Cheney, Rumsfeld et al getting a piece of that pie. Because we all know that only one company, Halliburton, can cater food to our soldiers.
This doesn't sound too crazy anymore:
http://www.counterpunch.org/boles1010.html
Gonzalas revealed, for example, that Brent Scowcroft served as Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates until being appointed as National Security Advisor to President Bush in January 1989. As Gonzalez reported, "Until October 4,1990, Mr. Scowcroft owned stock in approximately 40 U.S. corporations, many of which were doing busies in Iraq." Scowcroft's stock included that in Halliburton Oil, also doing business in Iraq at the time, which had also been run by current Vice President Dick Cheney for a time.... Thus, Kissinger Associates helped US companies obtain US export licenses with BNL-finance so Iraq could purchase US weapons and materials for its weapons programs.
This included Henry Kissinger, the former Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, who was an employee of BNL while BNL was simultaneously a paying client of Kissinger Associates. Gonzalez reported that Mr. Alan Stoga, a Kissinger Associates executive, met in June 1989 Mr. Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. "Many Kissinger Associates clients received US export licenses for exports to Iraq. Several were also the beneficiaries of BNL loans to Iraq," said Mr. Gonzalez. Kissinger admitted that "it is possible that somebody may have advised a client on how to get a license." - mattxb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Ever since Bush has been president, its been one incident after another where I thought "finally these guys will be exposed as the crooks they are!" From Richard Clarkes testimony, to the ousting of his wife by Cheneys office, from the bogus yellowcake documents to the Downing Street memo, Ive thought "Now those red state idiots will see what logic has been trying to tell them all along." Now there is proof that our leaders are morally bankrupt liars whose continued misleading of the american people shows they either dont actually believe in the tenents of a representative democracy, or else is an acknowledgement of their own wrong doing.
But now Im pretty sure that unless they catch Cheney performing a backroom abortion on a 14 year old illegal immigrant babysitter with bush in the corner snorting lines of coke out of the fold of rush limbaughs neck, these guys can pretty much get away with anything. - littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Back when the GOP had both houses and the Executive Branch and all questions were crushed.
- kooft, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@ Entropy
Much better take on it than I had. My eyes are weary this afternoon. - freetyme, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11I don't know about anyone else but I'm a little tired of headlines ending with "WTF"
- seanmc303, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13@ kylesellers
Prove it. Find a link to back up your statement. I remember the no-bid contract, but I don't remember Clinton giving this contingency contract to Halliburton. -
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