Halliburton Accused of Wasting Tax Money (Friday Democrat Hearing)

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- Frustrated that they couldn't convince Republicans to conduct hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, Democrats convened a panel of their own Friday to hear a former Halliburton employee testify that the company wastes taxpayers' money.

Halliburton, which supplies military support services in Iraq and elsewhere, routinely purchased items at higher prices from preferred suppliers, said Henry Bunting, who worked for the company in Kuwait last year.

"There were frequent instructions by procurement supervisors and management to keep ... requisitions under the $2,500 threshold to avoid competitive bidding," Bunting, of Houston, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

"Remember, this is a 'cost plus contract' so Halliburton would get reimbursed for its costs plus a percentage," he said.

more..........................

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-halliburton-whistleblowers,0,6147120.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. But don't bother to investigate this

Because the investigators are all republicans with a vested interest
in not finding anything wriong.

[BeHereNow]

2. This broadcast was SMOKING!

If you do NOTHING else today- go to the
c-span site and watch this hearing!
I am dancing on the ceiling in JOY!!!
I could not breath, I could not move
as I watched it!
It was STUNNING! I am in total bliss!
You HAVE to see it!
And then call Dorgans office and offer your
eternal gratitude.
The wheels are going to come off the train- FINALLY.
The transcript will be available later today
at:
http://www.democrats.senate.gov
Print it!
Pass it!
And call 202-224-3232!
Talk to Tim Gaffney, the good lookin' guy behind Dorgan
in the video and tell him "EXCELLENT JOB!"
He is the coordinator for the investigation committee.
I called him and he was great to talk to.
Apparently, they have another witness, who is anonymous
at this point, but his testimony is going to be HUGE.

God Bless the DPC!
They are treading where NO one has tread before
and the shite is going to hit the fan BIG time!
This is a historical day kids!
BHN

[54anickel]

10. Watching it now....

This is good. Love the opening history trip to 40 years ago with Rummy complaining about war-profiteering with B&R back then.


http://www.c-span.org/videoarchives.asp?CatCodePairs=,

Dem. Policy Cmte. Hearing on Iraq Contracting Abuses
Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-Il), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) lead this Democratic Policy Committee hearing on Iraq contracting abuses. Witnesses include: Henry Bunting, former field buyer for Halliburton in Kuwait; Jeffrey Jones, former Director of the Defense Energy Support Center, the Pentagon office responsible for supplying gasoline for military activities; William Hartung, President's Fellow at the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research, and Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense.
2/13/2004: WASHINGTON, DC: 2 hr.

[BeHereNow]

11. Good!

I can't believe the folks at DU are not picking up on this!
I think it is HUGE!
BHN

[54anickel]

12. Too busy fighting over Kerry's intern story and Shrub's AWOL right

now. Hopefully they will get around to it.

We need to support these folks. Shrub will try to accuse them of playing politics. They make a great point about who's truly supporting our troops and being patriotic though.

[BeHereNow]

13. Agreed!

When the military families find out that monogrammed
towels were more important that protective vests or
humvee armor, they are going to DEMAND that heads roll!
Call them!!!
I did and they were thrilled that anyone saw
the hearing and expressed support for the committee.
Every DUer who claims to support the troops should be
finding out how they can help spread this hearing and the work
of this committee.
I can not say it enough- this is HUGE!
This can bring them down!
BHN

[54anickel]

14. Wow, Durbin figuring how much armor plating and kevlar vests could

have been provided with the money wasted just on the Hellaburnin logo on the towels alone.

You are correct BHN, if people claim to want to support our troops, they should be supporting these hearings.

Like this part from Hartung too:

Then of course we have the “meals not served” scandal, in which Halliburton was billing the Pentagon for 42,042 meals a day at Camp
Harifjan in Kuwait while only 14,053 were actual served. That’s not a small undercount, a case of being a little off in playing “guess who’s coming to dinner?,” as one Halliburton PR person put it.

That means day in, and day out, billing U.S. taxpayers for three times as many meals as were actually served. And according to press accounts the quality of the meals was so unappealing that many U.S. soldiers in Kuwait skip out of the mess hall and go out and buy food from vendors on the street. So far, $27 million in overcharges have been detected in just five facilities, with roughly another 50 to be checked.

As my friend and colleague David Isenberg of the British
American Security Information Council (BASIC) put it recently, for our armed forces as hey are currently structured, private military companies like Halliburton are like the American Express card – they can’t leave home without them.

So in order to contemplate punishing a company like Halliburton, you also need to think about how to accomplish the support and logistics tasks that Halliburton is currently shouldering on behalf of our armed forces.

I happen to believe that we have gone too far down the road of privatization when it comes to military support services. There are certain levels of discipline, risk, and discretion that one an expect from a person who has agreed to wear the uniform of their country that one cannot necessarily expect from a person or entity who is performing a similar task for a fee. Lieutenant General Charles S. Mahan, Jr. has asserted that there were points during the current Iraq war when the refusal of contract employees to go into harm’s way deprived U.S. troops of fresh food, showers, toilets, and other basic services for months at a time.

[calimary]

16. I was watching that, too. It was great. So was Dorgan. So was Durbin.

I will be CERTAIN to call, first thing Tuesday morning (doubt they're in on Monday). I hope like heck they will continue these independent Democratic investigative panels. They really got people to tell it like it is. It was information that DESPERATELY needs to get out. I'm SO glad CSPAN covered it. This is just the beginning. I sure hope they continue this. We sure won't get very far waiting for the republi-CONS to do anything.

For those who might not be able to afford to call long distance next week, there's always the TOLL FREE Capitol Hill Switchboard number, where they transfer you, FREE, to anybody's office in the House and/or Senate.

1 (800) 839 - 5276.

We just ABSOLUTELY need to do this! Call 'em and say MORE, PLEASE!!!

[Sugarbleus]

22. this story is why I came on line tonight!

I posted a reply in a military families thread about this.

This info IS WAAAAAAAAAAY DAMNING! I was glued to the set watching. I hope Dorgan's ire will move him to start a huge bonfire under the cheney/bush bungholes. We sent bucks over there to help the soldiers and those #@%$#@%$# spent it on themselves at a horrific rate. Can we say: war profiteering? Geeeeeeeeez, this was a great conference.

I hope the fellas testifying continue to watch their backs now..if ya know what I mean.

[BeHereNow]

3. Kick!

Kick!
Kick!
Kick!

[BeHereNow]

4. Folks, we are talking RICO!

PLEASE take action.
Get this out to EVERYONE you know!
Kick
Kick
can't kick hard enough!!!
RICO
They are proving/exposing RICO!
We are talking IMPEACHMENT of the whole rotten bunch!

[MagicEye]

5. Yes, Must See!

Cheney is going down. This is the biggest news of the day and unless you watch it and pass it on, it will go unnoticed.

[Seldona]

6. This looks like the transcript.

Click on the names to see the testimony.

http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpchearing.cfm?A=12

[BeHereNow]

9. Welcome to DU Magic Eye!

BHN

[CheshireCat]

7. Just contacted Dorgan by e-mail

to thank him and ask him to keep up the good work.

[BeHereNow]

8. Kickin' for the night crew

I think what I saw today was amazing!
I do hope y'all will watch it and send your supprot
to these people.
BHN

[Just Me]

15. AT LEAST THEY ARE FIGHTING BACK!!!

Geez,...I apologize for screaming, again. But, god---damnit,...we are dealing with freakin' predators!!! THEY have called off all rules!!! We cannot fight these beasts according to our principles. We can maintain our principles and fight back. These are not the times to "pretend" that righteousness will somehow defeat horror. At least,...not in my view.

[calimary]

17. Screaming? Hey, I do it ALL THE TIME!!!

No, we CANNOT fight these beasts when they control the playing field, the referees, the rules, and the ball. Soooooooooooo, we have to go build OUR OWN playing field, and do an end-run around 'em.

I suggest we also get busy writing letters to the editor of whatever paper we like, big or small, AND contacting OTHER media, and OTHER Democratic congresspeople/Senators to encourage this.

In addition, we need to let CSPAN know they're doing the right thing by covering these hearings. We need to let the Washington Post, other big papers, and the other networks know THEY, TOO, need to pay attention. WE NEED THE TRUTH TO COME OUT. The republi-CONS will not allow that. So we've gotta go around 'em.

[BeHereNow]

20. AND...pardon the shouting

We need to keep this story kicked!
BHN
I can't believe DUers have not checked this video out!
It is what we have prayed for over the last three years!!!
Argh!
BHN

[leesa]

18. Duh, ya think?

[dArKeR]

19. Dems are scum! Only Dean has morality! I saw this meeting and

the Dems should have been standing up screaming! Why doesn't a Dem. Senator have the backbone to stand up and scream? 'This money that Cheney's Haliburton is stealing could have been used to buy steel doors for the Humvees and many of our children would still be alive, many would still have their arms, many would still have their legs, many would still have their eye sight. Cheney, Bush and Haliburton are directly responsible for this.'

[BeHereNow]

21. apparently...

you have not watched the broadcast?
the word TREASON was used...
what more do you want?
BHN

[Sugarbleus]

23. And it IS dems who are bringing this up...pretty dang pissed dems too. eom

[dArKeR]

24. I want President Dean to scream them into prison

[lumpy]

25. Durbin and Dorgan

doing a great job. Halliburton and buddies doing a great job ripping off the US taxpayer. Sincerely hope something good comes of this investigation,like putting those unpatriotic scamming companies out of business.

[joanski01]

26. I watched this hearing, too.

It was awesome. Dorgan said they had invited someone from the Pentagon, but they refused to attend. Interesting that the Republicans had a hearing about Janet Jackson a few days after the event, but deliberately refuse to hold hearings on Haliburton stealing the taxpayers' money.

[JNelson6563]

27. This is excellent!

I too will be calling them on Tuesday. I always call them when I see somebody kicking ass. You can almost hear relief in the voice of the person you talk to and you know the freeper types have been calling to complain.

I hope they do all they can to get this out. There is a lot we can do too.

Hope everyone will help with this! :hi:

Julie

[54anickel]

28. Absolutely! Need to call & support. Our candidates should be all

over this as well! THIS is how AWOL supports our troops!!!!
Kick!

[Cocoa]

29. GOP going down with the chimp?

They are really going to great lengths to cover up for him. I hope the dems make them pay in November.

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[dArKeR]

30. Halliburton in Iraq set to become campaign issue - NYT

As the allegations and investigations of the Halliburton Co's federal contracts in Iraq broaden in size and number, Democrats say they will use the company's ties to the Bush administration as a campaign issue, and Halliburton is responding with television advertisements implying that the company is being unfairly targeted.

"We are serving our troops because of what we know, not who we know," declares the 30-second spot, which is airing in Washington, Houston and several other cities.

A company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last month declared that Halliburton's Iraq contracts "will likely be subject to intense scrutiny" in the months ahead, in large part because "the Vice President of the United States" is "a former chief executive officer."

"We expect that this focus and these allegations will continue and possibly intensify as the 2004 elections draw near," it adds with understandable prescience.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2004/02/15/2003098868

[54anickel]

31. A kick for Tuesday

[bvar22]

32. Kick to the top.

This should be used as THE example of why we SHOULD NOT privitize the ARMY, Social Security, Medicare.

[kittykitty]

33. Wasting our Money and Won't pay Taxes on their profit!!

As Paul Waldman pointed out in his wonderful book, FRAUD (recommended reading)page 188, "While at Halliburton, Cheney also approved the overseas reincorporation of no fewer than 35 Halliburton subsidiaries in an effort to avoid paying U.S.taxes". (He cites Peter Beinart, "Eight Days" New Republic, Dec. 2, 2002).

This means that not only is is Halliburton ripping everyone off with US tax payers dollars, but they won't pay taxes on their illegally gained profit!

[54anickel]

34. Check out the broadcast discussed in post 2 & 10. It's great. Then

contact these guys to show them some support. I am sure they are getting PLENTY of complaints from the "right".