WP:Halliburton Chief's Move to Dubai Evokes Warnings on Hill (Sen. Dorgan to seek hearings on move)

[maddezmom]

~snip~

"The CEO of Halliburton has decided to leave this country to move his offices to Dubai because he says it is 'a great business center.' That is a bizarre announcement," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Dorgan, who said he would seek hearings on the move, added: "I want to know, is Halliburton trying to run away from bad publicity on their contracts? Are they trying to run away from the obligation to pay U.S. taxes? Or are they trying to set up a corporate presence in Dubai so that they can avoid the restrictions that currently exist on doing business with prohibited countries like Iran?"

People familiar with investigations carried out by the Pentagon and special Iraq inspectors general said there were many aspects of Halliburton's contracts in Iraq that have not yet come under full scrutiny. With Democrats in control of Congress, further hearings on those contracts are likely. Last year, Halliburton received $6.1 billion of Defense Department contracts, the sixth-largest total of any company. In 2005, it received $5.8 billion.

Halliburton announced last month that it would spin off its 81 percent stake in KBR, its subsidiary that received more than 90 percent of its Pentagon contracts in 2006. Securities analysts said the move would aid Halliburton's stock price, which has languished at lower price-to-earnings ratios than other oilfield services companies.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201299.html

Side of business headed for Dubai is about energy drilling, not military


By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

When Halliburton said Sunday its CEO will move to a new headquarters office in Dubai, many thought it was the energy company with the massive military support contract in Iraq that has drawn the ire of many an activist.

Not exactly.

The Halliburton businesses that have been at the center of controversy in recent years are in the process of being spun out into a separate company under the KBR name.

The company that CEO Dave Lesar will represent in the Persian Gulf will be focused on the nitty-gritty side of oil and gas drilling. Its services, software and hardware make boring thousands of feet into the earth in search of hydrocarbons easier and help maximize production.

In other words, one would be hard-pressed to create a company less likely to capture the interest of the general public.

Halliburton still has an 81 percent stake in KBR, the engineering, construction and services company that does everything from building chemical plants to logistics support for the U.S. military.

more:http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/4624039.html

not exactly, but 81% is close enough to me....nice try at spin.

[NanceGreggs]

1. I saw this same movie back in the sixties ...

... it was called "Take the Money and Run".

It was funny when Woody Allen did it as a bank heist comedy.

Somehow it's not so funny now.

Maybe it's the fact that a greedy, war-profiteering company making off with untold millions in taxpayers' dollars doesn't quite have the same panache.

Maybe it's just me.

Maybe I just don't get the joke.

[maddezmom]

2. "Talk about cut and run!"

perfect comment from this OpEd

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x268480

These people are beyond contempt. If there is a joke in there somewhere, I'm not getting it either.

[ninkasi]

7. I'd like your opinion, Nancy, since I respect you

What does a move like this signal to our troops? Cheney is tireless in painting those of us who are trying to end this illegal war as somehow damaging our troop's confidence, and being supportive of the insurgents. For a company which is supposed to be providing so much support to our troops, doesn't it strike you, as it does me, as being actually DAMAGING to the troop's morale?

We are paying enormous, huge bucks to a company which has absolutely no sense of patriotism, or of loyalty to those who are fighting in Bush's war. I eagerly read each of your rants, because they are always right, and sum the situation up perfectly.

If I had your skills, I'd write a post questioning the decision to move a company supplying support to our men and women who are in harm's way, to a country which is foreign, and has more ties to terrorists than to the United States. Is Halliburton, by finding ways to avoid paying the taxes which fund this war, being a traitor, by instead enriching part of the country which has provided funding for that war?

I am not trying to be facetious, because I'm not nearly as politically astute as so many of my fellow DUers are, but the OP, and your response, prompted me to pose this question to one I respect.

[tavalon]

9. Oh, no, you most assuredly "get the joke"

I just suspect that, like me and many here, you don't find it the least bit funny. I'm glad to see this getting legs in the blogosphere, now we just need it to learn to walk in front of the presstitutes. Hell, it would probably have to walk on top of them to get them to notice. Oops, did I just show my bias against the "mainstream" media?

[Dover]

3. Interesting last line in this article from the Houston Chronicle...>

...Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, said while he understands the attractiveness of Dubai, the move still runs counter to a long-standing trend in which the energy industry has consolidated more and more operations in Houston.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, said the news "is not surprising."

"It would make sense," Brady said, for an oil and gas company to "go where oil and gas is. America these days essentially vilifies our own energy companies."

While Halliburton officials were quick to point out that many other top executives would remain in Houston, Brady noted: "If I were a CEO, I'd want my top team with me."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4622059.html


"Seeya Suckas!" Dave Lesar, CEO and chairman of Halliburton waves
as he skips out. "We got the Veep working for us. What you got?".
...(my quotes)

[maddezmom]

4. That idiot Brady is my rep. and a Delay fan

:eyes: Wonder if he'd say the same if ExxonMobiland BP decided to leave.....not sure where he'd get votes.

[Botany]

11. Is this your guy?

One more repug ready to put bush & party over the country.

[Dover]

5. Some IMPORTANT background for this story >>>

ABOUT HALLIBURTON

Iran


"If these companies are going through the back door to invest in terrorist nations, Congress must take action to immediately close, lock and seal those doors," Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said in February 2004.1

As investigators from 60 Minutes discovered, Halliburton has used an offshore subsidiary incorporated in the Cayman Islands (where the company has no oil and gas construction or engineering operations) to trade with Iran, a country that the Bush administration has described as part of an "axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world."2

Federal law disallows American companies from transacting business with nations that sponsor terrorism, but foreign subsidiaries of such companies are not banned from such transactions. In May 2004, the U.S. Senate voted against legislation that would have stopped companies like Halliburton from using offshore subsidiaries to invest in Iran. The legislation was defeated in a 50-49 vote, mostly along party lines.

As CEO of Halliburton, Mr. Cheney lobbied the Clinton administration to ease sanctions on Libya and Iran, according to various news reports. "I think we'd be better off if we, in fact, backed off those sanctions , didn't try to impose secondary boycotts on companies .. trying to do business there," Cheney told an Australian television interviewer in April 1998.

According to the Financial Times, before he was elected (but after he resigned from Halliburton) Cheney "has said the company is allowed to operate legally in Iran through its foreign subsidiaries."4 "What we do with respect to Iran and Libya is done through foreign subsidiaries, totally in compliance with US law," Cheney told ABC Television's Sam Donaldson. When Donaldson suggested, "it's a way around US law," Cheney replied: "No, no, it's provided for us specifically with respect to Iran and Libya."5 If you're a big multinational that's able to incorporate around the world, you don't have to worry.

As Vice President, Cheney led the National Energy Review which concluded in 2001 that the US should "level the playing field for US companies overseas" and recommended a comprehensive review of sanctions with consideration given to US "energy security."..>

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/about_hal/iran.html

[tanyev]

14. Whoomp! There it is.

Indeed.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Didn't you hear?

The word came down this year in Davos: America is so over.

[jmowreader]

8. If Halliburton wasn't so infested with crooks, I'd say this makes perfect sense

Let's play a little game: What if EVERYONE at Halliburton headquarters didn't need to be in jail?

Understand that if I was an oil driller I wouldn't even consider buying equipment from anyone else. Halliburton's gear works, which is how they got big enough to afford the kind of crooks that are running the place.

If Halliburton's executives were even slightly honest, moving the company to Dubai makes perfect sense. It's close enough to the customers that you don't need to use an airplane that can fly halfway around the world on one tank of gas every time a problem requiring your presence pops up. If your manufacturing facilities are in Dubai, you can get in-stock equipment to your customers in days, not weeks. Your customers can visit your factories without having to fly to the United States--some very large buyers like to do that. It's all good.

Now let's go back to reality, that reality where the Halliburton janitor makes a million a year selling the slime the executives exude as "driller's mud." (Driller's mud is a lubricant for rock drilling, and oil drillers use a lot of it.) Now you have to ask what their angle is, and it's almost certain to be the ability to sell to countries on the US government's restricted list. Forget tax treatment, folks; Halliburton's not paying taxes anyway. No large company that does a lot of R&D pays taxes.

Unfortunately, I don't know WHAT we can do about this. There's no way they're going to close their manufacturing plant in Texas, because American companies buy this stuff too.

[semillama]

13. I heard on NPR that the company actually isn't moving to Dubai

in the sense that they would stop being an American company. It's going to remain registered as a US company.

Or so they claim.

In a strictly business view, the move does make a lot of sense.

[mostlymoderate]

10. Enemy Within

Halliburton is the enemy within. How convenient of them to move to Dubai.

P.S. Hi Everyone! This is my first post so I am a little scared. Don't let my alias scare you off. Here is a little about me:

1. Pro Choice
2. Voted for Al Gore (twice)
3. Think We need Universal Healthcare
4. Disgusted with Bush
5. Will vote for Edwards in primaries but will support whichever Democrat wins the primaries.
6. Did I mention I hate Republicans?
7. Any questions ;-)

Nice to meet you all!!!
-mostlymoderate

[deepthought42]

12. Welcome to DU!

:hi: :toast:

1. Me too
2. Me too (once)
3. Me too! (see a theme?)
4. I don't think 'disgusted' is a harsh enough term... :evilgrin:
5. Technically I'm 'unaffiliated' so I can't vote in primaries, but I'll vote for the Dem nominee, no question about it! :)
6. Join the club. :evilgrin:
7. No questions. Haven't had enough coffee yet... :hangover:

[Le Taz Hot]

16. Welcome to DU, mostly.

Wait. That came out wrong. Well, you mean what I know! :smoke:

Don't be skeered. It might get a little heated around here every now and again, but for the most part, we're harmless.

[redqueen]

23. Hi, mostlymoderate!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

Thanks for outlining your stances... mind if I ask... do you favor single-payer or continuing to include insurance cos. in the universal healthcare plan?

[blondie58]

27. welcome!

welcome to du, mostly moderate!

don't be afraid. we don't bite, well, at least not many.

[Wapsie B]

15. Something tells me it's yes on all counts.

[havocmom]

17. Any chance of CIA rendition flights bringing corporate criminals to justice? (n/t)

[Beetwasher]

18. TAKE AWAY ALL THE FUCKING CONTRACTS AND SLAP THEM SILLY

w/ billions in fines. I'm not kidding. They need to be kicked to the curb HARD and like RIGHT NOW.

[Julius Civitatus]

19. Question: does Dubai have any EXTRADITION treaties with the US?

Is that why Halliburton is moving there?
IS there a compelling legal reason why a character like Michael Jackson moved there after his trial?
Is there a legal loophole that makes Dubai a shelter form prosecution or extradition?

[Spazito]

24. There is NO extradition treaty between the UAE and the US

I am sure that little legality had NO part in this decision to move! :sarcasm:

[Karenina]

25. I don't believe so.

Ja, Ja und JA, UND?

[durtee librul]

29. In my twisted little mind

that there is NO extradition agreement is the ONLY reason they are moving....and I don't give a rat's ass about if the headquarters stay here or there - bottom line, they are leaving the sinking ship. Sinking ship could be Amerika, but I would bet the wiser money minds have seen the end of the Bushbot and Dickhead reign and want to get out while the gettin' is good.

Like another poster mentioned, Michael Jackson didn't go there because he likes sand. He went for a reason...and the reason is that the long arm of the law (or what used to be the law until lil al got in) can't touch him in Dubai for playing with children in inappropriate places.

Just my two cents worth.

[BlueEyedSon]

20. "No more no-bid contracts for YOU!"

[Rosa Luxemburg]

21. they can run but they can't hide

still registered in the US? or they going to register in the Cayman islands and jump ship?

[sarcasmo]

22. These thieves have shown their true colors. Kick and Nom.

[DrunkenMaster]

26. Halliburton will fit right in!

A few "fun facts" about Dubai:

1. It is NOT a democracy;
2. Sex Slavery thrives;
3. Women have zero rights;
4. Homosexuality is punishable by death or long imprisonment;
5. The 80+% of the population that falls under the category of "migrant" workers has zero civil rights at all.


Yup, Halliburton has found a home!

[salin]

28. what started my repub sibling to start questioning...

the idea that the far right - esp politicians and thier corporate connected cronies - were more loyal to making HUGE profits than to the economic solvency of this country and its citizens. A few more stories like this and he may just come back home (politically - so to speak.) The kids are now becoming college age and he suddenly is concerned about things like outsourcing and the shift of our economy to a lower paying service economy. Has started to make him worry.