What Can You Buy with $61 Million Dollars? – Dean does the math

[pruner]

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA--Howard Dean issued the following statement today on reports that a Pentagon audit has found that Halliburton overcharged the government:

"We learned yesterday what many Americans have suspected for a long time--special interest contributor Halliburton is overcharging the American taxpayers by tens of millions of dollars. Now George W. Bush is preventing entire nations from bidding on contracts in Iraq so his campaign contributors can continue to overcharge the American taxpayers.

"Our role on the world stage and the safety of our troops should not be for sale. We must ensure that every penny in Iraq is spent wisely and efficiently—and that means enlisting the help of our allies that this President has alienated. We must have a foreign policy based on our long-term interests, not the personal petulance of President Bush."

THE BUSH CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION:

Shut Allies Out of Iraq Contracts

As America and its allies work on the reconstruction of Iraq, George W. Bush has repeatedly stated he will work with our European allies. However, just as President Bush is asking our allies to aid Iraq through debt forgiveness, he is shutting them out of even bidding for contracts to help rebuild Iraq.

This is Now: Bush Shuts Allies Out of Iraq Contracts. "The taxpayers understand why it makes sense for countries that risk lives to participate in the contracts in Iraq," Bush said. "It's very simple. Our people risk their lives. Coalition, friendly coalition folks risk their lives, and, therefore, the contracting is going to reflect that." (Bush Remarks After Meeting With the Cabinet, 12/11/03)

That Was Then: Bush Pledged to Work with European Allies

• Bush Said America is "Better Off" Working with European Allies. Asked about his relationship with European allies Bush said, "Again, we're not going to agree on every issue, but a Europe which works closely with America and an America which works closely with Europe means the world will be better off."(Bush Interview With Sir David Frost of BBC Television, 11/12/03)

• Bush Said France and America Could "Work Together" for a Free Iraq. "And we'll work with all parties involved. My call, however, to nations is, is that let us not get caught up in past bickering. Let us move forward. A free Iraq is in everybody's interest. A peaceful Iraq is in the world's interest. And I'm confident we can work together to achieve that." (Bush Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Sabah of Kuwait, 9/10/03)

• Bush Told German Chancellor: "We're Going to Work Together." "Gerhard and I just had a very good meeting. The first thing I told him, I said, 'Look, we've had differences, and they're over, and we're going to work together.' And I believe when Germany and America works together, we can accomplish a lot of positive things. We're both committed to freedom. We're both committed to peace. We're both committed to the prosperity of our people. And I reaffirmed to Gerhard that America and German relations are very important to this administration. I have said so repeatedly. I said so in the Bundestag, and I reiterated it today with the Chancellor. We will work together in Afghanistan. I appreciate his efforts to help with a--help Iraq grow to be a peaceful and stable and democratic country." (Bush Remarks Following Discussions with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, 9/24/03)

That Was Then: Bush Seeking Debt Forgiveness for Iraq from Allies

• Bush Asks Same Shunned Allies to Help With Debt Forgiveness for Iraq. In early December 2003, the Bush administration began an effort to help Iraq solve its "debt problem." Bush said, "I asked President Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder and President Putin to see Jim Baker, to talk about debt restructuring. If these countries want to participate in helping the world become more secure by enabling Iraq to emerge as a free and peaceful country, one way to contribute is through debt restructuring." (New York Times, 12/4/03; Bush Media Availability, 12/11/03)

Administration Official Recognizes Folly of Bush Position on Foreign Contracts

• Administration Official Said Bush Position is Not Helpful. The New York Times reported of the Bush contracting position, "'Was it helpful?' said a senior administration official who asked not to be identified for fear of being seen as criticizing the president. 'Well, clearly not. But he'll find a way to work with the world as it is.'" (New York Times, 12/12/03)

What Can You Buy with $61 Million Dollars?

Background: Halliburton's No-Bid Contract Overcharged US Government by $61 Million. A Pentagon inquiry revealed that Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton Company, overcharged the government by roughly $61 million for fuel delivered to Iraq. According to estimates, the company improperly charged an extra $1.09 per gallon for 57 million gallons of gasoline. The overcharges occurred under one of Halliburton's no-bid reconstruction contracts. Vice President Dick Cheney served as CEO of the "politically connected" Halliburton, the New York Times reported. (New York Times, 12/12/03; Associated Press, 12/12/03)

Oil economist Called Halliburton Charges a "Monopoly Premium." "I have never seen anything like this in my life," said Phil Verleger, a California oil economist and the president of the consulting firm PK Verleger LLC. "That's a monopoly premium -- that's the only term to describe it. Every logistical firm or oil subsidiary in the United States and Europe would salivate to have that sort of contract." (New York Times, 12/10/03)

This Is Not the First Time: Halliburton Has History of Fleecing the Government in Contracts. According to the Associated Press, "Congress' General Accounting Office found in 1997 and 2000 that KBR had billed the Army for questionable expenses on its support contracts for operations in the Balkans. Those reviews cited instances such as charging $85.98 per sheet of plywood that cost $14.06 and billing the Army for cleaning some offices up to four times per day." (Associated Press, 12/12/03)

What Can You Buy? How Halliburton's $61 Million Could Have Been Spent

1. 40,700 Units of Body Armor for the Troops. Tens of thousands of US troops in Iraq lack protective body armor. If the cost of one vest of body armor vest is $1,500, $61 million dollars could have provided 40,700 vests for American soldiers. (Washington Post, 12/4/03; Associated Press, 10/13/03)

2. Armor for 406 Humvees for the Troops. Manufacturers at home have ramped up production of Humvee to combat a shortage for the troops in Iraq. The cost of armoring one Humvee is $150,000; $61 million dollars could have armored 406 of the 3,500 Humvees that the military says need armor. (Washington Post, 12/4/03; http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/pasgtv.htm)

3. 122,000 Flights for Soldiers Returning Home. Currently, soldiers on leave from Iraq are dispatched to three U.S. airports. They have to pay for any additional flights it takes to arrive home. If an average roundtrip flight costs $500, $61 million dollars could have provided 122,000 flights for these brave men and women. (Associated Press, 12/12/03)

http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002663.html#more

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

1. good for Dean!

I can't believe the open corruption that Cheney and Halliburton get away with.

[mzmolly]

2. There it is...this is why Dean is the front runner folks!

:toast:

[caledesi]

4. Exactly Mz....I don't know how he does it. He is on these issues

in a NY minute.

[arcane1]

3. you can also give it to the TORTURED Gulf war POW's

dammit :grr:



By PHILIP SHENON

Published: November 10, 2003


WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 — The Bush administration is seeking to
block a group of American troops who were tortured in Iraqi
prisons during the Persian Gulf war in 1991 from collecting
any of the hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen Iraqi
assets they won last summer in a federal court ruling against
the government of Saddam Hussein

In a court challenge that the administration is winning so
far but is not eager to publicize, administration lawyers
have argued that Iraqi assets frozen in bank accounts in the
United States are needed for Iraqi reconstruction and that
the judgment won by the 17 former American prisoners should
be overturned.

snip

But they say the case cannot be allowed to hinder American
foreign policy and get in the way of the administration's
multibillion-dollar reconstruction efforts in Iraq — an
argument that federal appeals courts seem likely to accept

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/international/middleeast/10POWS.html?hp


please NOTE how Slimy Scott handles this issue:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031106-5.html

Q Scott, there are 17 former POWs from the first Gulf War who were tortured and filed suit against the regime of Saddam Hussein. And a judge has ordered that they are entitled to substantial financial damages. What is the administration’s position on that? Is it the view of this White House that that money would be better spent rebuilding Iraq rather than going to these former POWs?

MR. McCLELLAN: There is simply no amount of money that can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering that they went through at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime. That’s what our view is.

Q White House is standing in the way of them getting those awards, those financial awards, because it views it that money better spent on rebuilding Iraq?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, there’s simply no amount of money that can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering —

Q Why won’t you spell out what your position is?

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m coming to your question. Believe me, I am. Let me finish. Let me start over again, though. No amount of money can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering that they went through at the hands of a very brutal regime, at the hands of Saddam Hussein. … But again, there is simply no amount of compensation that could ever truly compensate these brave men and women.

Q Just one more. Why would you stand in the way of at least letting them get some of that money?



MR. McCLELLAN: That’s why I pointed out that that was an issue that was addressed earlier this year. But make no mistake about it, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the torture that these brave individuals went through —

Q — you don’t think they should get money?

MR. McCLELLAN: — at the hands of Saddam Hussein. There is simply no amount of money that can truly compensate those men and women who heroically served —

Q That’s not the issue —

MR. McCLELLAN: — who heroically served our nation.

Q Are you opposed to them getting some of the money?



MR. McCLELLAN: This issue was addressed earlier this year, and we believe that there’s simply no amount of money that could truly compensate these brave men and women for what they went through and for the suffering that they went through at the hands of Saddam Hussein —

Q So no money.
---------------------------------


that money went into over-charges for Halli and KBR, and they are not even getting in trouble for it!!!

those CEO's must've REALLY suffered, for them to deserve that money more!!!

[slinkerwink]

5. kick