Big Contracts Went To Big Donors

[dArKeR]

Companies awarded $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan have been major campaign donors to President Bush, and their executives have had important political and military connections, according to a study released Thursday.

The study of more than 70 U.S. companies and individual contractors turned up more than $500,000 in donations to the president's 2000 campaign, more than they gave collectively to any other politician over the past dozen years.

The report was released by the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based research organization that produces investigative articles on special interests and ethics in government. Its staff includes journalists and researchers.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/30/iraq/main580998.shtml

[Brucey]

1. No kidding.

Everyone is so surprised that these guys in charge would funnel funds to their friends and supporters. By the way, that's a very new thing in politics, isn't it?

[cliss]

2. We all know that's the case.

Put money in your greasy politician's hands = lucrative contracts.

It's nothing new. Still, it's good that they hammer away, digging out every last rotten deal, every damn way they pushed to the front of the line.

I'm thankful for EVERY bit of bad news on these guys. I believe it's the "pile-up effect" (a new phrase I just coined). The manure just keeps getting piled on more and more, and the deeper the worry lines groove into their foreheads, and the greyer their hair gets, and the more worried they get about their collective future.

And it stinks more and more. I keep waiting for my fellow Americans to say, "Hey wait a minute! This stinks like crap!". Every day as I drive home from work, I keep thinking "NOW! Now, they've had enough". And they will stand up and DEMAND to get these fuckers out. Never forget, we have a brave past.

[OneBlueSky]

3. if this party had any leadership at all . . .

they'd get all of the candidates together to issue a joint statement at a joint press conference lambasting these open-ended, cost-plus contracts for adminstration cronies and ask questions like "Why isn't this business going to Iraqi firms, who could do the work a hell of a lot cheaper while employing Iraqi workers and improving the Iraqi economy? Is George Bush just lying when he says he wants to rebuild Iraq? Or does he just want to enrich his friends at taxpayer expense?" There are certain things that all Democrats should agree on, and this is one of them. We, as a party, should let the world know this, loudly and clearly and repeatedly, until the corporate media has no choice but to cover it!

[democratreformed]

4. Wesley Clark's statement

Clark Questions War-Related Windfall for Bush Backers; Calls for More Transparency
Little Rock - The Bush administration has awarded U.S. companies up to $8 billion in contracts for postwar work-and perhaps much more. These companies have given more than $500,000 to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, according to a study released today by the Center for Public Integrity. The General Accounting Office is currently conducting two separate probes into these contracts.

Yesterday, the Bush administration announced an extension of Halliburton's no-bid contract in Iraq, even though Halliburton has been accused of gouging American taxpayers with an inflated bill for emergency oil imports.

"It is time for more transparency and less cronyism," General Wesley Clark said. "American taxpayers deserve no less. Leadership is about making the best deal for the American people, not extending sweetheart deals for supporters."

[Frodo]

5. Are there any defense contractors or oil companies...

...that did NOT give money to Bush???