LEAHY INTRODUCES WAR PROFITEERING ACT 2007

[Tellurian]

LEAHY INTRODUCES WAR PROFITEERING PREVENTION ACT 2007

...Thank You Senator Leahy!

Soon after the American people booted the GOP from Congress in the midterm elections, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) spoke at his alma mater, Georgetown Law School, and talked about, amongst many other pressing issues to come before his Senate Judiciary Committee, war profiteers.

And because prosecuting criminal cases against war profiteering is difficult under current law and has to overcome jurisdictional legal defenses, we also will renew our efforts to enact the War Profiteering Prevention Act. I have repeatedly offered this bill, and it has passed the Senate, only to die in a Republican-controlled conference committee.

On January 4, the first day of the new Democratic Congress, Senator Leahy made good on those words when he introduced the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007. The legislation group of bills includes the Effective Corruptions Prosecutions Act of 2007.

(Read his remarks on war profiteering prevention and on effective prosecutions.)


Here's what it will do:

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/01/06/leahy-introduces-war-profiteering-prevention-act-of-2007/

[illinoisprogressive]

1. yeeessssssssssss!!!!!!!!!

[EVDebs]

31. KBR insider tells about plans for Iran at a DU post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3108489&mesg_id=3108489

Sen Leahy should investigate this pronto !

[Tellurian]

37. ....

:dem:

[Tellurian]

2. Can anyone think of a War Profiteer who might benefit?

from a Senator Leahy intervention?

:shrug:

[PsN2Wind]

3. Senator Leahy

might get some payback for Cheney the Dick's "go fuck yourself".

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Is this Leahy's way of telling Cheney . . ,

"Go fuck yourself"?

[mod mom]

5. Dear Senator Leahy,

:yourock:

[valerief]

6. This would stop the war faster than a draft. nt

[Tellurian]

12. Yep, Kennedy, Leahy, Feingold, Pelosi, OBama, Johnson, Edwards..

Pose a huge threat to the WH agenda..

TRIPLE UP ON PERSONAL SECURITY...

[Jim Sagle]

7. Those sumbitches tried to kill him. Now they pay for it.

[Toots]

36. It all sounds great except for the fact that Bush* will veto it and there aren't the

votes needed to override a veto. Bush* has to be removed from office. That is the only way the madness will stop..

[AtomicKitten]

8. Betacha now Cheney's thinking Leahy is REALLY a son of a bitch, eh?

Brilliant move, Senator. Stick it to the bastards.

[Tellurian]

21. ...

[AZBlue]

33. Guess he'll think twice before telling a Senator to Eff Off again!

[Gloria]

9. Go get these f*ckers!

[bobbolink]

10. For those who say impeachment would stop government work,

here is the perfect refutation.

Committees and their chairmen will continue doing what they do best. Legislation for all the various issues, while the House Judicial works on impeachment.

See how it all comes together?

REally, it all works, just as the Founders intended it to.

No worries.

[Auntie Bush]

11. I couldn't be prouder of our Senator.

Go get the bush bastards!

[Tellurian]

14. I'm Proud of him too, AB

And thankful, he had the good sense early on, to get this Bill rolling.

[mzmolly]

13. PHEW!

!

[ashling]

15. My only reservation

and its not relly a reservation, only a consideration about language (a la Frank Luntz) is don't go giving these guys a ground to claim that we are in a "declared" war. I can just hear them hollering that we are admiting that we are at war and that in a war the president can do .....

:puke:

[Lone_Wolf]

16. How will the Bush family make any money?

They should make the law retroactive to the start of the Iraq war.

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. By creating more war?

[welshTerrier2]

17. it's a start ... much more is needed ...

overcharging, inflated prices, fraud, billing for work never done - that's real fraud and Leahy's legislation will be devastating to the bad guys when it's enacted ... a big kudos to those from my favorite state!

but let's make sure we don't lose sight of the real profiteering and of the real crimes and of the systemic corruption that this legislation, at least based on my quick read, doesn't really address ... we didn't go to Iraq so that Halliburton could overcharge the army for a bunch of meals they never served ... we didn't go to war so that Bechtel could lay roads 5 inches thick instead of 8 inches and skim a few extra bucks off good old Uncle Sam ... these are real and serious crimes and i applaud Leahy's focus on them ... and they are crimes that resulted in the theft of billions of dollars ... Leahy's legislation is a good start ...

but what is far more important, at least to me, is understanding the deep greed that led to this war in the first place ... oil companies have profited to the tune of billions ... but it is not the obvious crimes like just raising prices without justification or sneaking coolaid into the gasoline they sell ... the "profiteering" would appear to be all very legal ... put succinctly, and there have been numerous articles on this subject, the record profits Big Oil has made since the invasion of Iraq have been due largely to a destabilized Middle East ... more uncertainty = higher prices ... one could make a very legitimate case, if you didn't look beyond the market forces, that no crime or excess profits were made ... that's what i see as not addressed in Leahy's legislation ... the market became unstable, risk increased, profits increased ... so where's the crime?

but indeed, the real crimes went much deeper than unwarranted price hikes ... the whole reason for the war was to destabilize the oil markets and produce the kind of profits we've seen ... the whole reason for the war was to gain control of Iraq's oil ... that was THE PRIZE in all of this ... and that was THE CRIME ... the more important crime was not the excess profits themselves or the "legal contracts" that will deprive Iraq of its oil revenues but rather it was going to war in the first place to fulfill Big Oil's greedy objectives ...

the lesson is very simple ... Big Oil should not be able to retain any profits it's made during the conduct of the war and it should be forced to void all contracts it's made for Iraqi oil ... if the mouse gets to keep its cheese, surely it will go looking for more ... until Big Oil is stripped of its ill-gotten gains, we will surely have another war and another and another and another ... the crime is not just the profits themselves; the crime is the corruption of our government which went to war to help its greedy friends obtain them while we footed the bill and our military gave their lives and their limbs and their families ... but we must go beyond this ... we have got to do whatever is necessary to return real power to the American people and strip power away from corporations that have controlled foreign policy for their own greedy interests for far too long ...

so, a big "YES" to Leahy's first step on war profiteering; but let's remember that the next step, the more important step really, is to ensure that war profiteers carry no influence in the halls of the people's government ...

[Tellurian]

18. Well Stated, welshTerrier2

if you will (for me).. please read the sister thread I posted here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3103069&mesg_id=3103069

and if you could, post any suggestions.

[Tellurian]

23. In ref to your response...

Have you sent a recommendation to Sen. Leahy?
I believe an addendum can be added before passage by himself or another senator.

[leesa]

38. I agree. It's a start. If the text is too wishy-washy it will be meaningless.

It also need to have some sort of retroactive bite to it to prosecute the crimes already committed.

[progressoid]

19. !!!!!

[NoSheep]

22. This is encouraging! Thanks for posting.

[yellowcanine]

24. Nickname should be the Haliburton Bill.

[blm]

25. Great action by Leahy - go after the corrupt and the profiteers. Flush out the Dems

and the Republicans who would dare oppose this bill.

[Renew Deal]

26. Great news. Good to see this congress working!

:bounce:

[Qutzupalotl]

27. This will go a long way

toward preventing this kind of madness in the future.

:kick:

[AtomicKitten]

28. kicked

for the War Profiteering Prevention Act 2007

[Tellurian]

29. AK...

you find the cutest graphics..

MOOOOOOh!

[proud patriot]

30. Right On

:thumbsup:

[JerseygirlCT]

32. This is GREAT. Gets right to the heart of it. nt

[rurallib]

34. Bout time - it's been a week

Go get 'em Pat. Hang 'em high and fine 'em big!

[Tellurian]

35. rurallib.. Ilike the way you think!

get a rope..

[Tellurian]

39. kick

:dem:

[fuzzyball]

40. About time....eom

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

41. Who will they imprison?

Will it be the officers and directors? Won't they will claim that the company is legally "a person" and should be subject to the penalty.

Congress can't make it retroactive because there can't be an ex post facto law.

Also, a million dollar fine seems kind of paltry, considering the amount of fraud that is alleged to have occurred.

[Tellurian]

42. This would be for the opening salvo..

Remember Skilling and Lay?

After they prove conspiracy, via the Secret Energy Meetings, the non bid Halliburton Contracts, the Betchel contracts. They have the RICO Act to prosecute. Never mind government officials aiding and abetting committing sedition, profiteering, treason...the list could go on and on..

They will have to warehouse political war criminals at camps designated for political disobedience.

[AtomicKitten]

43. Kick.