Lou Dobbs - Walter Reed/Haliburton connection

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

the company which got $120,000,000 contract to provide services to WRAMC is run by former Haliburton officer. And it's the same company that had trouble delivering ice to NOLA. Privatization at work. The report also mentioned how many trained fed employees are now gone from WRAMC.

[Wickerman]

1. follow the smell

it seems like it always leads back to Haliburton and by association, Cheney.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Yep.

[rec_report]

3. Good post. I had a feeling Halliburton was connected -

so thanks for the info!

[WiseButAngrySara]

23. How did you have a clue? What in God's name does an oil

co. have to do with health care for our wounded soldiers?

[notadmblnd]

25. there are a couple of items in this thread

That was started by W8liftinglady a couple of nights ago. I saw then that there were ex Halliburton employees heading the company along with former Treasury Secretary John Snow. I didn't make all the connections, but I sure am glad someone did. Good job Lou Dobbs.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x312192

[WiseButAngrySara]

28. Thanks. I missed it. Not that it doesn't surprise me in the

slightest bit. I just hope that Helliburton will be further damaged.

[Pirate Smile]

4. I saw that report and I think this is huge. Andrea Koppel reported that

the Military had privatized some services at Walter Reed.

(She screwed up the years so I'm not sure exactly how this goes) She reported that in January 2006 there were 350 WR/Military employees that helped with support services but this was privatized to a Company which was headed by a former Halliburton Exec (this new company was one of the companies that couldn't get ice to the gulf during Katrina).

A year later (she said Feb. 2006 - she screwed up the years) WR only had 60 employees now with the Contractor supposed to be now doing the job which obviously they didn't.

Of course, it always goes back to privatizing and getting their cronies rich.

We need an article on this but I didn't see one yet on CNN.

She mentioned two different Hearings set for next week with Congress investigating.

[Robbien]

6. Washington's $8 Billion Shadow

Science Applications International Corporation, a "stealth company" with 9,000 government contracts

Vanity Fair, March 2007


Mega-contractors such as Halliburton and Bechtel supply the government with brawn. But the biggest, most powerful of the "body shops"—SAIC, which employs 44,000 people and took in $8 billion last year—sells brainpower, including a lot of the "expertise" behind the Iraq war.

The McLean, Virginia, offices of Science Applications International Corporation, a "stealth company" with 9,000 government contracts, many of which involve secret intelligence work.

One of the great staples of the modern Washington movie is the dark and ruthless corporation whose power extends into every cranny around the globe, whose technological expertise is without peer, whose secrets are unfathomable, whose riches defy calculation, and whose network of allies, in and out of government, is held together by webs of money, ambition, and fear. You've seen this movie a dozen times. Men in black coats step from limousines on wintry days and refer guardedly to unspeakable things. Surveillance cameras and eavesdropping devices are everywhere. Data scrolls across the movie screen in digital fonts. Computer keyboards clack softly. Seemingly honorable people at the summit of power—Cabinet secretaries, war heroes, presidents—turn out to be pathetic pawns of forces greater than anyone can imagine. And at the pinnacle of this dark and ruthless corporation is a relentless and well-tailored titan—omniscient, ironic, merciless—played by someone like Christopher Walken or Jon Voight.

much more

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BAR20070224&articleId=4914

[peacetalksforall]

10. We spend 98% of our time talking about those with faces and names...

Cheney, Karl, etc etc etc.

Can you comtemplate the thousands upon thousands who are bringing us our losses - rights, surplus, jobs, benefits, education - everything that represents a sound and growing future - lost because of the faceless and nameless - people in the employ of SAIC and all the other contract entities - plus the barons who lay down the edicts for the face and name as well as the faceless and nameless to carry out.

Are we sure that it's even worthwhile to have a Congress - it's becomeing more obvius that a secret faceless and nameless group of people commnad and control us, including Congress. Why not - they are mostly secret.

[leftchick]

42. this certainly explains the indifference the patients recieved

from the WR workers. That puzzled me for days, as an ex-VA hospital worker I can tell you being callous towards a wounded soldier just shocked me. Private contractors explains everything to me. This is just shameful. :(

[Monkeyman]

5. Waxman has the contract all part of the up and coming hearings

They call them a smoking gun

[Pirate Smile]

7. There was a ton of info in her short report. It was hard to get it all down.

I wish they would put that segment up on their website.

[Pirate Smile]

12. Here is the smoking gun I believe they referred to (PDF)

http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070302140159-96391.pdf

[Benhurst]

8. Recommended #5

[robinlynne]

9. interesting.

[Joanne98]

11. Haliburton. Of course!

[applegrove]

13. Everything these puppies touch always wilts and dies!

[malaise]

14. Henry Waxman knows this

He's ready for them.

[Robson]

15. Cheney established the culture at Halliburton

The Halliburton Creed: Take it, take it, take it, any way you can get it, from the American taxpayer, the Iraqis, American military and now apparently injured troops.

Cheney you done good for your company but screwed America.


Our Congress needs to put these scoundrels under supoena.

[Straight Shooter]

16. So, Lou Dobbs has found something more important than the plane Nancy Pelosi uses.

Good for you, Lou. Welcome back to the world of sanity.

[jillan]

19. haha - good one!

[Penndems]

17. Former Senator Max Cleland said the same thing on Wolf Blitzer's show this evening

Yes, he also stated that this was the same company that provided ice to victims of Hurricane Katrina. We all know how well that worked out!

Something else Max Cleland said: In 2006, Walter Reed had three hundred full-time civilian (Civil Service) employees. That number has been reduced to sixty. The other two hundred forty positions have been contracted out.

The Village Idiot is rewarding his friends by outsourcing Civil Service jobs, the bastard. :mad:

[Robson]

30. Costs Taxpayers More for Less.

That's the source of much of our problems.....outsourcing and privatizing government jobs to the benefit of Bush benefactors. It costs taxpayers more for less.

[Penndems]

31. Yep - the American public is paying twice as much for contractors as they would

had Federal employees done the job. The contracting firm receives a percentage, and the contractor receives a paycheck for doing a job a civil servant would do 150% better.

Reagan was the one who got the ball rolling on outsourcing Federal jobs. Little wonder GS-ers detested him so much.

[KoKo]

41. But the Bushies will say they don't have to pay the health care and pensions

of the Non-Government workers. It's more of Norquists drown government while enriching and increasing the power of the Contractors who get the big bucks.

Glad to see this exposed ...but it was a Friday News Dump and we will have to see if it goes anywhere in the MSM. At least Waxman is on it.

[WiseButAngrySara]

33. See post # 12 above by Pirate Smile. The pdf file mentions

this...

12. Here is the smoking gun I believe they referred to (PDF)
http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070302140159-963...

[Penndems]

34. Thanks - Holy cow, this document is a revelation

I knew about Walter Reed being on the BRAC list (I posted the list on DU when it came out last year), but I had no idea the machinations behind the downsizing.

The USG is going threw across-the-board RIFs in every single agency. At one department in particular, they got rid of ninety-five percent of their administrative personnel. Absolutely unbelievable.

Anything to give The Village Idiot an excuse to throw business to his contractor friends, and pour Federal salaries down that rathole know as The Iraq War. :mad:

[WiseButAngrySara]

35. Thanks go to Pirate Smile! Glad you found it helpful, and

I so agree with your last statement!

:hi:

[Penndems]

36. Thanks to both you and Pirate Smile! :)

I'm bookmarking this document. Appreciate y'all bringing it to my attention.

[Greyhound]

39. They've been at this, in every department, at every level, from HEW to the Post Office,

for over six years now. By the time the next administration gets in the entire federal government will be completely dysfunctional, unable to perform even the most basic duties, which the Re:puke:s will use as an excuse to make further cuts, and use more outsourcing, etc. They have never made a secret of this plan, we just aren't interested in hearing about it. Making fun of Ann Coulter is so much more entertaining.

[jillan]

18. And there was Cheney today on tv saying that Democrats

don't support the troops.

Why is it when I see his face on tv, I scream:nuke: ?

[salin]

20. Irony given how the right wing *always* claims

that govt provided services are more inept and more expensive than private orgs. I would *love* to see cost comparisions per govt projects and some of these private contracts.

[Sydnie]

21. Remember the Brac closings in 2005?

Washington Post article about the possibility of all the base closings, including the closing of Walter Reed from 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/13/AR2005051300216.html

PDF of all the Brac changes. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/base_list051305.pdf

[WiseButAngrySara]

22. For all of you that had such negative remarks about Lou Dobbs

on that post the other day, Wake Up.

Great OP. KNR

[Straight Shooter]

24. We are awake. Sometimes Lou Dobbs is ridiculous.

Exhibit 1: The Pelosi Plane Debacle.

[Robson]

26. Usually Dobbs is a hero

The opinion of many has been that Dobbs is an independent populist who looks out for American middle class interests versus partisan interests.

[KharmaTrain]

27. He's Owned & Paid For By Wall Street

For years he looked the other way as corporations busted unions and took jobs off shore since his beloved Wall Street was running the financial world. When the flow of capital starting going off the market into private corporations, now he's a "populist". Whatever.

[Robson]

29. Your opinion is valid but only your own

Years ago I listened to Rush too. Now I can't stand his blather along with Hannity and most others of their ilk. Dobbs has done far more to wake up Americans about Bush and corporatism and failed policies, than most of his bretheren, politicians and possibly Air America. He gets plenty of viewers. BTW I like Ed Shulz although he is not AA.

I could be wrong but I'd say Democrats can thank Lou Dobbs for some gains in 2006. That's not to say that he won't hammer Democrats in 2008 if he perceives a sellout the country for politics.

[KharmaTrain]

32. Always Only My Own

I'll give Dobbs credit for waking up to seeing how fiscally undisicplined this regime was and I also applaud him championing the Dubai Port fiasco.

That said, his supporting and giving airtime to racist groups like the Minutemen and wingnut sealots like Tancredo, Hunter and Rohrbacher, he's given his illegal immigration crusade a xenophobic and racist tone. Also, while he rails about the problem, rarely do you see his "crack team" investigation the real source of the immigration problem...those who hire these people rather than accepting labor unions or offering living wages. He also constantly uses right wing talking points as "fact"...especially when it came to John Kerry.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Dobbs helped Democrats with gains in '06...but I will give him credit for helping in keeping Repugnicans home...and I'm sure this will be the case again next year.

On the scale of Rushbo/Hannity...Dobbs definite is to the left...but so is Atilla the Hun.

Cheers...

[Robson]

37. Dobbs and The Democrats

Kharma....This is the relationship as I see it between the Democratic Party and Lou Dobbs. As always I could be 100% wrong.

It's not an odd couple but it's not a perfect match. The Party base and the Dobbs desciples agree on far more than they differ. Dobbs and Blue Dogs have much in common.

Although the Democratic Party base may be suspicious of Dobbs, most of Dobb's followers will loyally vote Democratic. I do see illegal immigration and amnesty as a big clinker in this relationship. I look at like this, when Bush wants something, be 150% assured it is for big business and not the betterment of the American people.

IMHO the Democratic Party of pre 1970s era would have been anti-amnesty, pro-enforcement with aggressive action against employers, and most importantly been unabashedly pro American worker.

[KharmaTrain]

38. I Would Hope Democrats Haven't Changed

My grandfather came to this country 100 years ago as cheap labor...and he knew it. It was either staying in Russia and being drafted into the Czar's army and shipped off to the Jappo-Russian War, stay in his stetl that was constantly pillaged by Russian Cossacks or flee to the U.S. and take a job in the meat packing plants. Not a lovely set of options. I never met my grandfather, but I constantly wonder what he must have thought to leave his homeland to come to this strange place. It was the union that was his safety net...it helped him assimilate, paid for English lessons and eventually created enough of a decent life for my father to go off to college and become part of the "American Dream". I see Mexicans in a similar vice. I've met many over the well as others...each had a story about why they came here and be they Mexican, Korean, Pole or Haitian, it was to escape the social vise grip...and worth the risk of not just leaving behind what one had, but to risk one's life to survive. Many of the illegals live in a silent under class without a country...exploited if they stay in Mexico and exploited here. The difference is they get exploited for more money here...but still far less than an American would be paid. NAFTA all but shut out unions in Mexico and gave carte blanche to our large corporates to move south where they didn't have to pay benefits and could pollute to their hearts content.

This Democrat was around pre 1970...and more specific, so was my father...who was pro-union and then some. Those who look at the illegal immigration as strictly a "security" issue fail to see the economic reasons for it and how its hurting both Americans and Mexicans as it profits boooshies rangers and large American corporations with a large pool of cheap and exploitable labor...all but off the radar screen. In the 80's I worked in Iowa and saw large corporations take over the family farms and meat packing houses...busting out the unions and relying on "seasonal labor". This is the issue...but many like to look the other way cause they get a cheaper pound of ground beef or TV set or have their tables and rooms cleaned and don't think twice about it. If Dobbs were serious in looking at this issue, this is where his focus is. Even up the wages on both sides of the border and watch the flow trickle down...and I would think it would reverse as many Mexicans...given the choice of remaining in a country that doesn't want them and never did...they would gladly return and hopefully be the catalyst for many long overdue changes in the Mexican oligarchy. Ironically, by using the illegals as a pawn, Dobbs indirectly supports the Mexican government he so claims to be fighting.

Regarding the impact of immigration for Democrats winning in '06 & '08, I watched the races in Arizona, New Mexico & Southern California closely. In races where immigration was the key issue...for example Billbray vs. Busbee in San Diego, the Repugnicans gained from Dobbs xenophobia...along with an inept Busbee campaign...where she lost twice within 6 months. I can only count two House seats that flipped...one was Kolbe who had come out of the closet and knew he was unelectable, followed by a wingnut Repugnican who ran a terrible campaign. The other was JD Hayworth who many in his district felt was too busy being a TV star and not being their rep. Other than that...Repugnicans were able to play the xenophobia card...with the help of the militias and other right wing groups. And they'll be back again in '08.

Democrats have not played this issue smart and have let the racist take the lead on this issue...not being clear on who the real culprit in this situation is. Dobbs should know better, but he's covering for his corporate overlords who see the distraction with "border security" and "giving illegals credit cards" instead of turning the light on those who profit from this form of near white slavery. Sadly, I don't see many in the Democratic party understanding this issue either as they're sucked in by the fear we're going to be over-run and forced to speak Spanish and soon we'll be doing the cucuracha.

This issue needs to be looked at a wider range...and my hopes are Democrats can take the lead on this issue and not get sucked into the NAFTA-corporate sideshows...while they continue to outsource and exploit not just the Mexicans, but our own labor movement and the American consumer.

Thank you for your response and while I respect what you're saying, I just don't see the minutemen and their ilk pulling the lever for a Democrat...they'll run to a third party in a heartbeat...and I predict this issue could help nurse that along in the Repugnican party (I predict Gnewt Gingrich is sitting out for just this reason) that could help Democrats next year, but not by strength but by default.

I'm not for Amnesty...never have been. I saw how it was abuse in '86. Make the working conditions better in Mexico...make it possible for the people who are hiding in the back kitchens to have better chances for education, health care and a decent standard of living in Mexico...not only will we not have to worry about this issue, but we'll have gone a long way to spread the most important American export that has long been missing...hope and integrity.

Cheers...

[LaPera]

40. What a numbskull...I never made a connection,.you know piratization...and all

what a scam! Fucking republican's found every crack.