Robin Beck

On Political Silliness

I generally do not waste time on the various arguments going between the right wing nus and left moon bats. I consider sources like alternet, the Huffington Post, Dick Morris, and Newsmax to be pretty much gossip fests. I have been a Republican with libertarian-conservative views since I was a kid. I did vote for George McGovern in 1972. In 2008, I would prefer Ron Paul, but might even vote for Obama.

I am not real thrilled with Bush & Cheney, but I am even less thrilled with the tactics of their enemies, The nonsense about Haliburton and Cheney is particularly off putting. I wasted a weekend looking for a scrap of evidence to supoort the hysterical conspiracy theories. There is nothing there.

1. Dick Cheney's severance pay / deferred compensation from Haliburton is insured; he gets the same amount no matter what happens. His stock options are in an irrevocable blind trust, with any gains going to Medical & Educational charities. He is no position to prosper or benefit in any way from no bid contracts to present or former Haliburton subsidiaries. He was also in no position to grant or oversee any of those contracts.

We can parse his statements that he has no financial interest at stake. Even Lautenberg admits that all the capital gains have gone to charities; after tax, as stipulated. That he paid the taxes tells us nothing, except that he did not want to be accused of doing to avoid taxes. He certainly did not personally profit. Whether receiving a fixed, insured amount of deferred compensation meets House & Senate ethics requirements is moot. The CRS has no authority here, is hardly unbiaed, and was wasting OUR money on yet another political witch hunt.

2. The Clinton Administration awarded no-bid contracts in Serbia to ... gasp ... Haliburton.

3. Cheney has no connection I can find with the former Haliburton affiliate called KBR, Inc.

4. KBR, Inc. had an apparent water treatment issue at a base in Iraq. There 'were numerous instances of diarrhea and stomach cramps.' This led to bizarre stories about "Poison Water."

5. Am employee of KBR, named Jones, has accused fellow employees of gang rape and assorted other charges. There are allegations that KBR tried to cover it up. The story of the victim has evidently changed over time. I guess it is now in civil court. I heard there was a second victim. I wonder if her name is Broaddrick?

If the US Military and contractors are covering up rapes, it should be investigated, not used as a political issue. After the way Democrats smeared Paula Corbin Jones, and Juamita Broaddrick, they have no cred on this. Think! Why are incidents involving KBR getting headlines; while identical incidents are either ignored or lumped in with no details?

Rape is a huge problem in the United States, not just in the Military or KBR. Look this: Sexual Assault Statistics . Here are a few: Women are 10 times more likely than men to be victims of sexual assault (National Crime Victimization Survey, 1997). A study among college women has shown that 1 out of every 5 college age women report being forced to have sexual intercourse. (1995 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey) 22% of all women say that they have been forced to do sexual things against their will, where only 3% of men admit to ever forcing themselves on a woman. (Laumann, 1994)

Only 16% of rapes and sexual assaults are reported to the police (Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. 1992). In 1995 there were 97,460 rapes reported to law enforcement officials. At a 16% reporting rate, this means that there were actually closer to 649,733 rapes in the United States. Along the same lines, the number of rapes reported in New York state in 1996 was 20,911. At a 16% reporting rate, this means the actual number of rapes was closer to 139,406. (Computerized Criminal History, Feb. 1998).

The rate of false reports of rape is approximately 2 - 3% which is no different than that for other crimes. This is different than the 8% of reports which are unfounded. This means that in 8% of the rape cases reported the investigators or prosecutors deemed that the case was not prosecutable for any number of reasons. Only 2 - 3% of the reports however were fabricated stories.

There were almost 140,000 rapes in New York alone, in 1996! That is mearly 400 a day? In one State? Here is more: Link In 2006, there were 272,350 victims of sexual assault. (These figures do not include victims 12 years old or younger.) 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be a victim of sexual assault in their lifetime.

6. A 2004 investigation discovered that KBR had charged more than the going rate for oil deliveries in the green zone. Two other companies, Fluor and Dyncorp did the same. The companies had a case for charging premium prices; but settled, rather than fight a losing and costly battle. The snafu stemmed from a report by a whistle blower named Greenhouse.

7. There is a lot of ominous talk about "off-shore" tax havens and foreign subsidiaries, "In February 2004, the ... GAO released a report on government contractors that use offshore tax havens. It ranks the contractors in terms of the size of the contractors and provides information about how many subsidiaries the companies have offshore. Using data of the end of 2001, Halliburton was ranked 30th,; it had 17 offshore companies in tax havens, and 131 foreign subsidiaries."

8. There are some fairly legitimate stories about oil companies having dealings with shady figures who are influential in some oil producing nations. It is sad reality, for a nation that is so dependent on petroleum, that we have deal with fairly shady people, This is all the more reason to push ahead on ethanol and methanol.

There you have it, folks. It turns out some people who worked for KBR in Iraq got the runs because of a water treatment issue. Also, one, possibly two, KBR employees claimed other employees raped her / them, and KBR covered it up -- allegedly. From this, the noon bats have Cheney conspiring with his former employer to have KBR employess poisoned & raped? This was done so Cheney can make profits from stock options? Even though public legal documents prove that he can neither gain nor lose money on Haliburton, no matter what Halilburton does? Somehow, I do not follow this line of reasoning.

To be fair, I can find similar nonsense about Clinton at fringe wing nut web sites. The difference is that people who I like, and who are sane on other issues, seem to buy into the moon bat gibberish. Maybe following this foolishness is addictive? Personally, I either get a head ache, or fall asleep, trying to wade through it. By the way, Osama bin Laden also believes that the Iraq War was launched to benefit Haliburton.

Saddam Hussein's Defiance of United Nations Resolutions

What Happened to Jamie Leigh Jones in Baghdad?

"There are 59 water production (treatment) sites in Iraq; 37 are operated by contractors and 22 are operated by the US military. The report detailing problems with water monitoring and treatment identified three contractor operated facilities and two military-operated facilities that did not meet standards."
link

"Cheney retired from the company during the 2000 U.S. presidential election campaign with a severance package worth $34 million.[26] As of 2004, he had received $398,548 in deferred compensation from Halliburton while Vice President.[27] Concerns have been raised regarding the possible conflict of interest resulting from Cheney's deferred compensation and stock options from Halliburton. However, before entering office in 2001, Cheney bought an insurance policy that guaranteed a fixed amount of deferred payments from Halliburton each year for five years so that the payments would not depend on the company's fortunes."

"He is legally bound by an agreement he signed which turns over power of attorney to a trust administrator to sell the options at some future time and to give the after-tax profits to three charities. The agreement specifies that 40% will go to the University of Wyoming (in Cheney's home state), 40% will go to George Washington University's medical faculty to be used for tax-exempt charitable purposes, and 20% will go to Capital Partners for Education. The agreement states that it is "irrevocable and may not be terminated, waived or amended," preventing Cheney from taking back the options at a later date."
link

NO CUT & PASTE COMMENTS PLEASE. We can spend day and night reading gossip.

Posted by rbeck at June 1, 2008 08:29 PM