Democrats Don't Care???

[aps]

None taken. I am not Republican. I vote pro-military. It just happens to, so far, fall under Republican sponsership.

Your no-bid issue though is a non-factor.

It's not? Hmmm, I would beg to differ. The inspector general of the Dept. of Homeland Security has expressed concern. We shall see what happens.....

New York Times
September 27, 2005
Cronies at the Till

The first results are in on who is set to profit from the Katrina cleanup, and - surprise - many of the firms winning major contracts have big political connections. Congressional investigators are already looking into AshBritt, a Pompano Beach, Fla., company with ties to Mississippi's governor, Haley Barbour - the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. AshBritt has nabbed $568 million in contracts for trash removal. Questions have also been raised about the political connections of two other major contractors: the Shaw Group, and Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. Both companies have been represented by Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency - although Mr. Allbaugh says he does not help any of his clients obtain federal contracts.

And there's more. An article in yesterday's Times by Eric Lipton and Ron Nixon reports that more than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by FEMA for Katrina work were awarded without bidding or with limited competition. The Times article even finds a federal employee - Richard Skinner, the inspector general for the Homeland Security Department - willing to go on the record with his concern, saying, "We are very apprehensive about what we are seeing."

So are we. The government is spending more than a quarter of a billion dollars every day on rescue, relief and reconstruction along the Gulf Coast. Anyone who pays taxes in America should be concerned about how the money is being spent and who is profiting. We think that when Congress appropriates money for disaster relief, the advantage should be maximized for the victims, not for the same cast of characters that have been profiting from no-bid contracts in Iraq. Kellogg, Brown & Root, Americans may recall, is the company that came up with those $100-per-bag laundry bills for work in Iraq. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/opinion/27tue1.html

Hmmmmmm

So Cheney has to have some sort of financial gain to want Halliburton to get a contract? Sometimes it's all about loyalty or gains that we don't know about.

 

[MSgt]

So, when it comes time to renew the contract and the bids go in and if (when) Haliburton wins...again, will it still be an issue or will it have been a no-factor?

It doesn't matter. As long as they are doing the job and continue to prove to be the cheapest, they will win. As far as over priced equipment, name one company that treats the Government fairly. Name one company that we (The Marine Corps) does business with where the civilian sector doesn't rape us from what little funds the Navy gives us. That's the way it works and that is the way it has always worked. It doesn't matter who's administartion is sponsering the country. Highlighting 'Haliburton' has simply become the fashion amongst haters of Bush and Cheney.

Come to think of it, why is it such big deal if Cheney makes money off of it anyway? If I own stock in 'Dell' and I become the president of a company, should I dismiss the need for better computers and a better contract simply because I own stock in Dell?

No factor.

 

[KWAM]

What I don't understand is why do people get warped into a particular mindset? Why is something a democratic issue and something a Republican issue? To me one of the problems with the American public is that when they hear the Democrats feel a certain way (or vice versa) they automatically "shut off". How is that productive? Why cant people judge each issue individually(?) without being poltically motivated?

 

[MSgt]

What I don't understand is why do people get warped into a particular mindset? Why is something a democratic issue and something a Republican issue? To me one of the problems with the American public is that when they hear the Democrats feel a certain way (or vice versa) they automatically "shut off". How is that productive? Why cant people judge each issue individually(?) without being poltically motivated?

Because this site is full of leftist liberals and rightest conservatives. So is our Senate. It's why this country can't get anything done in a quick manner unless a crisis hits.

 

[Billo_Really]

Originally Posted by GySgt:
KBR, a division of Haliburton won the semi-annual bid for military contracts on things like infrastructure contrustion, laundry, food, supplies... etc.... they won this contract back from a rival in 2000. I would like to note it was the Pentagon that awarded the contract in the standard lowest bidder fashion.

In February 2003, I believe, they awarded KBR with the job of supplying things for the Iraq war. They did it without a bidding war. You know why? Because they arent ****ing stupid. It would have taken months to go through the entire process, and more than likely, their current contractor would have gotten it anyways, (i.e. KBR). In the mean time we would have to assault in MOPP gear in the searing desert heat later in the summer. On top of that, the logistics of two different companies interracting with each other on such a massive scale would have been chaos and slowed our already slow government down even more.

Why do people insist on kicking a dead horse about things that aren't a factor one way or the other? People are so desperate to fuel their anger, that they reach for anything and ride until it's not even cared to be discussed anymore. Like everything else that keeps being resurrected and dragged along, let it go.

I'll let it go as soon as I find out what happened to the $240m tax payer dollars that is un-accounted for.

 

[MSgt]

I'll let it go as soon as I find out what happened to the $240m tax payer dollars that is un-accounted for.

Why stop there? Let's pull up all the contracts that the government has given to the lowest bidding of civilian companies that rape your government for profit. These would be the same civilian companies that overcharge for toilet seats and produce defective Flak Jackets (of which mine matched the stock number during my second trip over, but thanks to the plate it kept shrapnel out of my chest). Got to love our freedom to enterprise!

 

[Billo_Really]

Originally Posted by GySgt:
Why stop there? Let's pull up all the contracts that the government has given to the lowest bidding of civilian companies that rape your government for profit. These would be the same civilian companies that overcharge for toilet seats and produce defective Flak Jackets (of which mine matched the stock number during my second trip over, but thanks to the plate it kept shrapnel out of my chest). Got to love our freedom to enterprise!

Agreed. Lets find out where all the waste is.

 

[Deegan]

I still want to know where 8 billion dollars went in Iraq, we could use those dollars in LA, TX, Miss, Ala, etc, I'm really not happy with the president today.

 

[SixStringHero]

I still want to know where 8 billion dollars went in Iraq, we could use those dollars in LA, TX, Miss, Ala, etc, I'm really not happy with the president today.

You have to miss the days of the almost could have won, but blew it Reform party.

Where's the governments accountability for where our money goes?

 

[gordontravels]

I still want to know where 8 billion dollars went in Iraq, we could use those dollars in LA, TX, Miss, Ala, etc, I'm really not happy with the president today.

You have to wonder if your figure of 8 billion is an accurate figure. Then you have to wonder if there is 8 billion that is missing in Iraq in the first place. I may be dropping alphabetical and numerical postings on deaf ears but you are getting your information from the media and here's a few recent examples:

1. Mayor Nagin told the press that there could be upwards of 10,000 dead in New Orleans. The number came to less than 1,000. One would have been too much.

2. The media has been telling us the cleanup and rebuilding of the Gulf Coast would be 200 billion plus. Figures out this week say it will be much less and probably below 150 billion. That's a huge difference. The President has been consistent in saying wait and see before setting levels of expenditure. Seems he was right.

3. The media has been reporting job losses for September would be anywhere from 140,000 to 170,000 because of Katrina and Rita. The figures were released on Thursday and 35,000 jobs were lost. Also released but not reported by the mainstream media is that the unemployment figures for July and August were adjusted and for those two months combined, 77,000 more jobs were added to the already good figures.

4. The Federal Deficit, as reported by the CBO this week is 100 billion below 2004 figures and that is good news for a healthy economy. The CBO also said the current deficit would be 14 billion below what was just reported by the media week before last. More good news.

If you just take the job figures and consider that the hurricanes cost the Gulf Coast approximately 363,000,000 jobs (million), with only 35,000 total jobs lost the rest of the nation is hiring and next month you will see good numbers as people flock to the Gulf Coast for jobs.

If you are not happy with the President today it must be that you haven't caught up with the actual economic news that the mainstream continues not to report. Most of us watch cable news that's on most of the day or national and local news provided in the evening. These outlets tell you little if it's actual figures or with whatever slant, they will emphasize the negative which fosters their own personal agenda.

If you will watch CNBC or Bloomberg Information Television while the Market is open Monday through Friday 9 am to 4 pm EST or MSNBC or FNC at 4 pm EST for their hour long programs when the market closes, you will hear real figures not only from the markets referring to market levels at closing but also commodity (oil and gasoline moves) prices of all kinds, bond and treasury interest rates and values and government figures for employment, inflation, consumer spending and confidence and many other indexes.

Don't depend on the media that reports opinion and calls it news. Depend on yourself to seek out the media that reports the actual figures. :duel

 

[Billo_Really]

Originally Posted by gordontravels:
You have to wonder if your figure of 8 billion is an accurate figure. Then you have to wonder if there is 8 billion that is missing in Iraq in the first place. I may be dropping alphabetical and numerical postings on deaf ears but you are getting your information from the media and here's a few recent examples:

1. Mayor Nagin told the press that there could be upwards of 10,000 dead in New Orleans. The number came to less than 1,000. One would have been too much.

2. The media has been telling us the cleanup and rebuilding of the Gulf Coast would be 200 billion plus. Figures out this week say it will be much less and probably below 150 billion. That's a huge difference. The President has been consistent in saying wait and see before setting levels of expenditure. Seems he was right.

3. The media has been reporting job losses for September would be anywhere from 140,000 to 170,000 because of Katrina and Rita. The figures were released on Thursday and 35,000 jobs were lost. Also released but not reported by the mainstream media is that the unemployment figures for July and August were adjusted and for those two months combined, 77,000 more jobs were added to the already good figures.

4. The Federal Deficit, as reported by the CBO this week is 100 billion below 2004 figures and that is good news for a healthy economy. The CBO also said the current deficit would be 14 billion below what was just reported by the media week before last. More good news.

If you just take the job figures and consider that the hurricanes cost the Gulf Coast approximately 363,000,000 jobs (million), with only 35,000 total jobs lost the rest of the nation is hiring and next month you will see good numbers as people flock to the Gulf Coast for jobs.

If you are not happy with the President today it must be that you haven't caught up with the actual economic news that the mainstream continues not to report. Most of us watch cable news that's on most of the day or national and local news provided in the evening. These outlets tell you little if it's actual figures or with whatever slant, they will emphasize the negative which fosters their own personal agenda.

If you will watch CNBC or Bloomberg Information Television while the Market is open Monday through Friday 9 am to 4 pm EST or MSNBC or FNC at 4 pm EST for their hour long programs when the market closes, you will hear real figures not only from the markets referring to market levels at closing but also commodity (oil and gasoline moves) prices of all kinds, bond and treasury interest rates and values and government figures for employment, inflation, consumer spending and confidence and many other indexes.

Don't depend on the media that reports opinion and calls it news. Depend on yourself to seek out the media that reports the actual figures.

And what will tell you that the figures are, in fact, the actual ones?

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091905J.shtml

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1169292003

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6621523/