In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
As I'm only posting on T days this week (Tuesday and Thursday), I missed the Top Ten on Monday. Every day - week day posting returns next week.
The Top Ten Conservative Idiots, No. 143
5. Halliburton
It's no surprise that Halliburton are stepping up their PR campaign (funny how that works, isn't it? They take the taxpayer's money, do a shitty job, and then use more of the taxpayer's money to make TV ads telling the taxpayer what a great job they're doing). Yes, it was revealed last week that Halliburton officially "wastes taxpayers' money" according to company whistleblowers. And not just by making god-awful TV commercials either. According to the Associated Press, former Halliburton employee Henry Bunting revealed to a Senate committee that "Top Halliburton officials frequently told employees that high prices charged by vendors were not a problem because the U.S. government would reimburse the costs and then pay the company an additional fee. Higher than necessary prices were paid for ordinary vehicles, leased for $7,500 a month, and for furniture and cellular telephone service. Halliburton tried to keep as many purchase orders as possible below $2,500 so its buyers could avoid the requirement to solicit quotes from more than one vendor. Supervisers provided buyers with a list of preferred Kuwaiti vendors, including companies that charged excessive prices. Buyers were not encouraged to identify alternative vendors." But as if wasting taxpayers' money isn't enough, Halliburton are also alleged to have been trading with the enemy. It was announced last week that "The US Treasury has reopened an investigation into whether Halliburton, the oil services firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, broke US laws in its dealings with Iran via a foreign subsidiary." My, my. On a side note, it was reported last week by the GAO that "A total of $3 billion in unpaid taxes is owed by more than 27,000 defense contractors." Sounds like these poor guys need another tax break! Oh, won't somebody please think of the multi-national corporations?
George W. Bush (again)
Let the battle for the NASCAR dads commence! George W. Bush showed up at the Daytona 500 last week for a little election boost, and he did it in style. According to the New York Times, "On the way in for landing, the president's jet made a low, fast loop above and around the track, which attract thousands of camera flashes. Then his motorcade of a couple dozen vehicles took a loop around the oval, stopping to let the president and Mrs. Bush out on pit row." Jesus, first the guy pretends to be a cowboy, then a fighter pilot, and now he thinks he's a NASCAR driver. The good news though is that Bush didn't have to dig into his multi-million dollar campaign fund to create this shameless vote-grubbing spectacle. You see, according to the St. Petersburg Times, "While a presidential visit to an important swing state in an election year has all the earmarks of a campaign visit, this is being billed as an official visit, with taxpayers picking up the tab." That's right, folks - Bush gets to play race cars and mug for the cameras, and we get to pay for it.
- rob 4:04 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Prosecutor at center of controversy in terror case sues Ashcroft
WASHINGTON (AP) A federal prosecutor in a major terrorism case in Detroit has taken the rare step of suing Attorney General John Ashcroft, alleging the Justice Department interfered with the case, compromised a confidential informant and exaggerated results in the war on terrorism.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino of Detroit accused the Justice Department of ''gross mismanagement'' of the war on terrorism in a whistleblower lawsuit filed late Friday in federal court in Washington.
Justice officials said Tuesday they had not seen the suit and had no comment.
- rob 3:52 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Rewarding Greed and Bad Intelligence
Start-up Company With Connections
Washington - U.S. authorities in Iraq have awarded more than $400 million in contracts to a start-up company that has extensive family and, according to court documents, business ties to Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon favorite on the Iraqi Governing Council.
Chalabi, wanted by Jordan for banking crimes, is the Neo-con's number one guy. Rumsfeld's folks talked about him leading the new Iraq. It was Chalabi that assured Rumsfeld that if he disbanded the Iraqi army he could come up with volunteers to secure Iraq instantly (thus leaving our troops safe). Boy that worked out. Oh, well, let's just give him some business than.
- rob 3:50 PM - [PermaLink] -
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From Misleader
President's "Disgraceful" Treatment of Troops/Vets
Last year, while troops were at war, the president proposed slashing $1.5 billion from military family housing and tried to "roll back recent modest increases" in bonuses paid to soldiers serving in combat zones. Meanwhile, the president refused to extend the child tax credit to one million children living in military and veteran families.
And this year the misleading is only getting worse. While the president rambles on about how much he appreciates troops and veterans, Congressional Quarterly reported on February 4th that Bush's own Secretary for Veterans Affairs told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the president rejected a desperate request for $1.2 billion in funding needed for veterans' health care. Many lawmakers said the president's decision "only proved the administration's disinterest in supporting veterans' programs." The Veterans of Foreign Wars issued a statement after receiving the White House's budget, calling it "disgraceful" and saying it was a "disgrace and a sham."
- rob 3:44 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Scientists: Bush Distorts Science- Tuesday, February 17, 2004 -
The Bush administration has distorted scientific fact leading to policy decisions on the environment, health, biomedical research and nuclear weaponry, a group of about 60 scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Yes we already knew this, but it's always good to see this important story get some play.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, an independent organization, also issued a 37-page report, "Scientific Integrity in Policymaking," detailing the accusations. The statement and the report both accuse the Bush administration of distorting and suppressing findings that contradict administration policies, stacking panels with like-minded and underqualified scientists with ties to industry, and eliminating some advisory committees altogether.
....
For example, the panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on lead poisoning was recently planning to strengthen the lead poisoning regulations, in response to science showing that smaller amounts than previously understood could cause brain damage in children, Knobloch said.
Before the panel could act, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson rejected the recommendation and replaced two members of the panel with individuals tied to the lead industry, Knobloch said.
- rob 3:43 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Supreme Court Judge on the convern of Judicial Integrity: Quack Quack!
'Quack, quack' -- Scalia sees no conflict from duck hunting trip with Cheney
"It did not involve a lawsuit against Dick Cheney as a private individual," Scalia said in response to a question from the audience of about 600 people. "This was a government issue. It's acceptable practice to socialize with executive branch officials when there are not personal claims against them. That's all I'm going to say for now. Quack, quack."
HAWWW hawww. What a funny guy. Like when Clinton said "I didn't have sexual relations with that woman. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink."
- rob 5:49 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Hustling up Bush charges
Now the incorrigible Larry Flynt says he plans to market a Bush abortion story as genuine - in a book to be published this summer by Kensington Press.
"This story has got to come out," the wheelchair-bound Hustler magazine honcho told the Daily News' Corky Siemaszko. "There's a lot of hypocrisy in the White House about this whole abortion issue."
Flynt claimed that Bush arranged for the procedure in the early '70s.
"I've talked to the woman's friends," Flynt said. "I've tracked down the doctor who did the abortion, I tracked down the Bush people who arranged for the abortion," Flynt said. "I got the story nailed."
Oh, this could be interesting. Flynt's a sleazoid, but he's been a very accurate sleazoid in the past. I don't really think this is what I want politics to be, but Bush is turning America into something I don't want it to be, and as I love America more than politics... Flynt's away!
- rob 5:40 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Intelligence Panel’s Finances Will Stay Private
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 — The White House is declining to make public the financial histories of the commissioners President Bush appointed to investigate American intelligence failures.
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But experts said the White House's refusal to make public the commission's business links may fuel questions about its independence and taint its investigation into one of the Bush administration's biggest potential political vulnerabilities: the quality of intelligence used to justify the Iraq war and other issues involving unconventional weapons.
The issue mirrors some of the concerns raised in 2002 when a commission was appointed to investigate the Sept. 11 terror attacks, only to have its original chairman and vice chairman step down, in part because of private business interests.
After initially resisting calls for a commission to study intelligence failures surrounding the Iraqi war buildup, Mr. Bush created the intelligence commission on Feb. 6 and gave it a broad mandate to look at intelligence on unconventional weapons around the globe. But before the commission has even begun its work, some critics are already suggesting that political as well as financial conflicts could influence its findings.
Laurence H. Silberman, a conservative judge who is one of the commission's two chairmen, has drawn particular criticism from liberal groups because of his judicial record and close ties to the Bush administration. Several other commissioners also have financial links to groups in the Middle East and the defense industry that could become involved in the inquiry.
- rob 5:32 PM - [PermaLink] -
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As Ashcroft prepares for his first pogrom
Justice Dept. Seeks Hospitals’ Records of Some Abortions
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — The Justice Department is demanding that at least six hospitals in New York City, Philadelphia and elsewhere turn over hundreds of patient medical records on certain abortions performed there.
Lawyers for the department say they need the records to defend a new law that prohibits what opponents call partial-birth abortions. A group of doctors at hospitals nationwide have challenged the law, enacted last November, arguing that it bars them from performing medically needed abortions.
The department wants to examine the medical histories for what could amount to dozens of the doctors' patients in the last three years to determine, in part, whether the procedure, known medically as intact dilation and extraction, was in fact medically necessary, government lawyers said.
- rob 5:30 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Poll Watch
Bush 43
Kerry 48
Which doesn't meaning anything in Febrary, but pretty interesting nonetheless, what with Bush being the "popular war time" President and all.
- rob 5:26 PM - [PermaLink] -
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This Century Sucks - A Fair and Balanced Look at the Corrupt and Evil Whistle Ass Administration
I forgot to post on Friday, that I'm going to be pretty light on postings this week, but next week I'll be back to normal.
That said, I'll probably post some stuff later today.
Oh, and a late Happy President's Day! to you all.
- rob 1:44 PM - [PermaLink] -
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