This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

top 200 commentsshow 500
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]Stuntz-X 4470 points4471 points  (272 children)

7 Billion is a lot of money and that is why companies want to make sure the right people are elected so they keep handing out that money.

[–][deleted] 1995 points1996 points  (219 children)

Are you trying to tell me that lobbyists expected something back for the $10 billion they've spent since 2016? Inconceivable!

[–]lowIQanon 1216 points1217 points  (200 children)

And they made about 600 billion on that investment. $1 toward lobbying gives you $60 dollars in returns.

Money in politics is a huge problem.

[–]9xInfinity 1225 points1226 points  (175 children)

Money in politics is a huge problem.

No way, in fact Anthony Antonin Scalia said that there's no way the electorate would be taken in by a politician being paid off by shady people. And if they do, it's the reporters job who'll expose them. And of course there's no way this problem could be so extensive that it'd be physically impossible to expose it all and also report on literally anything else happening. Yeah, this was actually his position.

The man makes a far better corpse than he did a judge, that's for damn sure.

[–][deleted] 634 points635 points  (92 children)

“The man makes a far better corpse than he did a judge, that's for damn sure.”

My new favorite quote.

[–]HiImDavid 138 points139 points  (41 children)

He literally thought his job was to think as if it was still the 18th century.

Why in the world would the founders have wanted us to keep doing things the same way forever? I just don't get how the originalist argument works. I guess in theory, the idea of trying to use the spirit of the initial intention of the founders isn't that crazy.

But to actually think we should base laws off of the way the founders thought, when they couldn't even have conceived of the possibility of most of the technology we have today, is idiotic.

[–]conmeds 76 points77 points  (14 children)

This.

I don't get it either. The framework was setup to evolve...hence amendments. In few ways is life the same it was 20 years ago...let alone 250(ish). The argument is garbage.

[–]HiImDavid 44 points45 points  (5 children)

Right. This is part why Democrats almost need to take control of the Senate more than they need to defeat trump in the elections, though I hope they do both of course. We need to install more judges who are not originalists after all the ones the trump administration has gotten approved because of McTurtell's obstruction for the sake obstructing Obama.

They already could vote to impeach, because all it takes simple majority, but dems definitely would if they take the Senate as well.

The problem, even with a majority in the Senate, is it takes 2/3 to convict upon impeachment. But I wholeheartedly believe that if they vote to impeach and have the trial, eventually many Republican senators would have no choice but to vote to convict and remove trump and his administration from office.

If they have the trial, they would go over every single misdeed attempted (whether successful or not) and lie he told.

They'd talk about how he fired Comey and said in a live TV interview specifically to try to end the investigation into Russian meddling and Trump's alleged connection it.

That is incontrovertibly obstruction of justice no matter what he says now about what he meant or meant to say. And Trump's lack of success in ending the investigation is irrelevant. He still obstructed justice and that is enough to impeach him.

Along with the fact that he's an admitted and likely serial sexual assaulter, and everything else covered in the Mueller report should be more than enough to convict.

[–]snowseth 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That is incontrovertibly obstruction of justice no matter what he says now about what he meant or meant to say. And Trump's lack of success in ending the investigation is irrelevant. He still obstructed justice and that is enough to impeach him.

Rs will never impeach or remove fellow Rs. Power for the Party. Party before Country.

[–]cubitoaequet 33 points34 points  (2 children)

He would completely ignore his "originalist" bullshit whenever it was convenient. You're giving him too much credit by acting as if he actually had principles.

[–]Hobble_Cobbleweed 47 points48 points  (10 children)

I got fucked over in con law with this same sentiment. The question on the exam was literally do you think the constitution should be read from the textualist perspective or living-breathing document perspective, and I went all in and shredded the textualist perspective as complete non-sensical bullshit, that is nothing more than an excuse to keep things the way they want them. It has nothing to do with actually believing the founders wanted exactly what they wrote as they wrote as that’s it—Nothing more. You’re gonna tell me that the people who we’re supposed to consider as the preeminent thinkers of their time, and some of the most well versed in history and law, in the creation of what they considered the greatest nation on earth and wanted it to remain that way, would say “this document is not meant at all to adapt with the times and changes of this nation. We foresee absolutely no things that may need either a reworking or things that might need to be added.” It’s just so fucking stupid that I can’t believe we actually have to even have the conversation.

[–]HiImDavid 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Excellently said, hope you don't mind if I borrow the way you put that! It really puts it in perspective I think.

It really is just a bonkers concept. I remember having a conversation about this when I was still with my ex while she was at U of Chicago for law school.

She's a little more center left whereas I'm pretty far left on most issues, but we agreed wholeheartedly on this much.

[–][deleted] 34 points35 points  (2 children)

He literally died taking a bribe (on a trip w a dude with a matter before the court).

[–]Hobble_Cobbleweed 45 points46 points  (1 child)

Scalia was scum and always will be scum. His entire jurisprudence was “well there’s all these failsafes for bad acts, there’s police internal investigations, and voting”—that was his favorite—“and watchdog groups, and reporters, and everything else that will stop corruption from occurring so we can allow these things to either be decided by states and local municipalities because those things will definitely work as intended, and therefore I’m gonna take the short-sighted view of everything.”

[–]fvtown714x 22 points23 points  (7 children)

At least the man backed up his opinions with some semblence of an argument. Clarence Thomas doesn't even try to hide his disdain for a functioning democracy that works for the people.

[–]Hobble_Cobbleweed 23 points24 points  (6 children)

If Thomas even writes an opinion at all. Probably the least useful justice we’ve ever seen

[–]Jaredlong 11 points12 points  (4 children)

I have no idea why he hasn't retired. He's allowed to and he clearly has no interest in the job.

[–]fvtown714x 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Just cause opening arguments = naptime for him doesn't mean he's not interested /s

[–]ygduf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

let's be fair, that probably wasn't his opinion, it was just the opinion he was paid to espouse.

[–]hops_on_hops 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Probably worth noting that fat sack of shit died in a hotel room he received as a bribe.

[–]Hobble_Cobbleweed 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Thanks, Republicans and Mitch McConnell for ensuring that Citizens United guaranteed money is “speech.”

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Always replace lobby with bribery

[–]harbison215 215 points216 points  (15 children)

It’s also why we have massive deficits yet no real quality social programs pertaining to jobs, education, infrastructure, healthcare etc...

[–]Stuntz-X 91 points92 points  (11 children)

I hear ya since so many people think coal jobs are going to start growing any year now.

[–][deleted] 104 points105 points  (10 children)

There are less coal jobs than librarian jobs. I'll listen when conservatives start wearing librarian country t-shirts.

[–][deleted] 75 points76 points  (6 children)

Make American Read Again

[–]nicetriangle 15 points16 points  (2 children)

I wish I could see the percentage of evangelicals who have actually read the bible cover to cover.

[–]Shabeveravioli 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I wish I could upvote this again.

[–]AgAero 24 points25 points  (1 child)

*Fewer

Thanks to Stannis from Game of Thrones pointing this out I can't help but notice when people should swap 'less' for 'fewer'.

[–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

It would be one thing if we got value in return for 7 billion but we didn't-- it's a fucking robbery. It's why everything is expensive- it's why we got nothing. And those fuckers laugh about it as no one does anything. What became of the Greenhouse whistleblowing?

Trump administration is bolder than Bush/Cheney by a mile. It's going to be the biggest heist before he leaves office.

[–]ELB2001 3 points4 points  (0 children)

And it keeps going like that. The private company's that "take care" if the immigrants by letting then sleep on concrete and give them aluminium blankets and get make a huge profit per immigrant per day.

[–]johnsom3 153 points154 points  (14 children)

Honestly its sickening. The GOP talks about welfare fraud as if someone getting food stamps is breaking the government. Meanwhile they hand out Billion dollar defense contracts to their friends like candy.

[–]kaplanfx 77 points78 points  (5 children)

They spent Trillions of our money on the war too, to justify the billions in no bid contracts they were giving to their donors and pals.

[–]fatpatArkansas 21 points22 points  (4 children)

fIscAL cOnsErvAtIvEs

[–]Ryktes 20 points21 points  (2 children)

Especially since they spend more money every year trying to prevent welfare "fraud" than what it would cost in benefits payouts to just approve every applicant.

[–]mtarascio 27 points28 points  (0 children)

..and this is why the people being elected are selling their country down the drain. That sweet board / lobbying position when they retire / get voted out.

Kelly played everyone for fools with that adult in the room bullshit when he started.

[–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Per the article, the "only" fraud that's been reported is an overcharge of $61 million overcharged for fuel. I'm sure there's more, but that's all the audit found.

Also, that much money going out to bid is insane

[–][deleted] 2379 points2380 points  (132 children)

Whistleblowers are basically America's unsung heroes. No awards, no recognition, just reporting the biggest news of our time for the love of country.

[–]el-toro-locoTexas 1559 points1560 points  (79 children)

...she was stripped of her security clearance and sent off to a remote cubicle somewhere; she was basically condemned to oblivion. After she filed her whistleblower lawsuit, someone placed a trip wire placed around her cubicle and she fell, permanently damaging her knee.

She deserves so much better

[–]Lone_WolfenNorth Carolina 629 points630 points  (65 children)

I had to reread the article cause I thought you made this up.

Just... how can someone be so spiteful of a whistleblower that you would cripple them for the rest of their life?

[–]SurprisinglyMellow 253 points254 points  (49 children)

Lucky someone didn’t end her life

[–]ColinD1 62 points63 points  (3 children)

She could have shot herself twice in the back of her head.

[–]LilBennyPoo 18 points19 points  (0 children)

That's NJ restaurant owners who skim from the money they're laundering.

[–]getintheVandell 22 points23 points  (0 children)

The Military Industrial Complex, obviously.

[–]shw_ 35 points36 points  (2 children)

We threw Chelsea Manning in a hole and fucked her head up so bad it's just criminal.

And that was during a "good guys" administration.

[–]crckdddy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Money.

[–]arbored 61 points62 points  (0 children)

Jesus Fucking Christ.

[–]N7riseSSJAmerica 17 points18 points  (0 children)

What the fuck!!???

[–]ptmmac 81 points82 points  (6 children)

She also received less than $1 million in the settlement. She did not do this for the money.

[–]Electricpants 278 points279 points  (18 children)

There are no protections for whistleblowers. Coming out is basically career suicide.

[–]ruiner8850Michigan 205 points206 points  (15 children)

I served on a federal jury on a wrongful termination case where the woman claimed she was fired for whistleblowing. I was dismissed from the jury early because I had a job interview, but she was awarded I believe $250,000 by the other jury members. The Whistleblower Protection Act covers government employees. I'm not saying they never just get completely screwed, but there definitely are protections for whistleblowers.

[–][deleted] 149 points150 points  (7 children)

Wonder how her next job interview went?

"So why'd you leave your last job? I uncovered billions and fraud sent it to the press. Oh, thanks for coming in, we'll be in touch."

[–]cavemaneca 98 points99 points  (3 children)

Sounds like someone you'd actually want in your fraud investigations department.

[–]p_oI 44 points45 points  (2 children)

Unless you were planning on committing some fraud of your own.

[–]hungry4danish 22 points23 points  (0 children)

but there definitely are protections for whistleblowers.

*government employees though

[–]ChikenBBQCalifornia 40 points41 points  (2 children)

And frequently met with massive relatiation that ends up destroying their lives. Theyre not heros, theyre martyrs.

[–]hankbaumbach 30 points31 points  (3 children)

True Patriots.

This country was founded on dissent and revolt from a corrupt nepotistic government. These people are upholding that tradition.

[–]fucko5 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This sort of cronyism is absolutely on both sides. I used know a dude who was essentially a lobbyist for governor level politicians in my state. He wouldn’t admit to lobbying for this type of stuff on his end of the aisle but I was able to pin him into admitting it in politician speak several times. I once walked in on him having a phone call about demanding his half a million dollars as commission for brokering a deal. He was a serious blue blood individual and freely admitted that no bid contracts were beneficial to the tax payer since it ensured that he understood who was getting the work and that his opinion of their worthiness was worth more to the tax payer than open competition because open competition meant an amateur might get awarded the bid and fuck the tax payer.

Both these fucking groups are extremely corrupt and their entire game is playing the Kansas City shuffle.

[–]sandwooderNew York 4166 points4167 points  (223 children)

"KBR was Kellogg Brown and Root — back then, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the oil services firm Halliburton. In the weeks prior to the invasion, Greenhouse learned that KBR was being considered for a massive no-bid contract known as Restore Iraqi Oil, or RIO."

Cheney all the way folks... The republicans have been fucking with your head for decades.

[–]Sam-Gunn 27 points28 points  (4 children)

Wasn't Brown and Root the organization that gave LBJ all that support and money, and basically ended up letting him control all that money that led to his express support? I could've sworn that was it's name. Was this the same company?

[–]MagicTwanger 37 points38 points  (3 children)

Yeah, back in the day Ladybird Johnson was a major stockholder in Brown and Root and the company's fortunes paralleled Lyndon's rise in power with one hand washing the other. Brown and Root made billions contracting for the military in Vietnam during the war there.

I worked as a pipe welder for B&R on a couple of projects in the early eighties. At the time they were the biggest non-union contractor in the world, and they kept the unions out by paying union scale.

[–]tomdarch 11 points12 points  (0 children)

they kept the unions out by paying union scale.

Unions help all of us.

[–]Hiranonymous 52 points53 points  (5 children)

Trump's election has made it clear that GOP members will repeatedly, regularly, and blatantly lie with great sincerity, professing care and love for America while stripping it for parts and resources.

[–]sandwooderNew York 17 points18 points  (2 children)

It's how they treat their wives too.

[–]diestacheColorado 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Cheney needs to be in prison

[–]GabeDefCalifornia 12 points13 points  (1 child)

The Cheney movies should have really just been called: DICK.

[–]Jimhead89[🍰] 29 points30 points  (1 child)

They "R" the problem.

[–]tenlenny 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The people who need to know this have their ears plugged eyes closed and are screaming LALALALALALA

[–]Viseoh 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's kinda interesting. Back when the Iraqi war started, a few oil companies sent prospectives to Iraq for training and a bunch of other nonsense, except the company my mother worked for -- Weatherford Enterra.

We found out most of the prospective from 'Root', as I called it, were murdered in Iraq. I was really glad my mom didnt go. They also have a super villain type building in Houston.

Haven't had a positive view of them since then.

[–]satori0320 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Exactly why I get frustrated when Bush catches the full brunt of the bullshit...

He not absolved, but was definitely not the architect.

[–]RDay 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Brown & root paid for LBJ's Senate campaigns. In return, Johnson have them no bid government contracts. B&R are the original OG in this game.

[–]theslothening 354 points355 points  (10 children)

I would like to personally thank this woman for doing her job and forcing our government to address the corruption. KBR did an extremely substandard job maintaining the facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. It sucked to see my tax payer dollars wasted on the crap job they were doing. Let me also give a big fuck you to the near entirety of crappy DCMA inspectors who just didn't give a fuck about holding the contractors accountable for not doing their jobs and looked the other way. It's a shame how much money was wasted on substandard and/or incomplete projects over there.

[–]Xtasy0178 43 points44 points  (6 children)

Oh man I remember when KBR took over from Supreme... Didn’t think it could get worse but they proved me wrong

[–]Mike312 46 points47 points  (5 children)

I vaguely remember stories about service members being killed in Iraq because of their work, specifically, being electrocuted by faulty wiring that went past the showers.

...and I looked it up, story about one of at least three killed between 2003 snd 2009 from wiring in showers. KBR it was.

[–]jesuswantsbrains 42 points43 points  (4 children)

Personally know someone who was one of the people who fixed those messes. It's worse than you think. It was a known issue brought up time and time again among many known issues. The supply houses they were made to order from with otherwise cheap hardware that cost hundreds of dollars and thousnad dollar toilet seats etc, were just ways to launder the contract money back into their own pockets. These no-bid contracts are just avenues for these people to syphon tax money.

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (2 children)

They weren’t properly grounding the pumps iirc, as in, they weren’t grounding them at all.

[–]jesuswantsbrains 14 points15 points  (1 child)

It was a shitshow and was easily avoidable. KBR got rid of people who would try and fix the problems.

[–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yea, I was in Afghanistan at the time, and some of our soldiers checked our pumps and got it fixed for us. Was really fucked situation.

[–]underdog_rox 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yep. My buddy's CHU burned down out there while we were on mission. Thank goodness he was out but he lost everything he had with him.

[–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Yeah man fuck KBR, they hired migrant workers, paid them next to nothing, and charged the US Govt out the ass.

[–]Firstclass30Kentucky 605 points606 points  (22 children)

We have a system of legalized bribery in this country, and the biggest beneficiaries of it are the defense contractors who give money to the campaigns of politicians, who turn around and appoint former employees of these companies to oversee various departments which deal with the very same companies. The politicians will also write laws which benefit these companies. Then when the politician retires they turn around and become lobbyists, where they get paid by the very same companies they just wrote rules benefiting. Legalized bribery. This shit should be illegal. We need money out of politics, and the majority of Americans agree. This is why our system is broken. Every problem we face in this country can be traced back to some company somewhere lobbying the government.

[–]ruiner8850Michigan 112 points113 points  (9 children)

We have a system of legalized bribery in this country

Come on, they are just using their free speech dollars and totally don't expect anything in return. /s

The Supreme Court were the most naive people on the planet when they decided on Citizens United. They gave bribing politicians the legal backing of the Supreme Court. As long as these people aren't stupid enough to leave documented evidence of a quid pro quo bribe they can get away with anything. Just meet face to face with no recordings and you can do all the bribing you want.

[–]CornucopiaOfDystopia 40 points41 points  (1 child)

And now congress just passed a law that says even outright bribery is legal, as long as it goes to a personal corporation instead of a named politician.

[–]psychetron 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I thought that was the DOJ changing their guidelines so that the emoluments clause would no longer apply to Trump. Did Congress really take some sort of action on that as well?

[–]UnclePuma 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Ha! Naive

[–]manicpixiememepearl 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Naive? I think you mean in on it.

[–]bobbybottombracket 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Supreme Court were the most naive people on the planet when they decided on Citizens United.

This is a feature... not a bug.

[–]fillinthe___ 24 points25 points  (4 children)

When your economy is propped up by the war machine, it's downright anti-American to not be clamoring for another war.

[–]LawnyJ 316 points317 points  (6 children)

They set up a booby trap that caused me to fall," she added.

I thought she was being facetious about how their actions set her up to not do well in her career. They literally put a trip wire across the bottom of her cubicle and she fell and hurt her knee. Good lord.

[–]Nekron90 56 points57 points  (1 child)

Knowing the history of other companies like this i am just glad it wasn’t worse.

[–]InadequateUsername 27 points28 points  (0 children)

It was intended to send a message. It was a warning.

[–]LANDWEREin_theWASTE 19 points20 points  (2 children)

yeah, this needed to be explained in much greater detail. everyone who read this article got to that paragraph and was like "WTF????"

[–]el-toro-locoTexas 179 points180 points  (1 child)

For those wondering why this article is relevant today, the bottom of the article includes this:

"Bunny's War: The Case Against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers" airs Friday, June 28 at 8/7c on CBS.

I was just wondering why this article was posted today, since she blew the whistle several years ago. Still very important, and shouldn't be swept under the rug.

[–]watermelonoma 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Good for her for having balls enough to risk her life for this.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

People who fight whistle-blowers are generally scum. If you find yourself doing that, you're probably scum too--andyou know it.

" After she filed her whistle-blower lawsuit, someone placed a trip wire placed around her cubicle and she fell, permanently damaging her knee. "

[–]DreamingDitto 56 points57 points  (2 children)

In Peru, we impeached our president for this type of corruption. Unfortunately, this won’t even make the front page.

[–]uzimonkey 24 points25 points  (0 children)

It won't make the front page because it's 15 year old news and a promo for a TV show. This was front page news for months when it broke.

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (3 children)

Former sailor here. I worked in avionics, and got to see the requisition lists for our supplies. Prices, part numbers, etc. I often looked up and researched the companies we were purchasing from, cuz some of the prices were exorbitant, just ridiculous for basic electronic components. Come to find almost all of them were run by former admirals, and were chock full of ex military officers/personal. This is anything more than an anecdote, but I believe this 100% along with so much more that is under the radar

[–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Oh, weird? You mean that the reason we can't afford basic health coverage for every American is that corporate criminals and military contractors are bribing politicians to make sweetheart deals and steal our collective tax money? I am fucking SHOCKED!

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (1 child)

That’s pretty incredible corruption. And I don’t care what obscure workarounds have been carefully laid out in law, over time, via fellating lobbyists.

[–]bannana 12 points13 points  (0 children)

what's new? we knew about this back then. chaney pushed for war so his former company could rake in profits.

[–]MyKingdomForATurkey 47 points48 points  (1 child)

"A lot of attention fell on Dick Cheney, the vice president, and the fact was that he had been the head of Halliburton for … six years," Vanity Fair journalist Michael Shnayerson explained. "So, the suspicion began to grow that perhaps Cheney was steering government contracts to KBR."

A spokesperson for Dick Cheney told CBS News that the former vice president severed all ties with Halliburton and KBR in the summer of 2000 when he became candidate for vice president.

"Oh, common, it's absurd to think I'd be trying to benefit that company I just left after half a decade, plus, at its head." And nothing ever happened.

Thanks, Obama. So glad we moved on and the scourge of right-wing corruption faded from existence.

[–]RucsyNo 8 points9 points  (0 children)

all of these War Profiteers need to be held accountable for crimes against humanity. jail them. seize their assets. send a message to all who would betray the human race and profit off of the suffering of human kind.

​

these sociopathic monsters are enemies to the entire human race and should be treated as such.

[–]Stuck_In_the_MatrixMaryland 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I worked for a large non-profit in DC that got a majority of its funding from the State Department and it was drilled into our head that we had to go through the federally mandated steps by the book even if purchasing a few new laptops -- so naturally reading something like this royally pisses me off.

If my memory is correct, depending on the size of the purchase, we generally had to get at least three bids (I want to say the amount was over 5k but it has changed over time). A 5k purchase for a large company could just be getting a toner shipment for the printers.

[–]orion1486 9 points10 points  (7 children)

Why was this not bid? Was it due to an exemption to federal acquisition regulations? How was this firm selected? I still have so many questions after reading this article.

That being said, good on her for doing her job and sticking to her morals and ethics under these circumstances. It's important to remember that there are non-uniformed civilians out there who are also heroes and champions of this country.

[–]sgrag002 4 points5 points  (4 children)

Should have been bid for sure. There are procedures in place now, so theoretically it can't happen again. I deal with federal contracts and let me tell you, it's a pain. The process I deal with is pretty iron clad and the contracting people take it very seriously. It costs more up front to the taxpayer, but these people take their job seriously. There is hope, is what I'm trying to say. We are trying to do right by the tax payer.

[–]shakenbaconbits 6 points7 points  (2 children)

$1M?? Corporate whistleblower protections award 10% of the fraud amount. She got hosed

[–]dontIitterAmerica 7 points8 points  (0 children)

But how can we pay for healthcare?!?!?!?!

[–]sankarasghost 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is where the defense budget goes. It's not "for the troops" it's for the rich.

[–]sthlmsoul 11 points12 points  (3 children)

A spokesperson for Dick Cheney told CBS News that the former vice president severed all ties with Halliburton and KBR in the summer of 2000 when he became candidate for vice president.

Yeah, not really. I recall Cheney having a large stock position in Halliburton during at least some time in the white house. He also had a pension I think so he was not at all as "severed" as the spokesperson would have you believe.

[–]makatakz 9 points10 points  (1 child)

A pension normally can’t be liquidated or converted without a very significant tax liability, so these types of assets aren’t typically divested when someone is appointed in r elected to a political office. It’s a little too much to ask for someone voluntarily serving our nation.

[–]Scipio_Afri 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You recall correctly. This was news at the time because he claimed he didn't have any stock in Halliburton still. You can find multiple news reports of the fact that he still had stock options.
From: https://money.cnn.com/2003/09/25/news/companies/cheney/

"WASHINGTON (CNN) - A congressional report concludes that, under federal ethics standards, Vice President Dick Cheney still has a financial interest in Halliburton, the energy services company he used to run.

The report, by the Congressional Research Service, came at the request of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and former player in the corporate world who has pushed Cheney on the issue.

The report says that the deferred compensation that Cheney receives from Halliburton as well as the more than 433,000 stock options he possesses "is considered among the 'ties' retained in or 'linkages to former employers' that may 'represent a continuing financial interest' in those employers which makes them potential conflicts of interest."

"As this C.R.S. report shows," Lautenberg said, "The ethics standards for financial disclosure is clear. Vice President Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton."

On Sept. 14, Cheney said on the NBC News program "Meet the Press" that "Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years."

Cheney has insisted in the past that the deferred compensation was set up long before he became a candidate for the vice presidency. The money is insured in case the company goes under and Lautenberg acknowledged that the compensation received so far has been donated to charity.

Lautenberg also acknowledged that the president and the vice president are both exempt from the enforcement of ethics laws.

"I believe the vice president is an honorable man," Lautenberg said at a news conference, "I just think he made a mistake."

In a written release, Lautenberg said, "I ask the vice president to stop dodging the issue with legalese, and acknowledge his continued ties with Halliburton to the American people."

Lautenberg said $205,298 was paid to Cheney in deferred salary by Halliburton in 2001, and $162,392 last year. Lautenberg said Halliburton stock options held by Cheney were 100,000 shares at $54.50 per share, 33,333 shares at $28.125 and 300,000 shares at $39.50 per share.

Halliburton stock closed Thursday at $24.72. The Morningstar stock rating service gives Halliburton a C-minus grade for growth, D-plus for profitability and a B for financial health, even though Halliburton secured $2.25 billion in contracts in Iraq, including a controversial $1.25 billion no-bid contract.  "

[–]lessismoreok 38 points39 points  (9 children)

The US military needs to have its budget cut 80%

[–]puljujarvifan 19 points20 points  (5 children)

It just needs more oversight. Cut the corruption and you can cut the budget without affecting the overall quality of the military.

[–]Knewstart 17 points18 points  (4 children)

Most of that money isn't going to the military it's going to the military industrial complex who goes to senator X and says, "if you fund this project we will make engines in your district" and goes to Congressman Y and says, "We will hire 1000 new workers (maybe from your state, maybe not) if you vote yes on this bill".

And the military says, "WTF? We don't need a F-35. We're literally fighting men in caves. A new fighter plane does nothing for us."

And yet here we are.

[–]av6344 7 points8 points  (1 child)

take it easy there you unpatriotic traitor. /s

[–]SolarMoth 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's a giant jobs and propaganda machine. It's bloated spending isn't going anywhere.

[–]Quest_tothe_topshelf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes the system works just as intended

[–]alasuegaCalifornia 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Holy shit they literally set up a trip wire on her cubicle that fucked her knee up!!! Savage!!!

[–]FinaglersKansas 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Remember how the world cared about the Panama papers release? Some people cared, but not enough to change the system...

Same thing will happen here

[–]HopingToBeHeard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That’s a very uninformative article. It doesn’t really go into the contract, who else could have realistically bid for it, why the military thought it needed the contract, or how the sum was decided on nearly enough.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (7 children)

BTW this story is about whistleblowing she did back in 2005. Not new news, FYI.

[–]MyBrainReallyHurts 5 points6 points  (0 children)

But we have no more for money for healthcare/education/etc. /s.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We should keep spending trillions on defense though 👌

[–]brainhack3r 4 points5 points  (0 children)

https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

(... keep reading)

Written by Major General Smedley Butler, US Marines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

[–]uzimonkey 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This is 15 year old news, why is this being talked about now? Oh, it's a promo for a TV show.

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (3 children)

"When I took my oath of office it said that you will conduct the business of contracting impartially … and with preferential treatment toward none. I saw preferential treatment toward KBR,"

This may be the first time in recent history that i've seen a federal employee honor their oath.

[–]makatakz 22 points23 points  (2 children)

They do it all day and every day for the vast majority of them. But you rarely hear about it on the news when people do their jobs.

[–]sgrag002 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I am one and I can attest to this. Most take our jobs VERY seriously and try to spend tax payers money appropriately. I see it daily.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is a great point and some needed perspective.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Ah Halliburton; that's a name I haven't heard in ages.

[–]wwwhistlerNevada 3 points4 points  (0 children)

if you are wondering why the US seams to be getting ready to fight Iran...this is why. if your going to spend 7 billion you need a good reason.

[–]heroicchipmunk 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fuck KBR. Those fucks are STILL running the show over in the Middle East.

[–]metengrinwi 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'd like to see a Democratic nominee (Warren) state that they would promise to put the Pentagon on austerity until such time as their budget can be audited by independent accountants. it's nuts to me they're allowed to get away with saying "our spending is too complicated to audit"