Dick Cheney
Reason #91: Halliburton in the Halls of Government
A I’ve discussed, before he got to be our vice president, Dick Cheney was V.P. at Halliburton. He was also CEO of the company for a while. Under Cheney, Halliburton doubled its political contributions to the sum of $1.2 million. Most of that money went to Republican politicians. Not coincidentally, the U.S. government awarded Halliburton several contracts to rebuild oil infrastructure in Iraq, without allowing other companies to bid for the jobs, as the government normally does.
These days, Halliburton remains big in the business of campaign contributions, and 93 percent of this money goes to Republicans. (The Fluor Corporation is…
August 28, 2008 | Read More
World Boss History Reason #10: Another Illegal Invasion
The war in Iraq wasn’t the first time our country invaded a sovereign nation to take down its leader. People tend to forget that we did the same thing in Panama in 1989. And, just like when we invaded Iraq, a Bush was in the White House and a man named Dick Cheney was with him.
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush and then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney sent 300 aircraft and more than 50,000 troops into Panama-to get one man. Worst of all, the Army barred the Red Cross and the press from entering Panama City for days after the invasion.…
August 28, 2008 | Read More
Reason #30: Presidential Payola - The (Brown and) Root of Halliburton’s Power
Dick Cheney isn’t Halliburton’s first friend in the White House. The company has a long history of setting up shop on Pennsylvania Avenue. One of Halliburton’s main subsidiaries, Brown and Root, bankrolled a young Democratic politician named Lyndon Johnson and cashed in as he rose to become the leader of the free world.
Back in the late 1930s, Brown and Root was just a backwater construction company in South Texas. But after then-Congressman Lyndon Johnson convinced the Roosevelt Administration to grant the firm a coveted dam building contract, a cataract of federal cash gushed into its accounts. In return for his…
August 26, 2008 | Read More
Reason #29: The Well-Oiled Revolving Door
As a reward for his work for the drug industry, former congressman Billy Tauzin slid from the public to the private sector for $2 million a year. But many government officials go the other direction, from corporate boardrooms to government posts, and still do quite nicely for themselves - and their former employers.
Dick Cheney is probably the worst example. He went from government to industry and back to government again, but no matter where he hung his hat, he kept making money for his benefactors in the business world. As defense secretary during the first Bush Administration, Cheney helped a company called…
August 26, 2008 | Read More
Four Ways to Rein in the Imperial President
The administration of the last eight years harmed our country in many ways, but one of its worst offenses was the aggressive (criminal if you ask me) pursuit of presidential power. Dick Cheney cut his teeth in the Nixon White House. He hated the way Congress limited the power of the executive branch after Watergate. Ever since those dark days, he’s been trying to find a willing stooge to restore what he considers the god given right of the president to act like a king. He found just the guy in our last president.
Thankfully, our national nightmare is almost over. The…
August 25, 2008 | Read More
