HALLIBURTON...

From the excellent CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS:

HALLIBURTON
Play Contractopoly

Last September, Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on national television and denied that he had any advance knowledge of or involvement in lucrative government contracts given to his former employer, Halliburton. Cheney said, "I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the Federal Government." But Cheney wasn't telling the truth. In a letter to the vice president on Sunday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) reveals that the vice president's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby "was briefed in October 2002 about the proposal to issue the November 11 task order [contract] to Halliburton." Earlier this month, Time Magazine unearthed an e-mail which indicates that a $7 billion no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton on March 8, 2003 was "coordinated" with Cheney's office. Pentagon officials now acknowledge that Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith discussed the March 2003 Halliburton contract in advance with Cheney's office. But don't let Dick Cheney have all the fun. Check out Contractopoly – the new interactive game from American Progress that lets you win billions in sweetheart deals from the Bush administration as you rebuild Iraq.

HALLIBURTON CONTRACTS AWARDED BY POLITICAL APPOINTEES: Feith, a political appointee, was given ultimate responsibility to award the 2002 "task order" contract. Ordinarily, contracting officers, not political appointees, make those decisions "to avoid any appearance of political influence in the outcome." Steven L. Schooner, a government contracting expert at George Washington University Law School, said, "The suggestion that political appointees would be directing that type of investigation does not seem consistent with maintaining the appearance of propriety."

PENTAGON AUDITORS SAY HALLIBURTON RIPS OFF TAXPAYERS: An audit conducted by the Pentagon found "wide-spread deficiencies in the way Halliburton tracks billions of dollars of government contracts in Iraq and Kuwait, leading to 'significant' overcharges." According to the auditors, Halliburton failed "to follow the company's internal procedures or even to determine whether subcontractors had performed work." Earlier audits revealed Halliburton overcharged $27 million for meals and $61 million for gasoline.

HALLIBURTON EMPLOYEES SAY HALLIBURTON RIPS OFF TAXPAYERS: Several former Halliburton employees "issued signed statements charging that the company routinely wasted money." According to David Wilson and James Warren, both of whom worked for Halliburton, "brand new $85,000 trucks were abandoned or 'torched' if they got a flat tire or experienced minor mechanical problems." Former Halliburton logistics specialist Marie deYoung has documentation proving "Halliburton paid $45 per case of soda and $100 per 15-pound bag of laundry." According to deYoung, "Halliburton did not comply with the Army's request to move Halliburton employees from a five-star hotel in Kuwait, where it costs taxpayers approximately $10,000 per day to house the employees." Michael West, who worked as a foreman for Halliburton, said "he and other employees spent weeks in Iraq with virtually nothing to do, but were instructed to bill 12-hour days for 7 days a week on their timesheets." Want more? Here's a long look at Halliburton and its numerous transgressions.

TELL TOM DAVIS TO STOP COVERING UP THE FACTS: Despite the gravity of the allegations by the Halliburton employees, House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) has refused to allow them to testify under oath during the committee's hearing on government contracting today. Davis claims that "the committee staff needs more time to investigate their allegations." But Waxman notes that, in the past, "promises to investigate in the future have served to deflect criticism of the committee's inaction, but the actual investigations have not been pursued as vigorously as the circumstances warrant." E-mail Tom Davis at tom.davis@mail.house.gov and tell him to let the former Halliburton employees speak.

MEDICARE
Hold On To Your Teeth, Gladys

President Bush traveled to Liberty, MO, on the tax-payer's dime yesterday in an effort to promote the beleaguered prescription drug card program. Attempting to sidestep criticism, he offered up a couple of seniors to tout the program, including Gladys Cole, who said, "I about dropped my false teeth" after learning about the program. Hold on to your teeth, Gladys; the messy drug card program is riddled with confusing details and features which do more to protect corporate interests than the medical needs of seniors. Even President Bush acknowledged the program was troubled; a move surprising in an administration loath to admit mistakes, he admitted there were concerns with his prescription drug program, saying, "we've got some problems."

THE PROBLEMS: In short, these are some of the top problems to which the president may have been referring: a) After signing up for a card, seniors are locked into it, while the drug companies are allowed to change prices as often as once a week; b) instead of acting to keep companies from changing benefits frequently, the White House is crossing its fingers. Leslie Norwalk, who oversees the drug program, said, "I suspect it may [happen] but I hope not often." Many of these companies the administration has decided to trust have been charged at the federal and/or state level with fraud; c) studies show seniors can find cheaper drugs without using the cards; d) the system is confusing, with 73 different cards all covering different medications and constantly changing benefits; e) drug card companies have already begun jacking up prices to offset the discount; and f) the complicated system provides an ideal atmosphere for fraud, as unscrupulous con artists can manipulate the confusion to swindle seniors.

SENIORS AREN'T BUYING IT: Most seniors are reacting to the drug cards with apathy. The White House predicted that 7 million people would sign up for a card by December 2004. The LA Times, however, writes, "Faced with confusing red tape and an array of choices, only about 3.3 million of Medicare's 42 million beneficiaries have enrolled in the program." Of those, "fewer than one-third of them have deliberately signed up; the rest were enrolled automatically by private health plans to which they belong." According to AARP spokesman Steve Hahn, "People are having a tough time…They are a bit confused, and they are getting overwhelmed with information." While about 49,000 people have contacted AARP to request information about [AARP's] card, only 5,900 have actually signed up.

DRUGS OR FOOD?: One egregious aspect of the prescription drug cards was overturned late last week. Under Agriculture Department policy, poor seniors who signed up for the Medicare prescription drug card and the $600 credit could lose their food stamps. A memo last March underscored this, saying food stamp recipients "may not claim a medical deduction for the cost of any prescriptions they receive free through use of the card." The White House revised this policy Friday, saying, "New benefits … cannot take away any existing federal benefits."

REIMPORTATION STEPS: The Medicare bill, under the influence of the powerful prescription drug lobby, blocked Medicare from using bulk purchasing power to negotiate lower prices from the pharmaceutical companies. (The huge advantages in savings have been detailed by American Progress.) At the same time, the administration has resisted allowing seniors to import less-expensive medications from Canada. Yesterday, however, a bill to allow prescription drug imports narrowly cleared the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on agriculture. The new proposal "would prevent the FDA from spending funds to bar imports such as those from Canada."