Cheney Put the 'Dick' in Dictator: 2014

The Cheney - Halliburton Circle of Corruption

Dick Cheney Bashes Rand Paul for Pointing Out Halliburton's War Profiteering

By The Daily Beast
April 9, 2014

As the 2016 GOP presidential race heats up, many Republicans—particularly governors and relatively junior senators—are seeking of beef up their foreign policy smarts. The list of those meeting with potential candidates reads like a who’s who of the Republican foreign policy establishment over the decades: Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, John McCain, and so on.

Paul’s foreign policy positions are far from Republican orthodoxy. A video recently emerged of Paul speaking to a Kentucky student group in 2009, alleging that the U.S. sent troops to Iraq so that Dick Cheney’s old company, Halliburton, could profit. More recently, Paul voted “no” on the aid package to Ukraine, one of only two senators to do so. From his “mixed feelings” about Edward Snowden to being only one of two Republicans not cosponsoring legislation that would increase sanctions on Iran, Paul is not exactly in the GOP mainstream.

Already, the GOP’s foreign-policy primary battle is underway. Cheney tacitly bashed Paul last month, saying an “increasing strain of isolationism” is taking over their party. Paul and Chris Christie traded punches over national security issues last year. Meanwhile, Paul has claimed the mantle of Reaganism for his foreign policy views, in a direct swipe at Ted Cruz.

Foreign policy and national security are fascinating issues for presidential politics this go-round because neither party is necessarily unified in their view. Take the Amash amendment introduced in Congress last year: it would’ve defunded controversial National Security Agency programs engaging in bulk-data collection. In a Congress that set a record for party-line votes, the vote on the Amash amendment had nearly no relationship with partisanship: 111 Democrats and 94 Republicans voted for it, highlighting the divide within both parties about how best to keep America both safe and free.

Yet if the rosters of advisors signal anything about where the various Republican aspirants might land on foreign policy, it is increasingly clear that Paul may have the less-hawkish wing of the party all to himself. The question is whether or not that’s a large enough constituency to carry him through a GOP primary.

Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report doesn’t think so. “Paul’s more dovish views on U.S. military intervention, NSA spying, and foreign policy may expand his appeal in a general election. But, they will be problematic in a GOP primary.”

The hawkish wing of the party may have greater numbers, but if Paul is the only voice representing the other viewpoint, it could be an asset rather than a liability in a crowded GOP primary. There’s also the question of the voters who have left the GOP over the last decade. Independent voters are among the most pro-civil liberty, and to the extent that there are ex-Republicans in that group looking for someone who represents their views, a Paul candidacy could bring them back into the fold and slightly re-shape the GOP primary terrain.

The challenge for Paul will be to decide just how bold he wants to be and to demonstrate that his views don’t call for a total retreat from the globe. While Americans are war-weary, two-thirds think it is good to be engaged economically around the globe. People understand that it is increasingly impossible to pretend that what happens over there doesn’t matter here.

Public opinion on foreign policy can be radically reshaped in response to major global events, and there’s no telling what the public mood on these issues might look like a year from now if, say, Russia continues trying to gobble up pieces of Ukraine or if Kim Jong-Un bombs South Korea.

While polls this far out are relatively useless as predictors of how the GOP primary might go, the fact that Rand Paul sits atop the most recent CNN poll indicates he’s at least got enough name recognition to make a serious run (PDF). If he chooses to take the plunge, he will likely find himself alone in the dovish end of the GOP pool. In a crowded primary, politically, it might be very good to be lonely.

Billions in Aid to Ukraine Will Be Used to Bail Out International Banks That Hold Ukrainian Government Debt

Just Because Cheney’s Halliburton Options Were Up 3,281% Doesn’t Mean… Well, Maybe It Does

By Uncle Dave

December 17, 2007

War is such a profitable endeavor we should do it more often.

Cheney’s Halliburton Options Up 3,281% Last Year

An analysis released by a Democratic senator found that Vice President Dick Cheney’s Halliburton stock options have risen 3,281 percent in the last year.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) asserts that Cheney’s options — worth $241,498 a year ago — are now valued at more than $8 million. The former CEO of the oil and gas services juggernaut, Cheney has pledged to give proceeds to charity.

The above graph released by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) charts the value of the Vice President’s holdings in Halliburton in the past year.

“ Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina contracts,” Lautenberg said in a statement. “It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial ties to Halliburton once and for all.”

Cheney's Halliburton stocks soar: $250k turned into $8 mil in a year.

October 11, 2005

Eyeteeth - The Raw Story reports that VP Dick Cheney continues to get rich off of war and disaster: his stock options in Halliburton, valued at $241,498 a year ago, are now worth more than $8 million. While Cheney's former company keeps gettting no-bid contract after no-bid contract (after no-bid contract) from the US Government, the second-in-command still holds on to 433,333 shares of its stock. Prompting Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to say, "What the fuck?" I'm paraphrasing. What he literally said was:

Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina contracts. It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial ties to Halliburton once and for all.

Halliburton Watch offers some corresponding data charts:

Halliburton's No-bid Contract in Iraq Extended

Associated Press
October 30, 2003

Halliburton Co. will retain a no-bid contract in Iraq longer than expected, the Bush administration said Wednesday, citing sabotage of oil facilities for delays in replacement contracts.

Halliburton's contract, valued at $1.59 billion so far, will be extended until December or January while the government receives and evaluates revised bids for replacement work that could total $2 billion.

Halliburton's KBR subsidiary has been performing the restoration work under a contract that evolved from emergency firefighting at Iraq's oil wells after Saddam Hussein was toppled to restoration of Iraq's petroleum production.

Democratic members of Congress have said the no-bid contract showed favoritism to the Houston company that Vice President Dick Cheney led before he ran for office.

Cheney's office has said that the vice president had no current ties to Halliburton and had nothing to do with the contract.

They also accused Halliburton of gouging U.S. taxpayers by paying too much for emergency imports of oil from Iraq's neighbors.

Rep. Henry Waxman of California and Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, both Democrats, said the U.S. government was paying Halliburton "enormous sums" -- $2.65 a gallon -- for gasoline imported into Iraq from Kuwait, Reuters reported. Halliburton had no comment but previously denied it was overcharging for fuel it delivered to Iraq.

Separately, Halliburton said that legal costs and lower-than-expected results from joint ventures helped drive earnings down 38% in the third quarter despite a 39% increase in revenue fattened by government work in Iraq by its KBR subsidiary.

The Houston-based oil field services company said earnings were $58 million, or 13 cents a share, including a loss from discontinued operations of 8 cents a share, for the July-September period.

A year earlier, the company reported net income of $94 million, or 22 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $4.15 billion from $2.98 billion a year earlier. Operating profit for Iraq-related work increased $34 million, contributing 5 cents a share to earnings.

Shares of Halliburton declined 56 cents to $23.52 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Cheney Violates Ethics Law

By HalliburtonWatch
September 2003

On the Sept. 14, 2003 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "And 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."

But, just as Cheney's wild claims about weapons of mass destruction turned out to be untrue and his claim that Halliburton had no ties to Saddam Hussein was bogus, his denial about profiting from Halliburton as vice president was also a bald-face lie. So while Cheney denied any relationship with Halliburton as vice president, he conveniently forgot to mention that he continues to receive from the company deferred salary of over $150,000 while maintaining 433,333 shares of unexercised stock options. Certainly, Cheney has a "financial interest in Halliburton" while working as vice president.

When confronted with the proof of his ongoing financial ties with Halliburton, Cheney responded by claiming his deferred salary and stock options are not actually a "financial interest" as defined by federal ethics standards and therefore not a conflict of interest. This prompted the Congressional Research Service to issue a report which confirmed Cheney's ongoing financial interest in Halliburton "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."

Caught in another lie, Cheney manufactured another excuse: He said the financial interest in Halliburton is not tied to the success or failure of the company because of an insurance policy. In other words, the insurance policy, which guarantees his financial interest will be paid to him regardless of Halliburton's success or failure, is proof there is no quid-pro-quo. He also said the stock options will be donated to charity, rather than used for his personal gain.

It's clear that Cheney broke the ethics law, but both the president and vice president are exempt from the enforcement of such laws. Therefore, Cheney cannot be prosecuted for his conflict of interest or his lie.

DEFERRED SALARY: Cheney received $205,298 in deferred salary from Halliburton in 2001, $162,392 from the company in 2002 and $178,437 in 2003. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) said, "Deferred salary is not a retirement benefit or a payment from a third party escrow account, but rather an ongoing corporate obligation paid from company funds."

STOCK OPTIONS: The Vice President has signed an agreement to donate any profits from his stock options to charity, and has pledged not to take any tax deduction for the donations. Should Halliburton's stock price increase over the next few years, the Vice President could exercise his stock options for a substantial profit, benefiting not only his designated charities, but also providing Halliburton with a substantial tax deduction.

Halliburton Stock Options Currently Held by Cheney (current to end of 2002): 100,000 shares at $54.5000 (vested), expire 12-03-07; 33,333 shares at $28.1250 (vested), expire 12-02-08; 300,000 shares at $39.5000 (vested), expire 12-02-09.

Cheney's deferred compensation and stock option benefits are in addition to a $20 million retirement package paid to him by Halliburton after only five years of employment; a $1.4 million cash bonus paid to him by Halliburton in 2001; and additional millions of dollars in compensation paid to him while he was employed by the company.

In 2002, Cheney's total assets were valued at between $19.1 million and $86.4 million.

More Information:

Halliburton, Cheney and Iraq

By Middle Earth Journal

April 28, 2007

Although there were many motives for invading Iraq, none of which were used to justify it, it is obvious that Cheney was a driving force. We have talked about the lust for oil as a motive but little attention has been paid to the Halliburton connection.

MEJ reader Raymond A. Orr sent me an email with the chart to the left from his own site OrderFromRandomness.com. Raymond says the following;

I’m with you that a major motive in Cheney’s mind for taking the country to war in Iraq was to fix his catastrophic mistake at Halliburton. In fact, almost anyone who makes a multibillion dollar blunder at one job and then is able to make decisions that would fix the blunder at another job, would be hard pressed to sort out motives in the decision making process. For Cheney it would be especially difficult because of his narcissistic personality disorder.

While most Americans know Cheney was associated with HAL, I estimate that only 1 in 200 knows Cheney had taken the company on an imminent path to bankruptcy and the war’s privatization contracts saved Cheney from massive public humiliation. It of course had nothing to do with increasing the value of his stock options.

As you can see in the chart Halliburton began a descent towards bankruptcy shortly after Cheney became VP, largely as a result of things that happened while Cheney was CEO, and was only able to pull out of the downward spiral after the start of the invasion of Iraq. Cheney of course profited from this and yes this would be war profiteering by any definition.

Cheney Put the 'Dick' in Dictator

Wednesday, April 9, 2014