License to Steal
 

First, contracts were awarded without having to bid. Now, the bill authorizing the supplemental $89 billion was stripped of language that would have made it a punishable offense to cheat the government by overcharging on those contracts. This Bush White House has taken "good old boy cronyism" and elevated it to an art form. This latest stunt is nothing more than a blatant announcement that there will be no oversight of the almost $20 billion slated for Iraqi reconstruction.

The anti-profiteering provision was supported unanimously until it went to conference and the White House let Republican Senators know it wanted it nixed. Of course, if it had gone through, Halliburton would have been subjected to fines and up to 20 years in jail, since it is currently charging $2.65 a gallon for gas imported to Iraq from Kuwait while the Iraq state oil company is able to import that same gas for 97 cents a gallon. That puts almost a third of the $900 million requested by the administration for importing petroleum products into Halliburton's cash register. Cha-ching! That's right up there with the $89 sheets of plywood. Cha-ching! And they haven't even really gotten started yet. Between the larcenous conspiracy to rip off the American taxpayer by Bush's corporate cronies and the administration's choice to rule Iraq, Ahmed Chalabi, with his bookkeeping that loses billions at the drop of a decimal they should be able to dispatch that $20 billion in no time.

How many more times are the American people going to allow this corrupt Bush cabal to pick our pockets and plunder our tax money to fill the bank accounts of Halliburton, Bechtel, and Carlyle? The profiteering hurts the American people and the Iraqis as well, since at this rate, the money will run out before the rebuilding is complete and more money coming from the US will bankrupt programs that benefit the American people. It's a lose-lose situation for everyone except the administration and their corporate pals who are stuffing their ill-gotten gains into off-shore accounts.

The feigned religiosity by those in the White House as they rifle our wallets with one hand while they carry a Bible in the other is nothing more than a political ploy to reap the votes of the Christian Right that usually vote as a bloc in the South. Pandering to this group was a decision made by Karl Rove early in 2000 as a vital part of the Bush campaign strategy. In reality, they're as crooked as they come. All of the scandals of this administration won't even be known until they leave office since they simply cover up incriminating evidence with a stamp that marks it "Classified." Their holier-than-thou attitude is part of the act.

Anyone traveling to Washington would be advised to watch out for a lightning strike. It's well over due.

11-7-03