Halliburton says Dubai-Bye

Talk about rape and run. When, oh when, will we ever learn?

It seems that Halliburton, né Dick Cheney’s cash cow, is taking its $11 billion in no-bid U.S. government contracts and opening a headquarters in Dubai. Just how stupid does this company think U.S. taxpayers are? Hmm, I wonder how much corporate oversight and taxes Halliburton can avoid by having an overseas headquarters?

If you aren’t completely and totally outraged by this, drive to the nearest passport office, turn in your U.S. passport and renounce your citizenship now.

I’m not sure what’s worse – Halliburton winning about $11 billion in business from the U.S. government; the company awarding Dick Cheney $34 million in severance; or the company’s decision to pull up stakes, potentially causing the loss of many U.S. jobs. These slime balls have zero shame, and they should be made to pay for it.

I saw about 18 shades of red when I read this story. There really is no shame in the corporate pilferers who run Halliburton. However, even this late in the game of his presidency, President Bush could do the right thing, or Congress could force his hand to – and that would be to cancel each and every governmental contract on the books with Halliburton.

I got these next two paragraphs (and the title for this post) from The Freeway Blogger's Blog - a political activist who knows his stuff and who doesn't appear to go off half-cocked. Let me give you part of his take on this whole mess:

You may not remember this, but when Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton in 1999, he was falling all over himself for the privilege of doing business with Saddam Hussein, going around the UN embargoes via foreign subsidiaries Ingersoll-Dresser and Dresser Pump. Again, this is 1999, long after Mr. Hitler-with-a-bigger-moustache had invaded Kuwait, gassed the Kurds and filled southern Iraq with the mass-graves of 100,000 Shia. And the man who'd become Vice President was all hot n' heavy to do business with him.

The reason you may not remember this story when it broke was that it was all but entirely eclipsed by the firestorm erupting over Al Gore having consulted with someone who advised him to wear earth tones. And that, my friends, is how we got to where we are today.

We should confiscate the passports of Halliburton's senior leadership team, and their families, before they flee the country & before investigations into the company's royal screwing of the American taxpayer are complete.

The Justice Department and SEC are both interested in Halliburton's business practices in Iraq, Kuwait and Nigeria. Its involvement in Iran prior to 2003 should also be investigated, as well as all the lucrative contracts, including wars in the Persian Gulf and Balkans, Hurricane Katrina, Iraq reconstruction and U.S. troop support, and Department of Homeland Security facility construction. That's one long laundry list - one much too long for a company pulling up stakes and high-tailing it to the Middle East.

I’m not holding my breath, but I urge you to write all of your Congressional representatives and President Bush on this important issue as well.

Below is a sample letter that I sent to Senator Robert Casey. As usual, feel free to copy/paste my text to write a letter of your own. If you don't know your Congressional legislators, use the Website on the right side of my blog to find them quickly and easily (Under the title "Get Active!" about 1/3 of the way down the right side).

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R.J.C.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


March 16, 2007


Senator Bob Casey Jr.
B40C Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3804

Dear Senator Casey:
I recently saw on the news that Halliburton is moving its world headquarters from Houston, Texas to Dubai, which could cost hundreds, if not thousands of Americans their jobs. For a company whose contracts with the U.S. government run into the billions of dollars (many of them no-bid contracts), our government can and should take a stand against this type of irresponsible corporate behavior. In essence, Halliburton is thumbing its nose at one of its largest and most lucrative customers – the American taxpayer.

I realize that companies are free to set up operations where they wish, but our government is also free to take its business wherever and to whomever it wants. In short, contracts that Halliburton has with the U.S. government should become confetti vis-à-vis Enron's financial statements.

Halliburton is openly flouting its disregard for the American taxpayer and the U.S. government (unless you consider a $34 million severance package to Dick Cheney being considerate to our government).

Congress should take swift and immediate action against Halliburton by canceling each and every contract it has with Halliburton. This would send a message to Halliburton and other corporations - if they want to do business with the U.S. government, the least these companies could do is to employ a good number of Americans, as well as maintaining a significant presence in the United States.

In short, I would like to know what you plan to do about Halliburton’s show of gratitude toward America for billions of dollars in contracts. I’ve also written Senator Specter, my House Representative, Robert A. Brady, the leadership of both Houses of Congress and President Bush.

Thanks very much for your time and attention in this important matter, Senator Casey. I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards,

RJ

cc:
file
President George W. Bush
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
House Minority Leader John Boehner
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Senator Arlen Specter
U.S. Representative Robert A. Brady

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I will let all of you know any responses I get from anyone I write to about this issue.

Photo from The Freeway Blogger