Harry Truman denounced war profiteering as treason . . .

[OneBlueSky]

but that hasn't stopped Dick Cheney or, for that matter, the head of Homeland Security himself, Tom Ridge . . . expletives deleted . . .

Ridge Reports Investments in Homeland Security Contractors
By Tim Starks
CQ.com

http://www.cq.com/corp/show.do?page=crawford/20040923_homeland

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge had investments last year in a number of companies with contracts with his department and others who want to profit from homeland security, a new list of his assets shows.

Ridge, a former Pennsylvania Republican congressman and governor appointed by President Bush in 2001 to run the nation’s homeland security effort, held assets valued from $100,000 to $815,000 last year, according to information he supplied in a filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. The Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel eventually must approve the filing.

(snip)

In response to a late afternoon telephone inquiry, DHS spokesman Brian Roehrkasse first said the department did not have enough time to answer questions about the disclosure form. Pressed further, he shouted an expletive to a reporter and hung up.

Later, in a second telephone conversation, Roehrkasse said, “I don’t know where we are in the process. I don’t know . . . I can’t validate any information you’ve got,” and repeated a string of expletives.

- more . . .

http://www.cq.com/corp/show.do?page=crawford/20040923_homeland

[Tempest]

1. Profiteering in Iraq - article

Much of the U.S. aid for rebuilding isn’t entering the economy, drained by the insurgency, profits for contractors and salaries for foreigners.

By Paul Richter

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-rebuild26sep26,1,1952690,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines

WASHINGTON — Less than half of the aid in the Bush administration's reconstruction package for Iraq is being spent in ways that will benefit Iraqis, U.S. government officials and independent experts said.

Nearly a year after Congress set aside $18.4 billion for the rebuilding, costs related to the insurgency in Iraq -- such as security services, insurance and property losses -- are consuming an increasing share of the money, analysts said. Another large chunk of the aid -- contractors' profits and American and other foreign workers' salaries -- winds up outside Iraq and doesn't help the Iraqi economy, they said.

[Xenus Sister]

2. Every day!

Every day brings something new that makes me say "FUCKING HELL!"

History will show this administration to be the most corrupt.

[George_S]

4. More corrupt that a...

blow job?

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. What you're seeing with Halliburton et al. is just a reflection of what

goes on everyday in the business world in the U.S. For all I know, this is just a reflection of how the rest of the world operates. I don't know for sure, but I do know it ain't apple pie.

[dweller]

3. Ridge, isn't he the guy

that was quitting DHS and returning to the private sector because he had a kid entering college, and needed the $$ he'd make outside of govt. employ to send him?

dp

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[checks-n-balances]

6. No wonder Kerry voted against the $86 million

Maybe he knew that too much of it would be wasted.

War profiteering should be treasonous. Yet another way in which Bushco is "getting away with murder" - literally.

The time is past due for a little peace profiteering.