No Conflict Of Interest Here...

[1CAV]

Cheney Took in $178,437 from Halliburton in 2003

By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) received $178,437 in deferred pay last year from Halliburton, the Texas oil-field services company he once headed that has received billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq (news - web sites).




The White House on Tuesday released the 2003 income tax returns for both Cheney and his wife, Lynne, and President Bush (news - web sites) and his wife, Laura.



Cheney's office said the income from Halliburton -- which was close to his salary as vice president -- was in no way linked to the financial health of the company. A Halliburton subsidiary is under investigation for possibly overcharging the U.S military for fuel supplies in Iraq.



The Bushes' taxable income was virtually unchanged from 2002. It was reported at $727,083, after deductions of $95,043. Their income included his salary earned as president -- $397,264 -- and investment income from the trusts in which their assets are held.



The Bushes reported paying a total of $227,490 in federal income taxes. They contributed $68,360 to churches and charitable organizations.



The Cheneys reported taxable income of $813,226 in 2003. They paid $258,779 in taxes in withholding and estimated tax payments, but only owed $253,067 and thus were eligible for a $5,712 refund but decided to apply that to their 2004 taxes.



Cheney reported $198,600 in vice-presidential salary for the year.



In addition, his tax return reported the payment of $178,437 in deferred compensation from Halliburton Co.



The deferred pay is based on a 1998 agreement in which Cheney elected to defer compensation earned in 1999 for his services as chief executive officer of Halliburton.



This amount is to be paid in annual installments, with interest, over the five years after Cheney's retirement from Halliburton.



Cheney has taken some criticism from Democrats for his connection to Halliburton, which is the U.S. military's biggest contractor in Iraq, responsible for everything from preparing meals for U.S. troops to repairing Iraq's oil infrastructure.



The company has been a lightning rod for criticism during this presidential election year due to allegations it received lucrative contracts because of its ties to the White House.



Both Halliburton and the White House have strongly denied the charges, and Halliburton has said it had operated legally under its Iraq contracts.



New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg complained that Cheney is "still getting paychecks from Halliburton."



"That's wrong," he said. "Dick Cheney is being paid almost the same amount by Halliburton as he is making as vice president of the United States."



He said other top officials, such as Treasury Secretary John Snow, ended their deferred compensation plans upon taking office. "Vice President Cheney should have done the same," he said.



A statement from the vice president's office said Cheney's decision to defer income from Halliburton became "final and unalterable before Mr. Cheney left Halliburton."







"The amount of deferred compensation received by the vice president is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's economic performance or earnings in any way," the statement said.

The Cheneys donated $321,141 to charity in 2003, primarily from donations of Mrs. Cheney's royalties from the publisher Simon & Schuster on her books, "America: A Patriotic Primer," and "A is for Abigail," and her forthcoming book "Fifty States."

[kruser79]

If I'm not mistaken, Halliburton also owns Brown & Roote. If so, they were under contract to the government waaaaay before anyone ever thought about Iraq. B&R has been the primary contractor in the Balkans. Everything from construction and maintenance of buildings and billets, to running the DFACs. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

('Cause I've got an argument brewing, lol)

[The_Federalist]

Leave vice-president Haliburton alone, he has enough to worry about.

[1CAV]

Originally Posted by kruser79

If I'm not mistaken, Halliburton also owns Brown & Roote. If so, they were under contract to the government waaaaay before anyone ever thought about Iraq. B&R has been the primary contractor in the Balkans. Everything from construction and maintenance of buildings and billets, to running the DFACs. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

('Cause I've got an argument brewing, lol)

Yes I believe KBR is a subsid of Haliburton. Not sure about the other thing.

[kruser79]

The reasoning behind my inquiry is this. Halliburton has a long history of contractual dealings with the government. I don't see where their receiving the contract was some sort of underhanded deal with the VPOTUS, as I see it more that the government has a good contractor that they return to when services are needed again.
They've been under contract since we've been in the Balkans, I was there in 2000 and they were well entrenched. So much so that it was plainly evident that the company had been there for years. If it isn't 'newsworthy' there, why is it so in Iraq?

[BrianOKeeffe]

Originally Posted by kruser79

If I'm not mistaken, Halliburton also owns Brown & Roote. If so, they were under contract to the government waaaaay before anyone ever thought about Iraq. B&R has been the primary contractor in the Balkans. Everything from construction and maintenance of buildings and billets, to running the DFACs. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

('Cause I've got an argument brewing, lol)

Brown & Roote have been around for alot of years, and buying politicans for just as long, for example, according to some accounts, they were Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson's major contributor among others. See, e.g., http://www.texasobserver.org/showArt...?ArticleID=731 and http://www.npr.org/display_pages/fea...e_1569483.html

For general background, http://www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/...488.html#d0e31

[1CAV]

Let's see...
1. Their are many unanswered questions on whether we should have ever gone to Iraq
2. Haliburton is one of the main companies to profit from us going to war in Iraq
3. Cheney used to run Haliburton
4. Tons of allegations of Haliburton overcharging the govt.
5. Cheney getting a big payoff from Haliburton after he was in office

Isn't ANY high-ranking gov't official receiving large payments from a corporation(whether the deals were done before or after reaching office) a conflict of interest? Then add-in all the other factors???

Of course for the Bush administration it wouldn't be a conflict of interest. His administration is so crooked anyway this is like small beans compared to everything else...