I've been disappointed that more people haven't researched the Haliburton claims against Cheney. Most libs take other libs' word for it, while so far I don't see a strong defense from the conservative camp (at least not from the ones I'm around).
So, I came across this, which is from the politcally neutral research site that Cheney sadly misstated the address for the other day, fatcheck.org:
@DocID= 261.html" target=_blank >https://factcheck.org/article.aspx
@DocID= 261.html
^^This website has some legal documents collected and facts gathered showing that Cheney cut his financial ties with Halliburton before taking office, so thus far any claims that he has been pulling strings for their benefit appear bitterly unfounded. The only "profits" Cheney has been making off of them are deferred payments that are still coming in from when we was an exec (money EARNED honestly), and he has furthermore insured it so that Halliburton's performance in the future, be it for better or worse, will have no affect on the money he receives. Halliburton can flop, and Cheney will still be unaffected.
That's not what the latest Kerry ad wants you to believe though, as it mistates that Cheney is receiving $2 mil from Halliburton while in office. The fact, however, show that the money he is receiving as an insured deferred payment is much less, and the rest was paid
before he held office. Bad move, Kerry, gotta check those facts!
Additionally, here are some more tidbits that show Cheney's not quite as close to Halliburton as you might think:
Quote:
Shortly after that, Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg released a legal analysis he'd requested from the Congressional Research Service. Without naming Cheney, the memo concluded a federal official in his position -- with deferred compensation covered by insurance, and stock options whose after-tax profits had been assigned to charity -- would still retain an "interest" that must be reported on an official's annual disclosure forms. And in fact, Cheney does report his options and deferred salary each year.
But the memo reached no firm conclusion as to whether such options or salary constitute an "interest" that would pose a legal conflict. It said "it is not clear" whether assigning option profits to charity would theoretically remove a potential conflict, adding, "no specific published rulings were found on the subject." And it said that insuring deferred compensation "might" remove it as a problem under conflict of interest laws.
Actually, the plain language of the Office of Government Ethics regulations on this matter seems clear enough. The regulations state: "The term financial interest means the potential for gain or loss to the employee . . . as a result of governmental action on the particular matter." So by removing the "potential for gain or loss" Cheney has solid grounds to argue that he has removed any "financial interest" that would pose a conflict under federal regulations.
Quote:
It is important to note here that Cheney could legally have held onto his Halliburton stock options, and no law required him to buy insurance against the possibility that Halliburton wouldn't pay the deferred compensation it owes him. Both the President and Vice President are specifically exempted from federal conflict-of-interest laws, for one thing, as are members of Congress and federal judges.
And even federal officials who are covered by the law may legally own a financial interest in a company, provided they formally recuse themselves -- stand aside -- from making decisions that would have a "direct and predictable effect on that interest." And Cheney says he's done just that.
Cheney says he takes no part in matters relating to Halliburton, and so far we've seen no credible allegation to the contrary. Time magazine reported in its June 7 edition that an e-mail from an unnamed Army Corps of Engineers official stated that a contract to be given to Halliburton in March 2003 "has been coordinated w VP's [Vice President's] office." But it wasn't clear who wrote that e-mail, whether the author had direct knowledge or was just repeating hearsay, or even what was meant by the word "coordinated," which could mean no more than that somebody in Cheney's office was being kept informed of contract talks.
Indeed, a few days later it was revealed that Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby was informed in advance that Halliburton was going to receive an earlier contract in the fall of 2002 -- to secretly plan post-war repair of Iraq's oil facilities. But being informed of a decision after it is made is a far cry from taking part in making it. And according to the White House, Libby didn't even pass on the information to Cheney anyway.
So to sum up, this Kerry ad's implication that Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton is unfounded and the $2 million figure is flat wrong.
Those are just the main highlights though. Check out the link for the full thing.