Special Treatment for Halliburton

I'm actually browsing the news headlines right now, and I came across an article on MSNBC.com from the Washington Post which is on how the Army is for the 3rd time giving Halliburton an extention for paperwork to justify their bills.

Only hours after deciding to withhold some payments to Halliburton Co. because of questions about billing for its work in Iraq, the Army reversed itself yesterday and said it would give the giant contractor more time to justify its claims.

The decision capped two days of confusion over whether the Pentagon would withhold 15 percent of payments to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. under federal procurement rules that require contractors to provide clear justification for their bills.

...
[Army Material Command spokesperson] Theis said Halliburton has received extensions because there are not enough people in the government or at Halliburton to review the many bills the company has submitted, in part because no one anticipated how much work they would need to account for.

... So, yet again the government can't handle the outcome of something. Comforting. Are there too few because the rest are committed to aiding the Pharmaceutical, Tobacco, and Oil Industries?

Congressional Democrats have accused the Pentagon of going easy on KBR, which has received about $6 billion for work it has done in Iraq and Kuwait under the logistical services contract known as LOGCAP. Halliburton has also received at least $2.5 billion for helping Iraq rebuild its oil industry. Government investigators and Defense Department auditors have repeatedly raised questions about whether KBR overcharged for food, housing and fuel and kept proper records.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) has questioned whether Vice President Cheney, who was Halliburton's chief executive before reaching office, played any role in helping the company. Cheney's staff has derided such suggestions as politically motivated.

In response to a new Defense Department audit that described Halliburton's cost estimating system as inadequate, Waxman said last week that the Pentagon is not doing enough to hold the company accountable.

'Special treatment'
"The Bush administration is giving Halliburton special treatment yet again," he said in a written statement. "Even after eight critical audit reports by three different government agencies, the Pentagon is still waiving procurement rules and extending deadlines for Halliburton to submit accurate cost information."

Accountability, eh. How can you expect accountability from one of the largest companies that is essentially in the White House -- whose Administration has no accountability, whether it be on the top or the lower echelons of the hierarchy.

No doubt Cheney is involved -- he's one of the benefactors of the Halliburton contracts other than the company itself. Our capitalist ideology promotes this, it's profiting for crying out loud, its the taking advantage of a situation to where it'll benefit you. When you have a chance to get more millions, especially CEOs, they won't hesitate.

It's always interesting to see the way this bureaucracy is going under Bush, especially when it comes to the major departments and the foreign policy, and then things like this such as payments to the VP's company by the Army, under the command of men who's superior is Rumsfeld, who is one of the top "neocons" in the Bush Administration aside from Cheney.

Special Treatmen? No way! (sarcasm)