The Dusty Dog

Two News Stories about Money

I found a few items in today's news. Both have to do with money. That is, how it's spent, who is doing the spending, and who gets to profit. And, it ain't pretty.

First is this article from the Washington Post: House GOP Leaders Set to cut Spending
Beginning this week, the House GOP lawmakers will take steps to cut as much as $50 billion from the fiscal 2006 budget for health care for the poor, food stamps and farm supports, as well as considering across-the-board cuts in other programs. Only last month, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) and other GOP leaders quashed demands within their party for budget cuts to pay for the soaring cost of hurricane relief.

The next article is located in Madison, Wisconsin's Capital Times: Dave Zweifel: Halliburton's New Low in Treachery
The Chicago Tribune produced an incredible story last week detailing how unsuspecting young men from poor countries are tricked into working in dangerous jobs for a Halliburton subsidiary in Iraq.

The two-part series retraced the journey of a group of Nepalese men who were lured to the Mideast with fraudulent paperwork that promised them jobs at a luxury hotel in Amman, Jordan, but instead wound up in Iraq working for the Halliburton subsidiary KBR, America's biggest private contractor there.

What was even more startling was the stories' revelation that the operation is financed with U.S. taxpayer money.

These are only two stories in the news today. But, they point to a very sad state of affairs in the United States of America today. I think it's quite obvious, but I'll point it out anyway. It's basically fleecing the poor and handing it over to the rich. It's that simple.

Our great country is paying big bucks, hand over fist, to Halliburton, Veep Cheney's cash cow, so that they get richer and richer and richer. Even while being investigated for overcharging the military for gasoline and food, Uncle Sam continues to pay out to their favorite corporate interest. In this particular case, while our corrupt uncle looks the other way, Halliburton is exploiting the most impoverished people on the planet to pay the miserable wages for dangerous work. But, it's not like they will charge less to the American taxpayers for the work that they accomplish with these hapless souls. Not at all. Instead, they pad their bottom line, as their cost savings gets kept by them alone. And, veep cheney laughs all the way to the bank.

Then, in the second story, while our corrupt uncle sam hands it's favorite corporate interests money to do evil things, they cut the budgets that affect the most vunerable and disenfranchised segments of our society, so that they can continue to make megapayments to such firms as Hallibuton, who as we all know, got a big piece of the Katrina cleanup and restoration projects.

And, let us not forget that one of the first things that dubya did upon hearing of the Katrina disaster. He issued an executive order to set aside the Davis Bacon Act, wherein government required prevailing wages be paid on any government contract. You can be absolutely sure that the money saved by paying the most poor to do the dirty work with these substandard wages will not be passed on to the American taxpayers. Nah, the firms getting the contracts will get to keep the savings as profits. Yet another corporate give away, corporate welfare for the corporate buddies of the dubya regime.

Well, I haven't written anything that anyone couldn't just go to any daily mainstream media and see for themselves. It's all right there. It's merely adding two plus two. It ain't rocket surgery, folks.

And, just one more lil' tidbit in closing this article. According to the website, U.S National Debt Clock, as of 3:01:25 a.m. GMT today, our national debt has reached a whopping $8,001,765,291,729.94 , which translates into $26,900.26 per each U.S. citizen's share of the debt.

What amazes me is the numbers of people, still at almost 40% of our population, who call themselves conservatives, and support the dubya dummies no matter what the debt; no matter that this administration is not doing anything to advance the average American's best interest. Conservative, my ass.

I think I'll go puke now.................................

posted by Dusty Dog at 10/17/2005