The LA TImes dropped a big newsbomb today that points the finger at Dick Cheney for setting up his no-bid contract for Halliburton.

MoveOn is raising money for an ad that will expose how tricky Dick Halliburton took Americans for a ride, and ripped us off. So, once again, they're asking for money to pay for the ad.

Here's their email:

Dear MoveOn member,

Just this morning, the L.A. Times released a new Halliburton bombshell: it's now clear that over the protests of an Army official, Vice President Cheney's office helped ensure that Cheney's old company Halliburton would receive a $7 billion no-bid contract for rebuilding Iraq.[1] Faced with a choice between serving our troops and helping out his corporate buddies, Cheney chose the latter.

The timing for our new ad exposing how Halliburton and Bush administration officials took taxpayers for a ride couldn’t be better. And starting tomorrow, Congress will be holding hearings on whether Halliburton used its close ties to administration officials to get sweetheart deals, shortchanging both our troops and U.S. taxpayers. Since Thursday afternoon, we've already raised about $420,000 to air the ad. But in order to get the ad in front of swing-state voters for a week starting tomorrow, we’ll need to raise about $1.1 million. Together, if we all pitch in what we can, we can make it happen.

Take a look at the finished ad and help get it on the air at:

https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/halliburton.html?id=2940-1443017-oAJAL7S5v4VhydvLLZjrsw

The list of governmental investigations against Halliburton just keeps on growing. Just last Friday, Halliburton disclosed yet another one -- the SEC is investigating one of its subsidiaries for foreign corruption. Halliburton's unethical behavior is in the news this week, and with your help we can get it in front of key voters in battleground states as well.

Thanks for all of your help. We've attached the original email on the ad – which has a lot more detail about Halliburton's shady deals with the Bush administration – below.

Sincerely,

--Eli Pariser

  MoveOn PAC

  June 14th, 2004

PAID FOR BY MoveOn PAC

P.O. Box 9218, Berkeley, CA 94709

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Original Message re: Help Take On Halliburton

June 10, 2004

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Dear MoveOn member,

There are lots of reasons that things are going south in Iraq. President Bush alienated the international community, lied to the world about the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, failed to plan for reconstruction . . . and the list goes on. But there's another less talked-about reason that things are turning out so badly: President Bush and Vice President Cheney simply can't resist a chance to help their corporate friends make a buck, even when it undermines the troops.

Today, we're launching a new ad to call the Bush Administration on its ties to the scandal-plagued company Halliburton. In just a year in Iraq, Halliburton employees have accepted $6 million in illegal kickbacks (1), the company overcharged taxpayers millions for gas (2), and charged hundreds of millions of dollars for meals for our troops that were never delivered (3). It's a perfect example of how Bush and Cheney's taste for corporate cronyism has weakened our country and cost taxpayers billions.

We know from polling that for many people the Halliburton debacle illustrates a core weakness in the Bush program, and helps convince independent voters to vote against Bush. That's why it's so important that we get this ad, which hammers that point home, in front of as many people as possible. If we can raise $1.1 million, we can run the ad deep for a week in a number of the key "battleground" states. Please contribute what you can to help us get it on the air today at:

https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/halliburton.html?id=2940-1443017-oAJAL7S5v4VhydvLLZjrsw

On that page, you can also read a full script of the ad and take a look at the story boards.

Revelations regarding Halliburton's unethical and at times illegal behavior continue to pop up at a regular pace. But perhaps more worrisome are indications that the Bush administration isn't just turning a blind eye to Halliburton's corrupt business practices -- it's actively helping the company along. For example, Time Magazine exposed last week that newly disclosed internal Pentagon emails suggest that the office of Vice President Dick Cheney was instrumental in sealing an $18 BILLION no-bid contract for the Vice President's former company (4).

Nor does Halliburton's track record end at fraud. In a Pentagon audit, Halliburton was warned that its food service facilities which serve our troops in Iraq were dangerously unsanitary, with "blood all over the floor" of its kitchens, "dirty pans," and "rotting meats ... and vegetables." (5) As Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) put it, Halliburton is ultimately "a company that arrogantly is overcharging when they can get away with it and not providing the quality of service that they agreed to do." (6)

Vice President Dick Cheney still holds hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stock options in the company.(7) So it's hardly surprising that the Administration's response has been anemic, even when faced with clear evidence that the company is bilking taxpayers.

That's why we need to get this ad on the air. Can you contribute to make that happen? Go to:

https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/halliburton.html?id=2940-1443017-oAJAL7S5v4VhydvLLZjrsw

Sincerely,

--Eli Pariser

  MoveOn PAC

  June 10th, 2004

Footnotes:

1. Halliburton admits $6m kickbacks

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3425043.stm

2. Halliburton: $61M Overcharge?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/12/politics/main588216.shtml

3. Halliburton Grilled Over Meals

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/02/eveningnews/main597566.shtml

4. Time reports Cheney hand in contract

http://www.iht.com/articles/522594.html

5. Contractor served troops dirty food in dirty kitchens

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/12/14/2003079545

6. See 5, above.

7. Cheney may still have Halliburton ties

http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/25/news/companies/cheney/?cnn=yes

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