New Halliburton waste alleged

[Piña]

<font size="4">New Halliburton waste alleged</font>
<font size="1">Former company auditor: ?It?s just a gravy train?
By Lisa Myers
Senior investigative correspondent, NBC News
Updated: 9:57 a.m. ET July 01, 2004</font>

The Pentagon has already awarded Halliburton Co., the controversial military contractor, deals worth up to $18 billion for its work in Iraq. But now former Halliburton insiders have come forward with new allegations of massive waste of taxpayer money.

Marie deYoung, a former Army chaplain who worked for Halliburton, was so upset by attacks on the company she e-mailed the CEO in December with a strategy on how to fight the "political slurs." But today, after five months inside Halliburton's operation in Kuwait, deYoung has radically changed her opinion. "It?s just a gravy train," she said.

DeYoung audited accounts for Halliburton?s subsidiary KBR. She claims there was no effort to hold down costs because all costs were passed on directly to taxpayers. She repeatedly complained to superiors of waste and fraud. The company's response, according to deYoung was: "We can be as dumb and stupid as we want in the first year of a war, nobody?s going to care."

DeYoung produced documents detailing alleged waste even on routine services: $50,000 a month for soda, at $45 a case; $1 million a month to clean clothes ? or $100 for each 15-pound bag of laundry.

"That money could have been used to take care of soldiers," she said.

DeYoung also claims people were paid to do nothing. Mike West says he was one of them. Paid $82,000 a year to be a labor foreman in Iraq, West claims he never had any laborers to supervise. "They said just log 12 hours a day and walk around and look busy," he said. "OK, so we did."

Both deYoung and West have since left the company. Pentagon documents obtained by NBC News support the whistleblowers' charges. In December auditors complained of Halliburton's "serious deficiencies," including "lack of cost control and cost consciousness." Some examples:

Purchase of hundreds of high-end SUVs and pickups, loaded with options like CD players, which "most KBR employees do not need."
"Duplication ... and gold-plating" in purchases of computers and high-tech equipment.
Halliburton employees living in 5-star hotels.
The company declined an interview but suggests in an e-mail to NBC News that critics are politically motivated: "When Halliburton succeeds, Iraq progresses. Sadly, a few people don't want either of those results."

Halliburton also said the soda problem has been "corrected," and the laundry charges are being investigated, but insists it's "absolutely not true" the company is cavalier about taxpayer money.

Whistleblower deYoung thinks the problem is obvious. "They're using the war as an excuse, but it's not the war," she said. "It was very bad management."

Pentagon auditors apparently agree. They're withholding $186 million from the company and threatening to hold back even more unless Halliburton corrects the problems.

<font color="red">Source:</font><font color="blue"> MSNBC</font>

[LanDroid]

C'mon Pina, why do you HATE American style capitalism so much? Is it because of all the Gov't regulations that prevent efficient free-market tactics like these?
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[Piña]

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Yupper, that's pretty much it. Can't have the government handling things. Too much waste in government, ya know. Far better to let the ones who profit from the business decide what's best for everyone. I'm sure they'll keep us close and warm in thier little philanthropist hearts.

[cincygreg]

Did Pina just admit that Kerry and Edwards both voted in favor of the war?

Nope, didnt think so.

Eventually, you will free your mind by realizing the truth. LOL!

[jumper69]

As a veteran I have a REAL serious case of heartburn over Haliburton. I firmly believe Haliburton is bilking the taxpayer and I totally do not support no bid contracts. As much as I dislike Kerry and as much as I think Bush is in over his head with being President, Haliburton is, or at least should be, a national scandel.

In my township, one of the trustees wants any job valued at $2000 or more to be put out for bid. And our government is giving away billion...that's BILLION with a B, contracts without a bidding process while our troops don't get meals, or fuel, or bullets?

I don't need to be a fisherman to smell something fishy.

Disclaimer: This post is not acceptance of the Democratic ticket. It is also not a blanket condemnation of Bush/Cheney.

[travelinman]

This is no defense of Halliburton, but if you have ever been involved in a bid process with the federal government you would know that if the contracts in Iraqi went through the standard government bid process, some government functionary would still be looking for 3 minority owned companies to submit bids.