by Beth Gorham WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush says he can wage war in Iraq and still pay most of the huge bill for rebuilding the hurricane-lashed Gulf Coast. Most Americans don’t agree with him. And for the first time, Bush is facing a serious revolt in his own party over how to pay for hurricane relief.
Republicans already edgy about the estimated $200-billion US price tag to clean up after Katrina were bracing for more damage by week’s end as hurricane Rita hurtled toward (...)
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Public Pressure Mounts for Bush to Curtail Iraq War After Katrina Disaster
24 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
1 comment -
Frist’s HCA Stock Sale Being Investigated
24 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
Posted: Friday, Sep 23, 2005 - 12:05:19 pm PDT By JONATHAN M. KATZ
WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors are investigating Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s sale of stock in HCA Inc., the hospital operating company founded by his family.
In a statement released Friday, the Nashville-based company said federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York issued a subpoena for documents HCA believes are related to the sale of its (...) -
KATRINA RELIEF AND FEDERAL SPENDING AND DEFICITS
22 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
2 commentsBy Jim Horney, Robert Greenstein, and Richard Kogan
Some conservative lawmakers and pundits are arguing that while the funding for relief and recovery efforts from the hurricane may be money that the nation has to spend, the costs will swell federal spending to dangerous and unprecedented levels. This claim is being used both to advance calls for sharp cuts in other domestic programs - in order to offset the costs of relief and recovery efforts - and to reject any suggestion that the (...) -
What has happened to Iraq’s missing $1bn?
20 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq’s defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history, The Independent can reveal, leaving the country’s army to fight a savage insurgency with museum-piece weapons.
The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army capable of bringing security to a country shattered by the US-led invasion and prolonged rebellion, was instead siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared.
"It is possibly one of the (...) -
Whoops! There Goes Another Pension Plan
20 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
ROBERT S. MILLER is a turnaround artist with a Dickensian twist. He unlocks hidden value in floundering Rust Belt companies by jettisoning their pension plans. His approach, copied by executives at airlines and other troubled companies, can make the people who rely on him very rich. But it may be creating a multibillion-dollar mess for taxpayers later.
As chief executive of Bethlehem Steel in 2002, Mr. Miller shut down the pension plan, leaving a federal program (...) -
Report: Sharon raised illegal campaign funds in New York
20 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
By The Associated Press
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon raised illegal campaign funds during his just-completed trip to New York, Channel Ten reported Monday.
Sharon returned home Monday afternoon, and Channel 10 quoted his office as saying that the prime minister was not aware of the fund-raising.
Sharon was in New York to attend the annual General Assembly session.
Channel 10 showed footage of the entrance to a swanky Fifth Avenue apartment building in Manhattan, where Sharon met (...) -
Looting money in Iraq.......
20 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
2 commentsThis article is from the online edition of The Daily Independent.
What has happened to Iraq’s missing $1bn? By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad Published: 19 September 2005
One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq’s defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history, The Independent can reveal, leaving the country’s army to fight a savage insurgency with museum-piece weapons.
The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army capable of bringing security to a country (...) -
Northwest and Delta executives to make millions from bankruptcies
20 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
1 commentBy Jerry Isaacs
Over the last several years the top corporate executives at Northwest and Delta airlines negotiated retirement packages guaranteeing them millions in the event the companies declared bankruptcy and defaulted on their pension payments to employees. Both companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Wednesday, in large measure to escape their pension obligations and seek the bankruptcy court’s backing for sweeping cuts in airline workers’ jobs, wages and (...) -
FL, MN, CA Winners In First Katrina Contracts
16 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
8 commentsGeorge Bush stood before the nation tonight and in an attempt to repair his tarnished image, unveiled the most massive reconstruction program since - maybe the reconstruction. At the same time, the US Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with FEMA announced 4 contracts worth $500 million each, with the option of an additional $500 million. While Bush touted local jobs and local small business incentives, the debris removal contracts have been awarded to 2 corporations in Florida, 1 in (...)
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Disaster Capitalism in New Orleans
14 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
3 commentsThe cost (or here) of cleaning up the results of Bush’s negligence in failing to deal with global warming and spending money needed for New Orleans levees on his war in Iraq may be as much as the $300 billion spent in four years to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of course, what most people would regard as a cost, the entrepreneurial politicians in the Bush White House see as yet another opportunity to transfer money from taxpayers to their personal friends. The scheme is blatantly (...)