Think Progress » KBR Dodges $500 Million In Social Security And Medicare Taxes In Cheney-Backed Scheme

No private contractor has financially profited from the Iraq war more than Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), which until last year was a subsidiary of Halliburton. The firm currently has more than 21,000 employees in Iraq, and between 2004 and 2006, received more than $16 billion in government contracts — far more than any other corporation.

Yet KBR hasn’t been passing on these enormous profits to American taxpayers or even its own employees, thanks to a plan that Vice President Cheney helped establish. Today, the Boston Globe reports that KBR has avoided paying more than $500 million “in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies” based in the Cayman Islands. …

KBR’s practices are extreme, even compared to its competitors. Other top Iraq war contractors — including Bechtel and Parsons — pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for their employees.

The Bush administration has aided this tax dodging. One of KBR’s shell companies is Overseas Administrative Services, which was set up two months after Cheney became Halliburtion’s CEO in 1995. Since at least 2004, the Pentagon has known about KBR’s practices, but chosen to ignore the issue.

Of course, KBR is more than happy to claim workers as its own in one instance: when seeking “legal immunity extended to employers working in Iraq.”

Think Progress » KBR Dodges $500 Million In Social Security And Medicare Taxes In Cheney-Backed Scheme

Two Three more examples of Duhbya’s fecklessness. He doesn’t know irony when it spews from his own mouth. peace, mjh

Bush Condemns Leaders Who ‘Sit Down At The Table’ And ‘Have Pictures Taken’ With ‘Tyrants’

In yesterday’s news conference, President Bush sharply attacked Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) argument that the president “should never fear to negotiate” with America’s enemies. Bush told reporters:

It will send a discouraging message to those who wonder whether America will continue to work for the freedom of prisoners. It will give great status to those who have suppressed human rights and human dignity. […]

Sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raul Castro, for example, lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him. He gains a lot from it by saying, look at me, I’m now recognized by the President of the United States.

Perhaps Bush forgot all the times that he sat down and had his picture taken with leaders of questionable human rights credentials:

Think Progress » Bush Condemns Leaders Who ‘Sit Down At The Table’ And ‘Have Pictures Taken’ With ‘Tyrants’

Bush urges Turks to end offensive in Iraq quickly – Yahoo! News

“The Turks need to move, move quickly, achieve their objective and get out,” Bush told a White House news conference. …

Turkey’s military General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit was quoted by Turkish television as saying: “A short time is a relative concept, it could be one day or one year.”

Bush urges Turks to end offensive in Iraq quickly – Yahoo! News

‘U.S. solutions should not be imposed on African leaders,’

Bush told Bob Geldof in a new Time interview. Geldof noted that if the President happened to apply this thought to Iraq, it “would have profound implications on the man’s understanding of how the world functions.” During the interview, Bush also insisted, “I think history will prove me right,” regarding his efforts to rid the world of “tyranny.”

Think Progress » ‘U.S. solutions should not be imposed on African leaders,’

Speaking before the Republican Governors Association yesterday, President Bush took a moment to predict the future, claiming Americans will ultimately be thankful for his foreign policy decisions:

I believe 50 years from now, people will look back at this period of time, and say, thank God the United States of America did not lose its faith in the transformative power of liberty to bring the peace we want for our children and our grandchildren.

The notion of the public thanking the almighty for Iraq is becoming increasingly popular with Bush cronies. Karl Rove said last week, “I think that people will look back at the Iraq war and say ‘Thank God, he [Bush] had the courage to do what he did.’”

Think Progress » Bush: America will ‘thank God’ for Iraq in 50 years.

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with President Kagame of Rwanda 

PRESIDENT BUSH: I would say it’s like — as I explained to this fellow here — that one of the lessons of the genocide in Rwanda was to take some of the early warnings signs seriously.

Secondly, a clear lesson I learned in the museum was that outside forces that tend to divide people up inside their country are unbelievably counterproductive. In other words, people came from other countries — I guess you’d call them colonialists — and they pitted one group of people against another. And an early warning sign was — and it’s hard to have seen it, I readily admit, but I’m talking earlier than 1994, and earlier than the ’90s — was the fact that it become a habit to divide people based upon — you know, in this case, whether they were Tutsi or Hutu, which eventually led to exploitation.

Secondly, I would tell my successor that the United States can play a very constructive role. I would urge the President not to feel like U.S. solutions should be imposed upon African leaders. I would urge the President to treat our — the leaders in Africa as partners.

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with President Kagame of Rwanda

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The National Economy 

Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush’s handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.

Among Americans registered to vote, 18% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 78% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 15% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 79% disapprove.

The National Economy

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 President Bush and President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia Exchange Toasts

PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, I want to make sure I’ve got the following correctly: Here, they call you the “Iron Lady.” (Applause.) And here they call you “Ma.” (Applause.) And I call you friend. (Applause.)  …

It is easy to destroy a country; it is hard to rebuild a country. And I, Madam President, I want you to know that the United States of America supports you as you rebuild your country. (Applause.)

President Bush and President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia Exchange Toasts

When you read Duhbya’s feckless remarks in Africa, there can be no doubt what a stunning idiot the man is. He has no clue how ironically his words ring in light of Iraq. His mouth noises mean nothing to him or the rest of us. mjh

Spy Law Lapse Blamed for Lost Information 

By Dan Eggen and Ellen Nakashima

Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 23, 2008; Page A03

The Bush administration said yesterday that the government “lost intelligence information” because House Democrats allowed a surveillance law to expire last week, causing some telecommunications companies to refuse to cooperate with terrorism-related wiretapping orders.

But hours later, administration officials told lawmakers that the final holdout among the companies had relented and agreed to fully participate in the surveillance program, according to an official familiar with the issue.

The assertions and revisions marked the latest developments in the battle over the Protect America Act, a temporary surveillance law broadening the government’s spying powers that expired last Saturday.

Spy Law Lapse Blamed for Lost Information – washingtonpost.com

SMU to Host Bush’s Presidential Library – washingtonpost.com 

By Michael Abramowitz

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 23, 2008; Page A02

President Bush‘s future presidential library and public policy institute will be housed at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, officials announced yesterday, launching a project that could require hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations.

SMU to Host Bush’s Presidential Library – washingtonpost.com