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AM Feed - April 25: Bush Administration Troubles Continue to Mount

Hot Topics

• Facing outrage over his policy (and political) decisions on a number of issues, President Bush was forced into action yesterday, calling for a probe into price gouging at the gasoline pump. The Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress have taken an extremely soft line against big oil companies as prices have skyrocketed over the past several years. Now, as his popularity is sinking further, Bush has finally decided to take a stab at the issue. If only Vice President Cheney’s infamous “Energy Task Force” (which was laden with energy executives) had faced up to this earlier instead of concentrating on more handouts to energy companies. [link]
• Not at all coincidentally, Bush’s poll numbers hit yet another new low yesterday, according to the latest CNN poll. Bush’s approval rating stands at just 32 percent, while 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the way he’s handling his job. The poll shows a four percent slide from his approval rating last month. Thus far the administration’s bold plan to confront the president’s sliding popularity has been to hold a superficial shake up, which has consisted of tossing spokesman Scott McClellan from the White House, but allowing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, adviser Karl Rove and others to hang onto their jobs. [link]
• As part of its $2.4 billion no-bid contract to help rebuild Iraq, Halliburton subsidiary KBR was charged with rebuilding an oil pipeline across the Tigris River, a critical project that would help link Iraq’s oil fields to its refineries, and speed up reconstruction. KBR failed – and it managed to spend every bit of the $75.7 million allocated to the project in doing so. Vice President Cheney’s old company pressed ahead with its scheme for the project despite warnings from outside consultants that the plan wouldn’t succeed as designed. Instead of heeding the warnings – which proved correct – KBR pushed ahead and simply declined to inform the Army Corps of Engineers about the warnings. As “penalty” the company only received a portion of its bonus fees – and suffered no other financial repercussions. [link]

Quote of the Day

”...I’m getting down in minutiae. But there are some tactics that, when I look back, that would have done differently.” – President Bush, (barely) admitting to making mistakes in Iraq.

Morning Snark

• With all due respect, the “tactic” of presenting false and/or overstated intelligence as fact to the world before the war doesn’t really count as “minutiae.” Then again, neither does hiring Donald Rumsfeld.

1. It appears that this administration does not want to rebuild Iraq. Every effort that I have read about is an unadvised plan that is carried out costing us, the taxpayers, billions of dollars that go to Halliburton and KBR. This seems to be the pattern over and over since the war began. What is the reasoning behind all this? After all even an incompetent organization is going to get some things right just by the law of averages.
   
   Why are we still using Halliburton to do this work? Is this part of Cheney and Co.’s twisted effort to somehow get all that oil after all…and if not the oil, then every last penny out of Americans’ pockets, now and in the future?
   — Debbie    Apr 25, 12:16    #
2. Very eloquently put, Debbie. Don’t forget about the resident criminal, Karl Rove, the one who bugged his own office and then blamed the Democrats. That guy is Evil Incarnate.
   — Mike    Apr 25, 12:52    #
3. If the US government, that represents me (supposedly), signs a contract with a company that does not fulfill their end of the bargain, can’t I/we sue that company? Couldn’t there be a class action suit made in the name of all of the tax payers in America?
   
   And KBR is not the only company gouging the American tax payer in their promise to rebuilt Iraq.
   — Marty    Apr 25, 13:53    #
4. Every positive thing that this President does…or tries to appear to do, is nothing more than window dressing. And he believes the American people are so stupid, we can’t see beyond his words. If we keep a Republican majority in Congress in November, we can expect more of the same and maybe even worse… if that is possible!
   
   All Bush cares about is big business and the illegal immigrants he can provide for big business to exploit for profit….to hell with the middle class and poor Americans. Someone tell me what he has done for us?
   — Pat    Apr 25, 15:22    #
5. There is no limit to the amount or kind of fraud that clever criminals can commit.
   — jwk    Apr 25, 17:31    #
6. One wonders what really went on in those Cheney Energy Task Force Meetings early on in Bush’s tenure – was there some plan hatched up to drive oil prices through the roof in those meetings? Remember, they wouldn’t let the public or consumer groups in on those meetings, wouldn’t release members’ names or any account of the proceedings. Maybe what we’re seeing now is the results of those meetings.
   
   One other note, why the heck are people still buying vehicles with 8 cylinder engines – there is apparently no discernible impact on consumers’ buying habits by the high gas prices. I don’t get it?????
   — jen    Apr 25, 17:46    #
7. I am getting really disturbed that Halliburton and its subsidiaries are getting away with ripping off American taxpayers with nearly total impounity. I am going to write to my Congressmen, the Democratic Party leadership, that brain-fried moron in the White House and the white collar criminal he called a V.P. – - and demand our $ millions be returned.
   — Francis Scalzi    Apr 25, 23:42    #
8. I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!
   — John    Apr 26, 09:39    #

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