Halliburton is stealing from America

As usual, the question isn't "Is this happening?" but "Why doesn't the press seem to think it's a big deal?"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Halliburton Co., the world's second largest oil services company, repeatedly overcharged taxpayers and provided substandard cost reports under a $1.2 billion contract to restore Iraq's southern oil fields, according to a new report by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman.

Waxman, a California Democrat, said Democratic staff members of the House Committee on Government Reform examined a series of previously undisclosed government audits and correspondence that criticized Halliburton's performance under the "Restore Iraqi Oil 2" (RIO2) contract.

The documents, which cover the period from January 2004 to July 2005, painted "an absolutely abysmal picture of Halliburton's RIO2 work" and cited profound systemic problems, misleading and distorted cost reports, he said.

I love this:

Halliburton, a Texas-based company formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney, dismissed the committee report as partisan and said it focused on old issues with the two-year contract that have been resolved.

Halliburton says that criticizing their company is partisan? I didn't know that they were a political organization. Here I thought they were a private business. And how the hell is a claim of OVERCHARGING political?

"2+2=4" is now regarded as a partisan sentiment. Good god.