CHENEY THE FLIP FLOP KING
Cheney recently reminded America that, “These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another, the next.”
FLIP....
"Government spends a lot of money, but it doesn't build factories .... The key to more jobs is not more government, but free enterprise" -- Dick Cheney
FLOP....
Halliburton took $7.8 billion in U.S. taxpayer assistance since 1992 to grow its company -- and that doesn't include money from the Pentagon.
FLIP....
“And one of the best ways to encourage stock ownership is to make sure that pension plans give workers better information, and treat them fairly.” -- Dick Cheney
FLOP....
While CEO of Halliburton, Dick Cheney took advantage of a legal loophole that robbed $25 million from the pensions of Halliburton's workers. Nine months later the company gave Cheney a $20 million pension. Experts call it "scandalous."
FLIP....
"And since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years." -- Dick Cheney
FLOP....
As vice president, Cheney continues to receive a salary of over $150,000 each year from Halliburton while maintaining 433,333 shares of unexercised stock options in the company.
FLIP....
"We are going after the terrorists wherever they plot and plan." -- Dick Cheney
FLOP....
"We'd be better off if we, in fact, backed off those sanctions [on Iran]," said Cheney when he was CEO for Halliburton. President Bush says Iran sponsors terrorism. Halliburton sales to Iran totalled $63 million in 2003.
FLIP....
"I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the Federal Government." -- Dick Cheney
FLOP....
Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was briefed in October 2002 about a proposal to give contract work to Halliburton's KBR unit for extinguishing oil well fires in Iraq. Moreover, an internal Pentagon e-mail proves that a $7 billion no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton on March 8, 2003 was "coordinated" with Cheney's office. Pentagon officials admitted that Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith discussed the March 2003 Halliburton contract in advance with Cheney's office.
FLIP....
“I can tell you that the government had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Cheney said in answer to questions about his exorbitant personal wealth earned from Halliburton.
FLOP....
The value of Halliburton's government contracts increased by nearly 100 percent, from $1.2 billion to $2.3 billion, during Cheney's tenure as CEO. Guaranteed and direct loans from government lenders increased over one thousand percent, from $100 million to $1.5 billion.
FLIP....
"We [Halliburton] have not done any business in Iraq since U.N. sanctions were imposed on Iraq in 1990, and I had a standing policy that I wouldn't do that." -- Dick Cheney
FLOP....
Halliburton sold more than $73 million in oil production equipment and spare parts to Iraq from the first half of 1997 through the summer of 2000 -- while Cheney was chairman and CEO of the company.
FLIP....
"The cost of one attack on 9/11 was far greater than what we’re spending in Iraq." -- Dick Cheney
FLOP
The City of New York said the 9/11 attacks will cost the city between $83 billion to $95 billion. As of May 2004, the funds appropriated and requested for Iraq totalled $152 billion and are likely to approach $200 billion by the end of fiscal 2005.