Truth About Bush

Welcome to MichaelMoore.com!
September 9th, 2005
Back on the Road Again

A message from Cindy Sheehan

Well, after what turned out to be a few days rest, instead of a week, I am heading back out on the truth trail. Camp Casey III in Covington, La, is really hopping. Members of our Camp Casey group took 10,000 pounds of supplies to Covington which is a poor African-American town in La.

The Vets for Peace bus is also doubling as the communication’s center since it has satellite internet and a satellite phone. Members of Code Pink from Austin and Houston collected clothes, baby formula and diapers and delivered them to Camp Casey III. The situation is dire, but we are glad that we can provide some of our fellow Americans with the basic comforts of home that our government is not supplying to them. We are putting our money, time, and energy into helping the people of Louisiana. Because of the misplaced priorities of the administration, they have become the collateral damage of this occupation of Iraq.

I was stunned at the level of corruption, incompetence and callousness that was exhibited by this administration towards the disaster of Katrina. How many more innocent people are we going to let their greed and indifference take down with them?

The first stop for me as I join the Bring Them Home Now Tour (www.bringthemhomenowtour.org) is Chicago. During the tour, we are going to ask members of congress the following questions: 1) What Noble Cause are our children fighting for, dying for, and killing for in Iraq? 2) What are our elected officials doing to end the occupation of Iraq? 3) How many more innocent Iraqis and Americans are we willing to sacrifice?

Should be an interesting trip. I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s how to help:

Right now we can use your dollars, trained volunteers & specific donations (This list will change!):

(We Do NOT need clothes at this time) Water, Canned Goods, Baby Supplies - Baby Food Formula, diapers #4, #5, Wipes, Pedialyte, Hygene Supplies, Adult Depends, Steril Gloves, Electrolites, Food bank & delivery volunteers with trucks, vans or cars Self contained kitchens with generators, utensils, workers Office & media equipment.

At this time we do not need additional medical professionals - PLEASE CONTACT THE RED CROSS

Our Mobile Media Center is on the bus with wireless Internet via Satellite. We are using our computer to communicate needs and direct displaced people to services and document damage in the poorest effected areas.

We need the following to be truly effective:

Apple iMac G5 Computers, 20″ Monitor
500 Gigabyte Firewire Hard Drives
Canon XL2Digital Video Camera
Digital Projector (3000 lumens)
Apple iPods with recording
Monthly Satellite Access and Website Hosting Fee

Donations for our multi media equipment will support the displaced people volunteers, Red Cross, staff, press as we help everyone keep in touch through via email, web, blogs, and teleconferencing.

DROP OFFS
Volunteer Kitchen, Food Bank and Distribution Center
Pine View Middle School
1115 West 28th Avenue Covington, LA. 70434
LINK> GOOGLE MAP

UPS & FEDEX (U.S. Postal Service Not Yet Deliverable)
Veterans For Peace Chapter 116 C/O
645 Kimbro Drive, Baton Rouge, LA. 70808

Online Donations Via PayPal:

http://www.vfproadtrips.org/#donation

MAIL DONATIONS
Veterans For Peace Chapter 116
28500 Sherwood Rd
Willits CA 95490

Katrina Contracts Go To Bush Buddies

Welcome to MichaelMoore.com!
September 10th, 2005 12:06 pm
Firms with Bush ties snag Katrina deals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration’s first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W. Bush’s former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel’s CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.

Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in “questioned” costs and $422 million in “unsupported” costs for Halliburton’s work in Iraq.

But the web of Bush administration connections is attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100 billion.

“The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight.

TWO BUSH APPOINTEES AT HALLIBURTON

Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.

In lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal was to “educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root.”

Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has not, since he was hired, “consulted on any specific contracts that the company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company with any lobbying responsibilities.”

Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume.

A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.

Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.

On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired.

Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney’s income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.

Cheney’s office said the amount of deferred compensation is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton’s current economic performance or earnings.

Allbaugh’s other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: “Hurricane Recovery Projects — Apply Here!”

Shaw said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the company with “general consulting on business matters,” and would not say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. “We don’t comment on specific consulting activities,” he said.