Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - U.S. Bars Iraq War Opponents From Bidding

smooth · 12-13-2003, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rgr22j
I've attached this URL, http://slate.msn.com/id/2090636/, which actually lists the top 10 campaign contributors and the top 10 US contractors in Iraq. There are only 3 overlaps, contributors #5, #6, and #7 (Fluor, Bechtel, Halliburton). GE contributed more money then they received in reconstruction contracts -- not exactly a winning strategy, I would say. I don't see much of a correlation between campaign contributions and the awarding of reconstruction contracts, and my mathematician friends tell me that the 0.192 correlation over all 70 of the companies covered by the report isn't much of one either. There is no evidence that the Bush administration "kicks back" contracts based on donations.

No evidence? lol, check your list a bit more thoroughly. The groups you listed happen to be at the top. Then you mention GE. Do you realize how tied GE is to defense? The fact that they get a reconstruction bid at all is plum, not evidence of any point you're trying to make. They already made all their money back in dividends during the destroying stage.

Just think, a company that gets paid to rebuild what it helped level: "such a deal."

/chicago gangster

From the link:

Quote:

The CPI devoted six months to research and filed more than 70 Freedom of Information Act requests and appeals to get to the bottom of the story. The conclusion of the report, "Windfalls of War," is that a clear quid pro quo exists between government procurement and campaign contributions to George W. Bush. Charles Lewis, the group's executive director, released a statement arguing that the report reveals "a stench of political favoritism and cronyism surrounding the contracting process in both Iraq and Afghanistan."

There's just one problem: The CPI has no evidence to support its allegations.

You and I sift through two charts and that qualifies either one of us to question a report that was researched for 6 months? Me thinks you need more info...