Federal contracts up 86% under Bush; Halliburton rises 600%

Top contractor Lockheed got contracts larger than budget of Congress, Dept. of Interior

WASHINGTON -- A new report claims that a "shadow government" of federal contractors has exploded in size over the last five years.

The document, compiled at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and distributed to RAW STORY, indicates that procurement spending increased by over $175 billion between 2000 and 2005, making federal contracts the fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending.

snip ...

That spending increase -- an astonishing 86 percent -- puts total US federal procurement at $377.5 billion annually. The increase means spending on federal contracts has grown more than two times as fast as other forms of discretionary government spending.

ttp://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Report_Federal_contracts_rise_86_under_0619.html

Lockheed! Now it all becomes clear to me!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1461193&mesg_id=1461193

Pure insanity ... corporate predators gorging themselves at the trough ...

pension plans that they kept referring to how much of this had happened in the last five years. I think for most Americans to get it, though, they would actually have to say, "Since George Bush has been president".

It's what republicans do.

Nearly $800b in contracts questioned

Waxman claims that overcharging -- by mistake or outright fraud -- has been a frequent occurrance. In all, the report identifies 118 federal contracts worth $745.5 billion that have been found by government officials to include significant waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement.

Each of the Bush Administration's three signature initiatives -- Homeland Security, the Iraq war and reconstruction in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina recovery -- has been linked to wasteful contract spending.

Spending is categorized in the report as highly concentrated on a few large contractors, with the five largest contractors receiving over 20 percent of contract dollars awarded in 2005. Last year, the largest federal contractor, Lockheed Martin, received contracts worth more than the total combined budgets of the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Congress.

But the fastest growing contractor under the Bush Administration has been Halliburton. Federal spending on Halliburton contracts shot up an astonishing 600% between 2000 and 2005.

How much of it is wasted?

33 cents? 47 cents?

More??

Henry Waxman is a true American patriot. :patriot:

I dunno how many states are controlled by Big Biz, but all three branches of gummit, the 'mainstream media', most sporting stadiums/arenas, all legal drug transactions and most of the municipal contracts by local and state agencies.

$377 billion is a nice chunk of change. Wonder whose pocket it went into?

The original Waxman/minority staff report - a big pdf file - is linked at the Raw Story blurb.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/waxmanrpt.pdf

<snip>

UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM — MINORITY STAFF
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION
JUNE 2006

DOLLARS, NOT SENSE:
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING
UNDER THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

PREPARED FOR
REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN

<big snip>

CONCLUSION

This report is the first comprehensive assessment of contract spending under the Bush
Administration. It finds that (1) the “shadow government” represented by private
government contracts has expanded rapidly under the Bush Administration; (2) mistakes
have been made in virtually every aspect of contract management, from pre-contract
planning to contract award and oversight; and (3) the cumulative costs to the taxpayer are enormous. Major Administration initiatives, including spending on homeland security,
the war and reconstruction in Iraq, and the response to Hurricane Katrina, have been
characterized by extensive waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in federal
contracting.

Of course, sometimes we're Highway Helpers......

so much and no one else can afford them anymore...

...is this NOT "conflict of interest" AND "war profiteering"?!

UPDATE 2-Halliburton sees earnings doubling in coming years
Thu Jun 8, 2006 12:34 PM ET

NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - Oil field services company Halliburton Co. <HAL.N> expects net income and earnings per share to double over the next three to five years, Chief Financial Officer Cris Gaut said on Thursday.

Those increases will be the result of the strongest demand for oil field services in years as well as acquisitions.

In a presentation to investors, Gaut forecast revenue growth for the energy services group of the company of 20 percent per year or more over that time period.

Halliburton, the No. 2 energy services company, has filed to spin off through an initial public offering 20 percent of its engineering and construction unit KBR, the Pentagon's biggest private contractor in Iraq.

Gaut said the company would use the proceeds from the IPO, which could reach as high as $550 million, to help fund its acquisition strategy.

Halliburton's oilfield services posted an 80 percent rise in its 2005 operating profit to $2.28 billion, on revenues of $10.1 billion. Including KBR operations, revenues last year totaled $21 billion and net profits were $2.36 billion.

Halliburton will spend $1 billion to $2 billion a year on deals, Gaut said, to add technology, expand its geographic reach and make better use of its distribution network.

"It's an additive strategy, not a transformative strategy," Gaut said at the investor and analyst day, monitored via Web cast.

Earlier in the day, Chairman and Chief Executive Dave Lesar said the company had completed a turnaround, after years of being battered by asbestos liabilities and other issues.

"We are leaner, meaner, tougher and more focused than we've ever been," said Lesar, who succeeded U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney as CEO. "We've got the best set of management we've ever had in this company."

Halliburton and other energy services companies have benefited from the surging oil prices over the past two years, which have prompted energy producers to spend heavily to increase their output.

Shares in the company have risen more than 10 percent this year, even including a 25 percent drop from the all-time high close on April 20 of $82.84. The broader Oil Service Index has gained 5.5 percent year to date.

On Thursday, Halliburton shares were down 3 percent or $2.14 or $68.12 per share on the New York Stock Exchange, faring better than the broader energy services sector decline of 3.8 percent.

(Additional reporting by Matt Daily in Houston)