Halliburton overcharged gov't, ingored reporting requirements

What a fun bunch of guys-- and isn't Cheney still getting more than a hundred grand a year from them? The massive defrauding of the US taxpayer in Iraq isn't a new story. Not by a longshot. Neither is the fact that the media is giving these crooks a pass. It's just a few billion dollars more on the US credit card in the sky that will fall squarely on the shoulders of working-class Americans. After the Bushies leave office, of course.

Frustrated government auditors pleaded, cajoled and finally threatened Halliburton Co. executives who repeatedly failed to comply with government reporting requirements under a key Iraq contract with a $1.2-billion potential price tag, newly released documents show.

The documents, along with a report, were issued Tuesday by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Government Reform. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) had requested the report on the contract, considered crucial to the restoration of oil production capacity in southern Iraq.

The 15-page report cites findings by auditors that Halliburton overcharged - "apparently intentionally" - on the contract by using hidden calculations, and attempted in one instance to bill the government for $26 million in costs it did not incur. Auditors also challenged $45 million in other costs, labeling them as "unreasonable or unsupported," the report said.

The report blamed the Department of Defense for awarding the contract despite warnings from auditors that Halliburton's cost estimating system had "significant deficiencies." Although federal officials have criticized the company and threatened to cancel its contracts, Halliburton remains the largest private contractor in Iraq.

The contract, awarded in January 2004, was one of three Iraq pacts for the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

I can't remember what government accountability tastes like, but I suspect it's pretty delicious. but fraud hasn't tasted this bitter since the Reagan-era's notorious five hundred dollar toilet seats.