Daddy Warbucks Works for Fox and Voted for Bush

By now we've all heard about the over billing from Halliburton and its subsidiary, KBR. You might remember that when people suggested that Halliburton got the contract because Dick Cheney was the VP, Republicans all over the country said that was ridiculous! Well, after this story is done, we'll see the truth in what the Republicans were saying.....Halliburton didn't get the contract because Cheney was VP, they got it because Cheney was a Republican!!!!!! See the bar for preferential treatment is much lower than we originally thought.

But here is another story about a company called Custer-Battles. This is one of those shady mercenary contractors. They hire ex-Ghurkas and 3rd world special forces guys to do "security" in occupied Iraq. It turns out that a failed Republican politician and a partner got the company set up just for the purpose of getting government contracts. One o the founders, Battles, failed to win a House seat as a Republican and now is a commentator for FOX "news." The company is being sued not by our government but by a former employees/whistle blowers. The suit is brought under a Civil War era law that allows private citizens to sue companies for defrauding the government

Some highlights are:

" The suit said that after Isakson complained about Custer Battles practices, he was held at gunpoint by company employees along with his 14-year-old son. The employees then kicked Isakson and his son off the airport base."

"Alan Grayman, a lawyer for the two whistle-blowers, said Justice Department officials told him that because the CPA was an international organization, the government could not join in the suit."

"When the government joins such suits, the whistle-blowers win or settle about 95 percent of the time, but only 25 percent of the time when the government passes. Whistle-blowers are entitled to a percentage of the money recovered or paid in fines."

I've posted before about how the Bush administration is manipulating the contracting relationships to minimize accountability and maximize oversight problems. This is a perfect example.