Is it a coincidence that Cheney’s company “Haliburton” won one of the main contracts for rebuilding Iraq
Yes, considering they make pudding and have nothing to do with rebuilding Iraq…oh wait, they’ve done it before and it’s not Cheney’s company anymore either…
I believe they are being pulled in to take care of oil well fires… only 5 left at this point…
If they are going to do more than that (450 million dollar contract) you should really look at the chairman of arms service (Warner r-VA) or the Senator who chairs Appropriations (R-Alaska) name escapes me at the moment…
They would ultimatly have a significant say so on who get what regarding Iraq…
Regardless it will be more jobs for Americans as long as the bloody French are not on the playing field…
Thank you for playing Mr. Chirac… Billigerant Socialist Wanker…
:o
Brilliant m8.
In 1995, Haliburton aligned with the successor to famous oil-well firefighter Red Adair’s Wild Well Control to provide a top-to-bottom approach to fighting well fires. Haliburton also subcontracts most of the other well firefighting operations, so they pretty much have a lock on the American end of the business.
Kinda unbelievable that the same wingers who made such hay out of Whitewater have no problem with this.
Dick Cheney is still receiving about $1 million a year from Haliburton, is he not?
And frankly, I suspect that once he’s out of the White House (for whatever reasons you choose), he’ll simply return to Haliburton, where a cushy CEO job – and a generous “signing bonus” share package – awaits.
“Welcome back, Dick! Here are your stocks; we’ve been keeping them warm for you.”
CaptMurdock:
Name some other American companies that have a better record at fighting oil well fires. Which company should have won, in your view?
Part of the problem is that they didn’t ‘win’ it per se, it was just given to them.
This article explains it a little.
As mentioned in other threads, this was a PR stupidity on a grand scale.
Halliburton may well be the very best in the world at this, but the timing, the non-transparent method it was awarded, etc…
Makes you wonder if anyone at the White House can see beyond the front lawn.
Um… this work is a task order under an existing IDIQ contract that dates back to 2001. Perhaps you’re confusing task orders and new contracts.
Or are you clear on the distinction, and how an IDIQ contract works?
No, I’m really not that clear on it. From the article I gathered
But the next paragraph…
…reads in such a way that it refers to KBR being hired after and and as a different hiring for the implementation of the plan.
Ergo, my understanding of it is that they were hired for a job without any other bidders or other companies being considered.
Regardless, however, the point is that the way this is presented to the public is inept PR-wise. If a relatively middle-of-the-road American thinks this is fishy, imagine what other countries must think.
In a sense, that’s so.
But in another sense, the competition occurred years ago.
Here’s how the IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity) contract works. The government issues an RFP - a Request for Proposal. In essence, that RFP says, “Industry: we want to hire a company to do some work in the area of XXXX. Please give us a technical proposal descricing how you would perform specific tasks, and how much they would cost.”
The government doesn’t commit to buying anything under this contract. It just represents a pre-determined price for material and labor. Bricker Industries might respond to the RFP, saying, “Here is how we would solve problems and complete work in the area of XXXX. If our specific solution required a Systems Engineer, we’d give him to you for $50.26 per hour. If you need a Senior Systems Engineer, you’d get him for $58.74 per hour. If you needed a drum of fire retardant flox, you’d get it for $193.52.”
Now, when I price those things, I know that if the government buys ten thousand drums of flox, I can get them for much cheaper than if they buy only two. On the other hand, if I price them based on the idea that they’d only buy two, my competitors would likely undercut my price.
Anyway, the government evaluates all proposals, and may go back to the top set of bidders with a “BAFO” - Best And Final Offer - request. Based on the responses, they will then award the contract – a $500 million XXXX contract.
Note that even if Bricker Industries won, I haven’t earned a penny yet.
The government now has to decide what particular services it wants. A year, or two, or three later, it may call me up and say, “Hey: here’s an order for work. I want ten Senior Systems Engineers and 100 barrels of flox.”
Oversimplification, yes. But that’s how contracting works in these situations. The competition happened at the contract award, not the task order issuance.
In rare cases, the government may award work directly even without a competitive contract.
These fall into two broad areas: small contracts reserved for 8(a) contractors (small, disadvantaged businesses), and sole-source justified work, where the reality is that only one company can possibly do the requisite work in the requisite time. The latter determination must be supported by investigation and a declaration that the selected company is, in fact, the only game in town.
Agreed.
- Rick
Bricker
Thanks for explanation. If that’s the way it works, then it’s almost as if the Bush Administration didn’t have much choice anyway, and so the “PR effect” is kind of out of their control. Especially if, as may be the case, Halliburton is the most qualified company to do this work.
The Whitewater investigation was started on far less than this. Or is the appearance of impropriety not of concern when Republicans are involved?