Back when Cheney was named vice-presidential candidate, several republicans I knew praised his statesmanship and self sacrifice because he had a lot of money in stock options in Haliburton and if he were elected, all of his investments would be put in a blind trust and he would lose out on the options because they could not be exercised. What happened? Does the administration’s use of Haliburton in no bid contracts have nothing to do with personal fortunes, and just because they could trust Haliburton to do right because the vice-president knew the company welland could trust it? Now that Haliburton has admitted wrong doing while Cheney was in charge, and can’t seem to keep track of the money the government gives them, why are they still being used by the goverment? It can’t have anything to do with Cheney and his personal fortune, right?
bump and clarify
Does Cheney have to by law or custom place his assets in a blind trust? Did he do so? It sure seems, to me at least, as if he is using his influence to benefit Halliburton. Does anyone believe that he is not, that any influence he has brought to bear for Haliburton is for the benefit of the coutry because Haliburton is a company uniquely trusworthy for the tasks at hand? Have the rules changed and is it now ok to openly use high federal office for ones own personal profit?
This gets raised all the time, and it’s important to remember two important facts:
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Cheney’s payout is insured so that he gets it no matter what happens to Halliburton. He gets no more if they do well and no less if they do poorly.
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He has set things up so that all profit from this payout is directed to charities.
Pardon the reference to CBS news, but [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml]here’s an article showing that there was a Congressional report (not a ruling) that Cheney’s position still consitutes “financial ties”:
No action has been taken, so draw your own conclusions. Personally, I think Cheney should just have divested himself of everything, taken the financial hit, and avoided even the appearance of impropriety.
Could the Vice-President back out of the agreement to donate all profits from the stock options?
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/Cheney%20Gift%20Trust%20Agreement.pdf
I don’t know how this fits in but it was my understanding the financial sacrifice that was being described in 2000 wasn’t about assets Cheney then owned. Rather it was assets he was scheduled to received after Jan 20, 2001, if he had remained with the company instead.
Whatever stock and options that could have been executed Cheney then owned, he could have obviously cashed, paid the tax on(at a much higher rate than the later Bush tax rates).
Whether Cheney retained some interest in Halliburton is the open question. The Cheney PR about the blind trust was supposed to be solely a tax/income deferment tool.