Kind of like the mega-rich CEOs that see nothing wrong in billions in bonuses...sm

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dollars being given away to Wall Street crooks with absolutely NO accounting as to who is getting how much, yet the MOST important Americans (again, IMHO) are the troops who are sacrificing their lives for us, and they receive the least in return.

I'm copying and pasting the text of the article below. The interview, I believe, is very powerful, but at least if I can copy the text, you'll have some notion of what this is about.

(May I just say God bless you and your husband and your entire family. I hope he returns to you soon.)

A CBS News investigation has obtained evidence that a subsidiary of Halliburton, the giant energy company formerly headed by Vice President (bad word - can't post) Cheney, knowingly exposed United States soldiers to toxic materials in Iraq.

CBS interviewed Commander James Gentry of the Indiana National Guard, who is dying of a rare form of lung cancer that he believes is the result of "months of inhaling hexavalent chromium" after his battalion was assigned in April 2003 to protect contractors from Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) working in Iraq at a local water plant. Other members of his unit are also suffering from cancers or rashes associated with the toxic chemical, which was all over the plant.

"We didn't question what we were doing," a grief-stricken Gentry told CBS. "We just knew we had to provide a security service for the KBR. ... We would never have been there if we would have known."

CBS has obtained documents which indicate that KBR knew about the danger months before the soldiers were informed. KBR employee depositions show there were "concerns about the toxins in one part of the plant as early as May of 2003," while later minutes detail symptoms of exposure, including bloody noses and rashes.

It wasn't until the end of August that the Indiana National Guardsmen were informed that the plant was contaminated, and some say they have only just learned about it this year.

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh told CBS, "I think the burden of proof at this point is on the company to come forward and very forthrightly explain what happened, why we should trust them, and why the health and well-being of our soldiers should continue to be in their hands."

KBR has issued a statement saying, "We deny the assertion that KBR harmed troops and was responsible for an unsafe condition."

KBR, which was spun off by Halliburton in 2007 as a separate corporation, has previously been accused of providing contaminated water to troops in Iraq, taking kickbacks, and sending workers to Iraq against their will.

The full CBS story can be read here.

This video is from CBS's Evening News, broadcast Dec. 22, 2008.

Two days ago on C-Span they seemed to congratulate the bigwigs of the financial companies who got BILLIONS in BONUSES. They ran down the list of those that were being questioned and how much they received. It's absolutely sickening. I had to turn it off.

The White House on Friday threw its support behind a plan to speed release of $25 billion in existing loans to the Big Three automakers but rejected a Democratic proposal to use money from a financial bailout to help the troubled industry.

The $700 billion financial rescue package was never intended to help automakers and shouldn't be now, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told The Associated Press. But since Democratic leaders in Congress are pressing forward with a proposal to carve out a piece of its for the auto industry, she said the White House has decided to pursue a different approach: accelerating the availability of federal loans Congress first approved in September.

Those loans were approved to help automakers build more fuel-efficient vehicles and become more competitive companies in the global marketplace. The administration now supports allowing the loans to be released more quickly than the original legislation prescribed and to be used for more urgent purposes as the companies struggle to stay afloat.

"Democrats are choosing a path that would only lead to partisan gridlock," she said. "We are now actively calling on Congress to amend the loan program."

My boyfriend is drawing Workmans Compensation. They are wanting to settle his case. The "negotiation" amounts were at about $130,000 settlement last fall when he found out he had to have another surgery and they put him on hold. Now, they are negotiating again, but can only $75,000 because the company does not have funds to pay anymore. Guess who the company is -

In my local newspaper, it states "More proposals waiting in wings" then it goes on to state "The obama adminstration is developing proposals to help rescue the banking system that could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars beyond the $700 bililion bailout Congress already has approved.

Details are still being worked out but the administration is looking to spend hundreds of billions more to address the foreclosure crisis, help banks get out from under weighty bad assets and expand liquidity programs."

I'm really starting to get sick literally over this. We can't spend billions of dollars when the money isn't coming into the treasury. We can't printing money without anything to back it up.

If any of you think these packages will not help the economy, please, I'm almost begging you, email or call your reps and get it stopped.

but trying to get that money back which might be impossible. For the first time in my life, I agreed with Barney!!!

Gee, wonder if Barney is going to receive some of that payout and just trying to throw everyone off the track. After all, he, Pelosi, and Reid were the ones who put this stupid bailout together, and without thinking about it, either. Real smart on their part.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/wall-street-bonuses-expects-come-season-despite-bailout/

Paying bonuses this year is likely to result in a lot of backlash from the average American. After all, even with bonuses down dramatically, they are still higher than the average American, who is losing his or her home, makes. Not to mention the government bailout of financial firms, which seems to change daily, is coming from taxpayer dollars. Concerns abound�rightly or wrongly--that some of the $700 billion bailout could go to pay bonuses this year.

WASHINGTON -- The chief executive officer of failed insurance conglomerate AIG told lawmakers Wednesday that he has asked executives to give back at least half of their bonuses.

Edward Libby, chairman and CEO of the American International Group, said that some workers there already have volunteered to return the money.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/18/aig-chairman-faces-congressional-grilling-bonuses/

Since when is it UnAmerican to want to know the TRUTH? Why are you people so ANTI-TRUTH? Wouldn't surprise me if this administration goes down in history as much more corrupt than Nixon.

In the middle of a "war"??!! Bush should be protected because we're stuck in HIS war that HE started based on HIS LIES? At the very least, it would show the entire world that not ALL Americans condone lying, attacking and occupying sovereign nations for no reason. I personally hope they FRY him and hold him and all those involved in his administration accountable for every single EVIL thing they have done.

Your theory that we shouldn't do this while we're in the middle of a war is like the guy who killed both his parents and then threw himself on the mercy of the court because he's an ORPHAN.

Whatever happened to "The truth will set you free"? Why are you people HATE the truth so much?

Did George Bush serve his country??????? I'd say Obama served his country right on our shores by working with the impoverished in Chicago. GW wouldn't dirty his hands and neither would McSame.

McWayne looks like a corpse with too much makeup on. One heartbeat away from the presidency? JC...............It is God's will we are in Iraq? W?