Another article you won't see in the mainstream press. This one from The Populist. It appears that Cheney has millions invested in Halliburton who got the lion's share of the no bid contract awarded in Iraq.
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On Meet the Press Sept. 14, Cheney disavowed any present connection to Halliburton: "And since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had now for over three years." The statement was subsequently reinforced by spokespersons for both Cheney and Halliburton, who pointed out that Cheney's contract protects his benefits even if the company loses money.
The disclosure form paints a somewhat more nuanced picture. The Vanguard Group holdings are easily among Cheney's largest holdings. Assets are given in ranges (from $100,000 to $1M; from $1M to $5M; etc). Cheney's statement includes two holdings in the $500,000-$1M range; two holdings in the $1M-$5M range; and three holdings in the $5M-$25M range. Thus Cheney's assets invested with Vanguard Group total $18M to $87M. Given the size of Vanguard's stake in Halliburton, it is hard to imagine a mathematical possibility that Cheney's assets are unconnected to Halliburton's fortunes.
Probable return on assets is obviously hard to quantify. Some estimate can be provided by George W. Bush's own financial disclosure statement (see www.opensecrets.org). Bush had relatively piddling assets of $68,766 invested in Vanguard in 2001, on which he declared a quite respectable capital gain of $4,735, or about 6%.
Interestingly, the previous list of top Halliburton shareholders included Texas' Wylie brothers, known as the Maverick Group. The privately owned Maverick Capital last surfaced in headlines back during campaign 2000, when the billionaire Wylies turned out to be behind a group called "Republicans for Clean Air." The group, little known before the campaign, ran a blitz of pro-Bush ads praising Bush on the environment and attacking John McCain, just before the March primaries in 2000, when McCain had been beating Bush, and was credited with damaging McCain's candidacy.
Among other holdings, Maverick also owns millions of shares of the rightwing Liberty Media Corporation and Clear Channel Communications, which sponsored a series of war-boosting rallies around the nation in spring 2003. To these influences can be attributed much of the quality of public discourse about Iraq.
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Now - coinsidering how the press hounded Al Gore for years over making an improper phone call, do you thnk there's any chance they would have let Gore get away with this? Of course not. And you can see how the investment in Clear Channel Communications resulted in media sponsored pro-war rallies. So - when you hear the mainstream media talk about the "liberal press" - it's because their conservative owners made them say it.
David Letterman-style, the Top Ten shareholders for Halliburton Company, Inc., are as follows: Link
#10: The Vanguard Group, with 7.6 million shares of Halliburton stock, worth about $176 million. Vanguard, also 10th largest mutual-fund shareholder in Halliburton, is a huge owner in ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. It moved onto this list recently when Dallas-based Maverick Capital, privately owned by the Wylie family, moved off. Vice President Cheney's disclosure statement (above) shows millions of his retirement money invested through Vanguard.
#9: Lord Abbett & Co., with about 8 million shares of Halliburton. Lord Abbett's trustees, who manage billions controlled by this investment firm, include Bush uncle William H. T. Bush. Lord Abbett is also one of Halliburton's top ten mutual fund holders (another 4.7 million shares).
#8: Deutsche Bank, with 8.3 million shares of Halliburton. Deutsche Bank was home to Alvin B. Krongard, now Bush's number-three man at the CIA. Krongard, whom the CIA web site lists as a longtime consultant, was a director at Alex Brown Bankers Trust, which got a multi-million management contract with FMR (see #7).
#7: FMR Corporation (Fidelity Management & Research), with 10 million shares. FMR, the world's largest mutual fund company, and Wellington (see #2, below) are by far the biggest shareholders in TB Woods Corp., where presidential cousin Craig Stapleton was a director before becoming ambassador to the Czech Republic. FMR also owns big in United Defense/Carlyle, connected to former President George H. W. Bush, and Fresh Del Monte, where presidential brother Marvin P. Bush is back on the board. Interestingly, FMR also owns about 50,000 shares of Harken Energy, George W. Bush's old stomping grounds (current value: about $20,000). Fidelity's Magellan Fund is also the second largest mutual fund holder in Halliburton.
#6: Putnam Investment Manage-ment, LLC, with more than 12.5 million shares. Putnam also owns stock in United Defense/the Carlyle Group and in Fresh Del Monte. Putnam is another top mutual fund holder in Halliburton.
#5: State Street Corporation, with 13 million shares. State Street, which reportedly controls $6 trillion in investments, recently revealed plans for a multi-million deal with (#8) Deutsche Bank, and owns $4.5B worth of Morgan Stanley (#3, below). State Street is also hugely invested in ExxonMobil, one of Saddam's biggest customers, and BP, which started life as "Iraq Petroleum." Also owns big in United Defense/Carlyle.
#4: Barclays Bank PLC, with 17.5 million shares of Halliburton. Barclays is also into United Defense and Fresh Del Monte, and has successfully hung on to 85,000 shares of Harken Energy.
#3: Morgan Stanley, with over 20 million shares. Morgan Stanley, among other connections on this list, is also a shareholder in United Defense and Fresh Del Monte, as well as in #8 Deutsche Bank.
#2: Wellington Management Co., LLP: Headquartered in Boston, Wellington calls itself one of America's oldest investment firms. It holds about 23 million shares, or more than half a billion dollars' worth, of Halliburton, and is linked with most of the rest of this list.
#1: Capital Research and Manage-ment Company, with 25 million shares, also worth over half a billion dollars. Los Angeles-based Capital Group is also a major investor in military contractors Lockheed and Raytheon, and is linked with FMR and Wellington in other large holdings.
Posted by marc at October 25, 2003 06:00 AM | TrackBackMaggie Burns leaves out one criticial detail, which funds Cheney is invested in. If you check out his disclosure statement, you'll find that they're all muni bonds and a money market. He gets no direct $ from HAL.
I've brought this up with Maggie and she agrees that Cheney has $ in Vanguard and Vanguard has $ in HAL, but she failed to show that any of Cheney's investments held a single share of HAL and unless Vanguard breaks the law, they can't give Cheney a dime from their investment in HAL.
Posted by: Chris Knight at October 31, 2003 08:39 AMWe all know that. Just like we know Ken Lay will never do a day in jail or forfit one "paso" of the money he stole from honest hard working people.A great number of us value the myth of America and the sybolizm of that myth; more than thay love reality. It is no secret to anyone how corupt this government has become. For many it is just easyer to pretend that things are as we were raised to beleave.
Posted by: Brian at November 4, 2003 04:52 PMCheney may still have Halliburton ties
Congressional report finds Vice President still has financial interest in his old company.
September 25, 2003: 4:28 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (CNN) - A congressional report concludes that, under federal ethics standards, Vice President Dick Cheney still has a financial interest in Halliburton, the energy services company he used to run.
The report, by the Congressional Research Service, came at the request of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and former player in the corporate world who has pushed Cheney on the issue.
The report says that the deferred compensation that Cheney receives from Halliburton as well as the more than 433,000 stock options he possesses "is considered among the 'ties' retained in or 'linkages to former employers' that may 'represent a continuing financial interest' in those employers which makes them potential conflicts of interest."
"As this C.R.S. report shows," Lautenberg said, "The ethics standards for financial disclosure is clear. Vice President Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton."
On Sept. 14, Cheney said on the NBC News program "Meet the Press" that "Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years."
Cheney has insisted in the past that the deferred compensation was set up long before he became a candidate for the vice presidency. The money is insured in case the company goes under and Lautenberg acknowledged that the compensation received so far has been donated to charity.
Lautenberg also acknowledged that the president and the vice president are both exempt from the enforcement of ethics laws.
"I believe the vice president is an honorable man," Lautenberg said at a news conference, "I just think he made a mistake."
In a written release, Lautenberg said, "I ask the vice president to stop dodging the issue with legalese, and acknowledge his continued ties with Halliburton to the American people."
Lautenberg said $205,298 was paid to Cheney in deferred salary by Halliburton in 2001, and $162,392 last year. Lautenberg said Halliburton stock options held by Cheney were 100,000 shares at $54.50 per share, 33,333 shares at $28.125 and 300,000 shares at $39.50 per share.
I find it quite interesting that Cheney owns stock in Vanguard, FMR and Putnam as I own shares in those funds as well. I selected those funds based on whether they would be a sound investment in which to place my retirement funds. Its good to know that the millionaires are investing in the same stocks. God help me if I ever had to make a decision related to the security of this country. Most people would be sure to condemn any decision I would make because it would be all about my invested interest in Halliburton. Just think of the Millions of investors who bought Vanguard, FMR and Putnam because a portion of the portfolio consisted of shares in Halliburton. We are just a bunch of damn crooks. Oh by the way, Doesnt Kerry and his wife own shares in the same funds?
Posted by: Rmorgan at July 14, 2004 08:55 AMIt seems as though some information seems to be conveniently left out here, like the fact that the stock Cheney has in Halliburton has been signed over to charity and thus he gains no benefit of it. Also, another fact being left out, is that Cheney receives money from Halliburton (the $400,000+) as part of a compensation package that he got when he came on board there (years ago). Rather than pay him enormous amounts of money per year, this money was spread across multiple years and he is still receiving much of this. This money has been insured through another company and therefore represents NO conflict of interest because he will receive it whether Halliburton does well or goes completely out of business.
Nice try Libs, but once again you are mis-stating or misrepresenting the facts in order to skew things to your liking.
Posted by: JB at September 16, 2005 08:36 PMCheney receives a deferred compensation package from Halliburton that is fixed in amount and not dependant on how well Halliburton does financially. Deferred compensation packages are common among executives, athletes, and entertainers so they can spread their earnings out over many years in the future (when they probably will not be making as much money) to reduce their income tax liability. They are also used as a retirement income mechanism since executives rarely participate in the same company retirement plan as the other employees.
Right before Cheney took office in 2001, he purchased a special insurance policy at his own expense to guarantee that even if Halliburton went into bankruptcy that his deferred compensation package would still be paid to him. Cheney also had some stock options in Halliburton, all of which he donated to charity before he took office.
Therefore, Cheney has had no financial interest in Halliburton since January 20, 2001.
Posted by: Mark Farnsworth at November 13, 2005 05:24 AMBS that cheney has no financial interests in halliburton. Is my guess that Cheney is President of USA & pulling all the strings.
Posted by: Gloria at March 14, 2006 09:26 PM