Bush 41st vs. Bush 43rd: Who was more corrupt?

Many consider George H. W. Bush to have been an ineffective President, however when placed in comparison with his son, George W. Bush, he seems to stand out much better than one would think.

George H. W. served in World War II, having been shot by Japanese enemy pilots, but on the other hand, George W. avoided service in Vietnam by joining the Air National Guard, which he failed to even complete.

Though many believe Bush Senior was a bit less of a serious president along with all the humorous mistakes, he fails to be seen as a complete idiot that everyone sees of his son.

While going to war against Hussein could’ve been avoided, Bush Senior headed for war because there was an apparent act of aggression from Hussein, which did not conclude with the occupation of a foreign country. However, George W. did everything in its complete opposite extremes, where the war in Iraq was incredibly more avoidable, no justification and poor planning, taking many lives on both sides and ironically increasing terrorism in the Middle East and the development of corruption from U.S. corporations and contractors.

One of the most important “facts” is that Bush Senior only served one term, where George. W served two; besides the difference in number of terms, Bush Senior did not steal the election.

Sources:

http://morescandalthanyoucanhandle.pbwiki.com/George+H+W+Bush

Other humorous resources about George W. Bush:

http://morescandalthanyoucanhandle.pbwiki.com/Bushism

Most Corrupt Profiteer #1: Dick Cheney

“ex-CEO, Halliburton (currently assigned to US Vice Presidency)

As Secretary of Defense, he oversaw Gulf War I. As CEO, he earned Halliburton millions in Iraq. Then off to the White House with a $36 million thank you packet. Then he brings us Gulf War II. Does he have a system?”

A report attempts to prove that Cheney still has ties with Halliburton, a company he once ran before he became vice-president. Cheney increasingly denies this allegation as it would only support the idea that Halliburton receives some form of special treatment from the vice-president. One obvious benefit from Cheney’s connection would be the abundant available no-bid contracts. The company's KBR subsidiary is the main government contractor working to restore Iraq's oil industry in an open-ended contract that was awarded without competitive bidding.

He denies that he has retained ties, stating "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." According to the report, Cheney still receives deferred compensation under an arrangement made in 1988 and stock options, which he claims will go to charity. “His deferred compensation account was valued at between $500,000 and $1 million, and generated income of $50,000 to $100,000.” In terms of the Office of Government Ethics, idle stock options and deferred compensation act as “retained ties or 'linkages' to one's former employer." When the tie between Cheney and Halliburton was made clear, Cheney’s representative, Cathie Martin argues that he does not have any conflicts of interests with Halliburton.

Sources:

http://www.ruckus.org/warprofiteers/cards/hearts/king.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml

Most Corrupt Profiteer #2: Donald Rumsfeld

“Secretary of Defense, Nixon adviser, 1970-1973 (oops)

As Defense Secretary, he ushered in the B-1 bomber, Trident Sub, and MX missile. As Middle East Peace Envoy, he was at Saddam's side (chemical weapons notwithstanding) when there was pipeline potential. Then he found an easier way to get the oil.”

When Rumsfeld was initially Secretary of Defense for Gerard Ford, he managed to get into production, a great assortment of weaponry. Rumsfeld was responsible for enable the Iraqi victory war in the Middle East, and he helped provide the necessary means to achieve their victory, ranging from weapons to money. Saddam Hussein had purchased 60 Hughes helicopters and a second order of 10 twin-engine Bell “Huey” helicopters for carrying troops, which was approved, though congress had opposed the plan in August 1983. In 1988, U.S. intelligence sources witness the chemical attacks made by Saddam again the Kurdish civilians, with the support and reliance on the U.S. made helicopters. During Clinton’s presidency, Rumsfeld began to target Saddam, claiming that he is a threat that refuses to surrender the weapons of mass destruction that he supposedly has in his arsenal. When he later become Secretary of Defense, yet again, he immediately begins to organize a campaign against Saddam as he believes he is a threat. The weapons and technology that Saddam is supposed to be feared for was made possible by Rumsfeld himself, as he had sought to bring victory to Iraq. After 9/11 Rumsfeld devised a “stratagem” where it was decided to secretly invade into Afghanistan before the official start of the war, in order to “soften-up” the target and make the war appear shorter than it would be.

Sources:

http://www.ruckus.org/warprofiteers/cards/hearts/jack.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumsfeld

Most Corrupt Profiteer #3: George Schultz

“Senior Counselor, The Bechtel Corporation, Former Secretary of State

Best known for dumping nuclear waste on native lands and hijacking Bolivia's water, now Bechtel's scored big with the contract to "rebuild" Iraq. AND, they employ George Schultz and Caspar Weinberger. Did some-one say, "revolving door?" “

Bechtel was given contracts to build most of the United State’s nuclear power plants and then had another contract to clean the mess from building the plants. When Bechtel had installed one of the reactors backwards, this forced Californian citizens to pay for cost over-runs at the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Environmentally speaking, these power plants absorb in gigantic amounts of water to cool the reactors, but also suck in plankton, fish and seals along with the water. The heat that is dispersed from the water cooling the reactors destroys miles of kelp on the seabed.

Bechtel being the primary contractor for rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, finishing up the reconstruction project on Interstate 93 beneath the surface of the city. The estimated cost for the project was $2.5 billion in 1985. However, the cost for the project has been dramatically rising every year out of “unexpected spending.” The latest cost for this project has come to be $14.6 billion for the near 8 miles of highway, making it around $1.8 billion dollars per mile.

Bechtel has many important connections that allow the company to win many contracts and to get away with overcharging or even damaging the environment, such as Jack Sheehan who is a senior VP at Bechtel and also a member of DPB (Defense Policy Board), one of the government appointed group that advised the Pentagon on the war.

Sources:

http://www.ruckus.org/warprofiteers/cards/diamonds/king.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechtel

Most Corrupt Profiteer #4: Philip M. Condit

“Chairman and CEO Boeing

Aside from 747s, Boeing makes "smart" bombs, F-15 fighters, and Apache helicopters. Boeing has paid tens of millions in fines for selling flawed parts that led to thousands of unnecessary landings and at least one fatal crash.”

According to Pentagon spokeswoman, Victoria Clarke, the statistics of the 12,000 bombs dropped in Afghanistan, 60%, or 7,200 were precision guided, while the rest were laser or satellite guided cruise missiles. The JDAM (joint direct attack munitions) “smart” bombs made by Boeing are relatively inaccurate and not as successful as they’re claimed to be. “the precision JDAMs have repeatedly missed their targets; crashing into a residential neighborhood near the Kabul airport on October 12th and killing at least 10 civilians, falling off target and killing three American soldiers on December 5th, and wounding five Special Forces soldiers a week earlier.” However, despite this, the Pentagon refuses to acknowledge the ineffectiveness and somewhat potentially dangerous recoil that the JDAMs are, with Boeing having received two separate orders of over 1000 JDAMs each.

On a similar weapons fraud case, Boeing intended to lease 100 Boeing 767 planes for a duration of 10-years, with their Office of Management and Budget suggesting that the lease plan would cost $22 million, along with the unaccounted for $600 million cost of changing existing hangers to house these planes. However, it is noted that buying the plane directly would only cost $15 million, which Boeing had charged an extra $7 million for.

Sources:

http://www.ruckus.org/warprofiteers/cards/clubs/nine.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jdam