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You are here: Home / Patriotism

Patriotism

by John Cole|  March 6, 20088:57 pm| 109 Comments

This post is in: Assholes, Outrage, Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.

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Means dodging your taxes:

Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation’s top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.

When Texas pipe-fitter Danny Langford applied for unemployment compensation after being let go by Service Employers International Inc., he was rejected, he was told, because he worked for a foreign company.

More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq – including about 10,500 Americans – are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands.

The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars.

***

With an estimated $16 billion in contracts, KBR is by far the largest contractor in Iraq, with eight times the work of its nearest competitor.

The no-bid contract it received in 2002 to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure and a multibillion-dollar contract to provide support services to troops have long drawn scrutiny because Vice President Dick Cheney was Halliburton’s chief executive from 1995 until he joined the Republican ticket with President Bush in 2000.

Criminal. Absolutely fucking criminal.

*** Update ***

Quote of the year, from the comments:

This is fucking ridiculous. You literally cannot go one fucking day without hearing about someone tied to the Bush administration doing something patently fucking evil, borderline illegal, or screwing the public. You’d think they’d need to at least go on vacation at some point after the last 7 years of this. It’s got to be hard work finding something reprehensible to be part of every single day.

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Reader Interactions

109Comments

  1. 1.

    Tim P.

    March 6, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    No one could have predicted..

  2. 2.

    Thepanzer

    March 6, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    This is fucking ridiculous. You literally cannot go one fucking day without hearing about someone tied to the Bush administration doing something patently fucking evil, borderline illegal, or screwing the public. You’d think they’d need to at least go on vacation at some point after the last 7 years of this. It’s got to be hard work finding something reprehensible to be part of every single day.

  3. 3.

    Phil

    March 6, 2008 at 9:15 pm

    Apparently the right-wingers think that freedom really IS free.

    But if nobody paid their taxes, than where does KBR think the money would come from?

  4. 4.

    jake

    March 6, 2008 at 9:19 pm

    I KAN HAZ WOAR PROFITEERING TRIAL?

  5. 5.

    Teak111

    March 6, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    Be interesting to see if the right wing blogs pick this story up. From what I can see, they must be heavily conflicted. KBR, a patriotic company playing its part in a glorious war, yet avoiding taxes with the usual off shore bullshit Wait, sorry, no conflict at all.

  6. 6.

    dslak

    March 6, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    Is it actually criminal, or just seriously immoral? The easy solution is for Congress to require providers of military subcontractors (what civilized people once called ‘mercenaries’) to be incorporated in the US.

  7. 7.

    aschupanitz

    March 6, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    But…but…THE WSJ TOLD ME MARKETS ARE MADE OF MAGIC!!!

  8. 8.

    jcricket

    March 6, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    I’m sure the FAIR TAX would solve all this, right?

  9. 9.

    jake

    March 6, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    Patriotism also calls for screwing the employees real hard. Can we agree that if you’re going to ship someone to a place that is almost as dangerous as Detroit you don’t fucking lie to them?

    has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.

    When Texas pipe-fitter Danny Langford applied for unemployment compensation after being let go by Service Employers International Inc., he was rejected, he was told, because he worked for a foreign company.

    No wait. The Democrats forced Cereal, Brown Squirt & Root Vegetable to do this. If only they’d allowed Bush to privatize Soc. Sec. and fully privatize Medicare it would have gladly paid its taxes.

  10. 10.

    jcricket

    March 6, 2008 at 9:35 pm

    This is fucking ridiculous. You literally cannot go one fucking day without hearing about someone tied to the Bush administration doing something patently fucking evil, borderline illegal, or screwing the public.

    It’s all part of the strategy. Commit so many illegal acts that everyone loses count and basically just gives up trying to prosecute. Like how all of the diseases Mr. Burns (Simpsons) have actually keep his health in check b/c they can’t fit through the “door” :-)

  11. 11.

    Elvis Elvisberg

    March 6, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    Well, this KBR tie to a recently arrested arms dealer was apparently illegal. So, that’s something.

  12. 12.

    RSA

    March 6, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    I’m feeling slightly more sympathetic toward mercenaries earning lots more than U.S. soldiers–once they’re out, for whatever reason, they’re on their own. Interesting how KBR can simultaneously screw over the public and their own employees.

  13. 13.

    jcricket

    March 6, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    Interesting how KBR can simultaneously screw over the public and their own employees

    Indeed, it takes a special kind of sociopathy to effectively screw the public, the government and your own employees out at the same time. EPIC, even.

    Worst. Administration. Ever.

  14. 14.

    Martin

    March 6, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    I think it’s noble how they’ve embraced the free market. I think the US simply needs to be more competitive on the taxation front. I propose setting up a taxation market where companies can go and bid on what tax rate they want to pay in exchange for locating their corporate PO box.

  15. 15.

    Davebo

    March 6, 2008 at 9:43 pm

    Err…

    Guys, this isn’t new. We’ve known about it for years.

    The Caymans have also been handy for avoiding sanctions with Iran.

    And if you read the industry rags lately we (and I mean that loosely because I sort of work in the industry) are drooling over NG possibilities in Persia.

    But to get upset at it at this point is like saying ‘Huh? There was slaverly around here back in the day?’

  16. 16.

    Ted

    March 6, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    Criminal. Absolutely fucking criminal.

    Silly John. The Invisible Hand will straighten all of this out in no time. Just give the Hand a chance! It fixes every injustice, every imbalance.

  17. 17.

    jake

    March 6, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    Guys, this isn’t new. We’ve known about it for years.

    We’re recycling our outrage.

  18. 18.

    Dennis - SGMM

    March 6, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    Bend over and get globalized again. Bushco has globalized America so many times that it doesn’t make any noise when we fart.

  19. 19.

    chopper

    March 6, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    Indeed, it takes a special kind of sociopathy to effectively screw the public, the government and your own employees out at the same time. EPIC, even.

    don’t forget the NRCC. i love this administration. they’re screwing the public while they’re screwing themselves! i don’t want to know how many wetsuits you have to put on to pull that move off.

  20. 20.

    maxbaer (not the original)

    March 6, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars.

    Well, thank God for that anyway because who knows what it might have cost otherwise. It might have been really, really expensive.

  21. 21.

    The Other Steve

    March 6, 2008 at 10:09 pm

    A taxcut will fix this.

  22. 22.

    John Cole

    March 6, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    Silly John. The Invisible Hand will straighten all of this out in no time. Just give the Hand a chance! It fixes every injustice, every imbalance.

    The invisible hand is pretty clearly too busy giving the American public and taxpayers a reacharound.

  23. 23.

    Dennis - SGMM

    March 6, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    Anyone else remember when those “foreign companies” in Britain and France (Some of whom had actually built the stuff in Iraq in the first place) were kept from bidding on any of the reconstruction work?

  24. 24.

    chopper

    March 6, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    jesus, so this was the ‘social security reform’ bush was talking about back in the day. shit, i had no idea.

  25. 25.

    jake

    March 6, 2008 at 10:15 pm

    The invisible hand is pretty clearly too busy giving the American public and taxpayers a reacharound.

    Au Contraire mon ami. The invisible hand is too selfish to provide a reacharound. The invisible hand picks your pocket as it forces your pants down.

  26. 26.

    Dug Jay

    March 6, 2008 at 10:15 pm

    There is absolutely nothing illegal about the arrangement as described in the post. The practice has been employed by numerous other companies under circumstances in which the subject employees are working exclusively overseas. In the typical situation, the employee is receiving a wage/salary that is significantly above amounts that would be applicable for similar responsibilities when and if performed in the US. Among other rationales for the higher wage scale is the need to provide income to cover some of the benefits not otherwise available to them due to their offshore employment.

  27. 27.

    Dennis - SGMM

    March 6, 2008 at 10:18 pm

    Dug Jay Says:

    I’d just like to say that I agree with all the positive comments made about pie. It’s a pleasure being around commenters who have their heads on straight and really know what pie is all about.

    There ya’ go.

  28. 28.

    Davebo

    March 6, 2008 at 10:20 pm

    There is absolutely nothing illegal about the arrangement as described in the post. The practice has been employed by numerous other companies under circumstances in which the subject employees are working exclusively overseas. In the typical situation, the employee is receiving a wage/salary that is significantly above amounts that would be applicable for similar responsibilities when and if performed in the US.

    Look Dug, I realize you’re a spoof, and a poor one at that. But seriously.

    Ask yourself this question. Are they paying federal income tax?

    And since they are, why are they immune to FICA/FUTA/SUTA requirements?

    As to higher income due to environment, we already cap those contributions.

  29. 29.

    Tax Analyst

    March 6, 2008 at 10:21 pm

    Wow! I find this particularly grating considering my line of work.

    I wonder what type of Tax Document, if any, was issued to these employees? Employees SHOULD get a W-2 wages statement. It is possible KBR issued Form 1099-Miscellaneous with the income shown in box 7 as “Non-employee compensation”. This is usually given to Independent Contractor’s and means that person must file a Schedule C to declare Self-Employment income and expense, and also pay, in effect, both the employee and employer share of Social Security & Medicare Taxes (less 7.65% of the total of that computation with the Social Security portion capping out after $97,500 in Net SE Earnings) on top of whatever Federal Income Tax they will end up owing.

    I’m guessing that KBR did not ask these folks to complete a W-4 when they started working for them. FYI – that’s a tip-off the company is going to play some games in reporting your income, because employer’s are required to get this form from every employee so they can take out the proper amount of Federal Income Tax withholding from that person’s gross wages each pay period.

    So let’s see…KBR is skipping out on their share of that expense and dumping it on the employees. So while KBR is skipping OUT they are also “Doubling-Down” the employee by on those taxes AND slipping the big stiffy to the American Taxpayer – again in the “Large-size, Double-Dose” quantity…reaping the largese of American $$ Defense Contracts while again skipping out on U.S. Income Tax. Wanna bet this $16 billion income is not/was not included in their U.S.Form 1120, Corporate Income Tax Return?

    This may also be a dodge to avoid possibly allowing these employees the opportunity to file an SS-8 with the IRS asking for a determination as to whether the company should have to re-classify 1099-Misc recipients as W-2 Wage earner’s instead.

    I don’t know if this is technically “illegal”, but it’s clearly and gallingly wrong on every imaginable level.

    Wanna bet we don’t hear Peep One from all those “Law & Order” Conservatives about this? Hell, no…they’ll probably propose giving KBR a Medal of Freedom for this.

    Here’s another “Technical” term for you: FUCK THESE BASTARDS.

    One final note – These employees MAY qualify for exclusion of up to $85,700 income from Federal Income Taxes if they meet the requirements for either the Bona Fide Residence or Physical Presence Tests of Form 2555, which allows Foreign Earned Income to be excluded from Income Tax. They should either go to the irs.gov Website or consult a Professional Income Tax Preparer for further information. Not that many Tax Preparer are fully conversant with Form 2555, so you might want to inquire if they have done that type of filing before you have them do it. It is initially fairly difficult to fully grasp.

  30. 30.

    Dug Jay

    March 6, 2008 at 10:23 pm

    In my earlier comment, I should have noted that there are bipartisan moves underway in the Congress to eliminate this prctice by making it illegal.

    Also, I note that the dimwitted Dennis – SGMM has had another brain fart.

  31. 31.

    Ted

    March 6, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    Au Contraire mon ami. The invisible hand is too selfish to provide a reacharound. The invisible hand picks your pocket as it forces your pants down.

    I dunno. Maybe the $600 we’re all getting to cure our economic problems is supposed to be the reacharound.

  32. 32.

    Keith

    March 6, 2008 at 10:33 pm

    The invisible hand is pretty clearly too busy giving the American public and taxpayers a reacharound.

    More like it’s sticking itself up the American ass for a prostate massage.

  33. 33.

    The Other Steve

    March 6, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    There is absolutely nothing illegal about the arrangement as described in the post.

    There is absolutely nothing illegal about the US Government canceling all of their contracts tomorrow, either.

  34. 34.

    The Other Steve

    March 6, 2008 at 10:43 pm

    More like it’s sticking itself up the American ass for a prostate massage.

    Technically a doctor is only doing that for your health and well being.

    That doesn’t seem to be KBR’s motive here.

  35. 35.

    Dennis - SGMM

    March 6, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    Technically a doctor is only doing that for your health and well being.

    That doesn’t seem to be KBR’s motive here.

    The fact that they have both hands on our shoulders during the massage is the tipoff.

  36. 36.

    Dug Jay

    March 6, 2008 at 10:58 pm

    There is absolutely nothing illegal about the US Government canceling all of their contracts tomorrow, either.

    I very much doubt that is true, and for sure it’s certainly not something that could be done without incurring a huge financial penalty by the government; aditionally, the infrastructure providing numerous services to the 160 thousand American troops there could not be promptly replaced without imposing substantial danger and inconvenience to the troops, as well as the Iraqis. I recognize that some here may not worry too much about increased danger to the soldiers.

    It is also worth noting that this arrangement doesn’t translate into additional profits to KBR since they are reimbursed for thier incurred costs. In other words, the S/S and Medicare taxes not paid by the contractors translates to lower cost reimbursemnt to them and therefore lower costs to the government. The government is out, however, for the payroll and other related taxes not paid by the contractor employees.

  37. 37.

    Phil

    March 6, 2008 at 10:58 pm

    Wow John, ever time I can’t think you can stoop any lower, you keep digging. First Communist mass murderer adulation at a campaign center for a major Democratic candidate was not worthy of notice. And

    Now you can’t even outright condemn DOMESTIC TERRORISM by the Left without resorting to some stupid comment about the Right. Say what you will about who supports the troops, but you don’t see conservatives blowing up military recruiting stations. And you never will either you fucking asshole.

    I’m really not sure how someone who claimed to be conservative at one point devolves into a Daily Kos parody, but quite simply, you have devolved into a Daily Kos parody John.

    Stay classy John. Stay classy.

    Pathetic. Just pathetic.

  38. 38.

    dslak

    March 6, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    Phil must be reading some other blog, one where some guy named John is talking about domestic terrorism. It sure isn’t this one.

  39. 39.

    Phil

    March 6, 2008 at 11:04 pm

    More from Obama’s buddy John. There’s plenty more where this came from. And you can be damn sure, this will ALL come out during the general election.

    “I don’t regret setting bombs,” Ayers was quoted in the opening line of the Times profile; “I feel we didn’t do enough.” In 1969, Ayers and his wife convened a “War Council” in Flint Michigan, whose purpose was to launch a military front inside the United States with the purpose of helping Third World revolutionaries conquer and destroy it. Taking charge of the podium, dressed in high-heeled boots and a leather mini-skirt – her signature uniform – Dorhn incited the assembled radicals to join the war against “Amerikkka” and create chaos and destruction in the “belly of the beast.”

  40. 40.

    dslak

    March 6, 2008 at 11:07 pm

    JWWW must be hitting the sauce again.

  41. 41.

    Dennis - SGMM

    March 6, 2008 at 11:07 pm

    How can we begin to make sense of Phil’s comments when all that he posts are things like:

    Phil Says:

    Pies suck!

    Ha ha, I’m joking, of course. Pies RULE!!

  42. 42.

    scrutinizer

    March 6, 2008 at 11:10 pm

    “I don’t regret setting bombs,” Ayers was quoted in the opening line of the Times profile; “I feel we didn’t do enough.” In 1969, Ayers and his wife convened a “War Council” in Flint Michigan, whose purpose was to launch a military front inside the United States with the purpose of helping Third World revolutionaries conquer and destroy it. Taking charge of the podium, dressed in high-heeled boots and a leather mini-skirt – her signature uniform – Dorhn incited the assembled radicals to join the war against “Amerikkka” and create chaos and destruction in the “belly of the beast.”

    Venceremos, baby.

    Better stock up on guns and Cheetos, man, and build a bunker in the basement. ‘Cause, Phil, babe, it doesn’t take a Weatherman…”

  43. 43.

    mrmobi

    March 6, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    Note to Phil: do not take acid just before posting.

  44. 44.

    Phil

    March 6, 2008 at 11:18 pm

    Well John, you must be very proud that your readership seems to take domestic terrorism and the bombing of military recruitment centers lightly.

    Again, stay classy John. Stay classy.

  45. 45.

    John Cole

    March 6, 2008 at 11:25 pm

    Anyone know wtf Phil is talking about?

  46. 46.

    dslak

    March 6, 2008 at 11:28 pm

    Anyone know wtf Phil is talking about?

    I can tell you one person who doesn’t know, and that’s Phil.

  47. 47.

    Ted

    March 6, 2008 at 11:33 pm

    Hey John? Stay classy. Stay classy John. Stay classy.

    Stay classy. Classy. Classy. Stay classy.

    Stay classy.

  48. 48.

    Ted

    March 6, 2008 at 11:36 pm

    Anyone know wtf Phil is talking about?

    I just want some of whatever he’s smoking. Or dropping. Whatever.

  49. 49.

    scarshapedstar

    March 6, 2008 at 11:51 pm

    Has there ever been a benevolent coup d’etat?

  50. 50.

    Delia

    March 6, 2008 at 11:53 pm

    There is absolutely nothing illegal about the arrangement as described in the post. The practice has been employed by numerous other companies under circumstances in which the subject employees are working exclusively overseas. In the typical situation, the employee is receiving a wage/salary that is significantly above amounts that would be applicable for similar responsibilities when and if performed in the US. Among other rationales for the higher wage scale is the need to provide income to cover some of the benefits not otherwise available to them due to their offshore employment.

    See, it’s all OK if you’re wearing your flag lapel pin.

  51. 51.

    scarshapedstar

    March 6, 2008 at 11:58 pm

    I mean, seriously. “Drive it like you stole it”. I honestly believe that Bush didn’t think he would make it through his first term; he was supposed to be a quick smash-and-grab, you know, let Ken Lay off the hook, before people noticed that his handlers stole the election and he was a fucking idiot and he was forced to resign out of shame. The political equivalent of setting the stolen car on fire in the ditch and fleeing with the $20 you found in the glove compartment.

    Instead, thanks to 9/11, he’s been on a joyride for over 200,000 miles, and it ain’t over yet.

    Funny how that works.

  52. 52.

    chopper

    March 7, 2008 at 12:05 am

    Has there ever been a benevolent coup d’etat?

    it was a bloodless coup. all smothering.

  53. 53.

    Silver Owl

    March 7, 2008 at 12:19 am

    ThePanzer said it all. Expect a lot of stupid fucking excuses for KBR.

  54. 54.

    Gene Morrison

    March 7, 2008 at 12:41 am

    I think we need a new train of thought……

  55. 55.

    rawshark

    March 7, 2008 at 12:44 am

    It’s not that they do it it’s that they will get away with it.

  56. 56.

    TenguPhule

    March 7, 2008 at 12:53 am

    The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars.

    Shorter Pentagon: Fuck the Civilians. We got our pensions.

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

    Consider Republicans preemptively guilty until proven otherwise.

  57. 57.

    Gene Morrison

    March 7, 2008 at 12:55 am

    Okay, I admit, I am impatient.

    Well, I have to say I have not read any of the above comments, but considering the time, that’s okay.

    I just wanted to say living in San Diego and voting on Feb 5th I have already had my “say” (vote) in this year’s primary. I understand why it is indeed such a race. I know that either of the Democratic Candidate will win the general in November. So the Presidency is being considered now, and that is why such attention is being paid to the outcome.

    But I just don’t feel the ethusiam. I just see a whole buttload of crap to deal with. Bunches left over from the W admin. I don’t feel that it can be cleaned up in only four years; half of which will have to be spent scouring.

    How is it going to be cleaned up??!!

    -Gene

    But I haven’t experienced any Barack-O-Mania. Or whatever you kids are calling it now. I just don’t get it. Maybe it is because I don’t watch t.v. I just watch what the kids are watching: KPBS and noggin; and the only radio I listen to is Jazz 88. But they have no commercials so I wouldn’t hear about the campaigns.

  58. 58.

    TenguPhule

    March 7, 2008 at 12:55 am

    “I don’t regret setting bombs,” Ayers was quoted in the opening line of the Times profile; “I feel we didn’t do enough.”

    Indeed, he should have waited a few decades until the Republican Convention was in town.

  59. 59.

    Andrew

    March 7, 2008 at 1:11 am

    It’s Hola Fruta time!!!

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    March 7, 2008 at 1:14 am

    It is also worth noting that this arrangement doesn’t translate into additional profits to KBR since they are reimbursed for thier incurred costs. In other words, the S/S and Medicare taxes not paid by the contractors translates to lower cost reimbursemnt to them and therefore lower costs to the government. The government is out, however, for the payroll and other related taxes not paid by the contractor employees.

    I’ve got $10 here, Dug Jay, that says KBR did indeed get reimbursed on the SS and Medi they didn’t pay in the first place. Hell, knowing these people, I’ve got another $5 that says they dummied up to double or triple the actual number of people they weren’t paying payroll taxes on to bump up their contract reimbursement just that much more.

    They steal food out of soldier’s mouths to get big screen tvs for themselves, so nothing really surprises me anymore.

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    March 7, 2008 at 1:16 am

    Say what you will about who supports the troops, but you don’t see conservatives blowing up military recruiting stations. And you never will either you fucking asshole….Until they actually catch the guy in which case Phil is going to be eating one big turdfilled crow sandwhich with a side order of feet

    Corrected.

  62. 62.

    TenguPhule

    March 7, 2008 at 1:17 am

    But if nobody paid their taxes, than where does KBR think the money would come from?

    DugJ, your spoof has been caught.

  63. 63.

    Chris Huston

    March 7, 2008 at 1:37 am

    From cradle to grave.

    I didn’t think about this till just now but the BR of the KBR is Brown & Root, as in the company that first became successful when it gave Lyndon Johnson massive illegal campaign contributions during his US House run in exchange for large construction projects.

    Brown & Root practically wrote the book on soft money and graft. and over 50 years later, with a few name changes and such, they are back at it.

  64. 64.

    Asti

    March 7, 2008 at 2:23 am

    Phil drives around with one of those big fancy W stickers on his back window of his SUV, and he’s loud and proud… and very much afraid.

    Sucks to be him!

  65. 65.

    Martin

    March 7, 2008 at 2:29 am

    Anyone know wtf Phil is talking about?

    We didn’t adequately say that the dirty fucking liberal bike-riding hippies wanted the terrorists to win.

    But when I blamed it on conservatives and called the military ‘commies’, I made sure to stick my flag pin into the comment so y’all knew I was patriotic. And you owe me $350 for a new monitor.

  66. 66.

    jake

    March 7, 2008 at 6:14 am

    Consider Republicans preemptively guilty until proven otherwise.

    Why not, that’s their attitude towards everyone else.

    I’m guessing that KBR did not ask these folks to complete a W-4 when they started working for them.

    Great analysis, just a question: If KBR (through one of its shells) had the e/ees fill out W4s, would that be legal?

  67. 67.

    Xenos

    March 7, 2008 at 6:26 am

    That seems to be Phil’s analysis. Since the mad bicycle bomber was on a a bicycle, he must have been a commie.

    Either that or the mansions that could not be sold in Seattle that were burned down were torched by EarthFirster commies because god knows a developer would never burn down his development in order to collect on the insurance, no, never happens.

    So condemn those lefties, boys, because no-one is a spoof to the NSA, and they have archived us all.

  68. 68.

    jake

    March 7, 2008 at 6:57 am

    Anyone know wtf Phil is talking about?

    Pie!

    SA2SQ Vol. XLV

  69. 69.

    slippy hussein toad

    March 7, 2008 at 8:21 am

    Phil Says:

    Well John, you must be very proud that your readership seems to take domestic terrorism and the bombing of military recruitment centers lightly.

    Again, stay classy John. Stay classy.

    Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil. It is you we are taking lightly, not the off-topic events upon which you report. I’m unambiguously certain that a bombing of any kind is a terrible thing, and to be roundly condemned. However, you’re trying to thread-jack a conversation about a completely different, reprehensible type of crime that is being undertaken in the name of “fighting” terrorism.

    If you want to rant, rave, and yammer about how this bombing which you reference is a bad thing, I’m sure you can spend about 2 seconds getting a blogspot account and you’ll be all set up. None of us will be over there reading it, though, because I’m certain your first statement after reporting on the bombing will be to blame it on Teh Liberulz.

  70. 70.

    Stealthbadger

    March 7, 2008 at 8:29 am

    The first thing I thought of with the housefires was “Hm, someone has been paying attention to the collapse of the housing bubble and wants out NOW.”

    The first thing I thought about the recruitment center bombings was “I seem to remember a non-existent white van everyone was frothing at the mouth about during the snipings in the DC area.”

    And regarding the original post: “If Halliburton is willing to cover up literal rape, then financial shenanigans must be a no-brainer for KBR.”

  71. 71.

    Conservatively Liberal

    March 7, 2008 at 8:47 am

    The fact that they have both hands on our shoulders during the massage is the tipoff.

    I told my doc the two hands joke during a physical, and he just about choked to death laughing. He is a pretty straight laced person and I can believe that he had never heard it before. Man, he thought that was funny!

    Another Bu$hCo contributor walks away with the cash, so what is new? Nothing will happen and everyone will get away with it, so why sweat it? Criminality is the in thing now, being honest and fair is so outdated. Impeachment is off of the table, our justice system is broken and our government is a total clusterfuck.

    But people like Phil defend our country like it has never made a single mistake (except when a Democrat causes it). What a fucking nuthouse our country has become, it is a total embarrassment.

    KBR is just another drop in an already overflowing barrel. Nobody will notice or do anything about it. Just another day in Amerika.

  72. 72.

    Dork

    March 7, 2008 at 8:49 am

    This is horrible news for Democrats.

  73. 73.

    Dug Jay

    March 7, 2008 at 8:52 am

    TenguPhule Says:

    “I don’t regret setting bombs,” Ayers was quoted in the opening line of the Times profile; “I feel we didn’t do enough.”

    Indeed, he should have waited a few decades until the Republican Convention was in town.
    March 7th, 2008 at 12:55 am

    Hmmm. Probably should be investigated.

  74. 74.

    Bob In Pacifica

    March 7, 2008 at 8:59 am

    Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ that I pay…

  75. 75.

    RSA

    March 7, 2008 at 9:02 am

    Say what you will about who supports the troops, but you don’t see conservatives blowing up military recruiting stations.

    Why bomb recruiting stations when federal buildings are so easy to find?

  76. 76.

    4tehlulz

    March 7, 2008 at 9:16 am

    Phil should show his solidarity with the recruiters by enlisting.

  77. 77.

    Xenos

    March 7, 2008 at 9:43 am

    At least Phil could be kind enough to offer a theory as to why the lefties who bombed the recruiting office also had a beef with the British and Mexican consulates. It is too much work to try to figure out what the wingnut-alleged conspiracy du jour should be.

  78. 78.

    Dennis - SGMM

    March 7, 2008 at 9:46 am

    OT, but why is NASA Wary of Relying on Russia?

    Just a little more Bushco incompetence is all. Turns out that our last Shuttle retires in a year and a half. NASA won’t have a replacement for it until 2015 – at the earliest.
    So, who takes the astronauts back and forth to our multibillion dollar space station for the five or years? Our BFF’s, the Russians.
    Are we paying them for this? Yep.
    Are they already exacting concessions on things like waiving the restrictions on certain kinds of commerce with nations who support the nuclear programs of N. Korea and Iran? You bet!
    How long has Bushco known that this was coming? Since the breakup of the shuttle Columbia in 2003.
    Nonetheless, funding for NASA was kept way below anything that would have allowede them to do something about it. “There were other priorities,” said a Bush apologist. Yeah, like paying KBR billions to fail to accomplish work.
    Whether you’re a believer in manned space exploration (And I’m not) this is another fucking fiasco.

  79. 79.

    TheFountainHead

    March 7, 2008 at 9:53 am

    So, what are the legal ramifications of the American people hiring Google to track all of our taxes and all government spending? Can we do that? What’s to stop us? Do we need guns?

  80. 80.

    Mr Furious

    March 7, 2008 at 9:53 am

    I think Phil was talking about the tenuous links between Obama and the Weather Underground…you know back when he was 8 years old and living in Hawaii or Indonesia…

    At least I think that’s what he’s talking about. I’d ask him, but I don;t think he knows himself.

  81. 81.

    Krista

    March 7, 2008 at 10:02 am

    Now you can’t even outright condemn DOMESTIC TERRORISM by the Left without resorting to some stupid comment about the Right. Say what you will about who supports the troops, but you don’t see conservatives blowing up military recruiting stations.

    Gee…what makes Phil so certain that it was someone on the Left(tm) who did this, and not some intoxicated twerp on a dare?

    What? His own delusions, you say? Well, I suppose that makes sense, then.

    Stay classy, Phil.

    Besides, does it really count as terrorism if the collective response from New York was a shrugging of the shoulders? Poor Phil. New Yorkers have more courage in their little fingers than Phil has in his entire carcass.

  82. 82.

    Dennis - SGMM

    March 7, 2008 at 10:10 am

    I think Phil was talking about the tenuous links between Obama and the Weather Underground…you know back when he was 8 years old and living in Hawaii or Indonesia…

    The Weathermen/Indonesia/Hawaii Nexus of Terror is well know to those with access to the right information. It is a project directed by the Illuminati with the the goal of… What the hell? Black helicopters are landing in my street. Guys with guns are getting out and surrounding the house. Omigod, they’re all wearing Che Guevara T-shirts! I think they want to

  83. 83.

    The Other Steve

    March 7, 2008 at 10:23 am

    Nonetheless, funding for NASA was kept way below anything that would have allowede them to do something about it.

    What on earth are you talking about?

    We’re going to MARS! WOO HOO! We’re going to find out if there is life on MARS!

    We don’t need no stinking shuttle. The shuttle can’t get us to mars.

  84. 84.

    Zifnab

    March 7, 2008 at 10:24 am

    Besides, does it really count as terrorism if the collective response from New York was a shrugging of the shoulders? Poor Phil. New Yorkers have more courage in their little fingers than Phil has in his entire carcass.

    Well, more courage than people in Boston, who regularly shit themselves at Lite-Brit sets.

  85. 85.

    Cassidy

    March 7, 2008 at 10:24 am

    providers of military subcontractors (what civilized people once called ‘mercenaries’)

    Fact lesson again…electricians, cooks, etc…I don’t think civilized people count those as “mercenary” occupations. KBR provides that kind of infrastructure support. They aren’t security or paramilitary.

    Jesus, get your facts straight before you start flinging terms like a chimp with a handful of shit!

  86. 86.

    croatoan

    March 7, 2008 at 10:26 am

    You’d think they’d need to at least go on vacation at some point after the last 7 years of this.

    President Bush has taken well over a year of vacation. Would we be worse off if he were on the job full time?

  87. 87.

    Cassidy

    March 7, 2008 at 10:26 am

    Say what you will about who supports the troops, but you don’t see conservatives blowing up military recruiting stations.

    No instead they just send us to fight in wars that they themselves are too chickenshit to fight in. Do me a favor, peel your yellow magnet off the SUV, cuz supporting the troops means not actively supporting us getting whacked for nothing.

  88. 88.

    TheFountainHead

    March 7, 2008 at 10:45 am

    And Cassidy earns a few points back. Good to see that not all of those of a conservative bent have gone over the edge.

  89. 89.

    Paul L.

    March 7, 2008 at 10:46 am

    Dodging your taxes:

    How progressive of them.

  90. 90.

    Svensker

    March 7, 2008 at 10:47 am

    Nonetheless, funding for NASA was kept way below anything that would have allowed them to do something about it. “There were other priorities,” said a Bush apologist.

    Haven’t we heard that line before? Hmmmm, let me think….

  91. 91.

    Tsulagi

    March 7, 2008 at 11:03 am

    Anyone know wtf Phil is talking about?

    Better than even money says he doesn’t either.

    Phil just came to strike his PP (Patriot Pose) and hope it would be seen. Cue Condi: “No one could ever have imagined, especially me, how many Republican manly men would be doing PPs.”

  92. 92.

    jcricket

    March 7, 2008 at 11:03 am

    We’re going to MARS! WOO HOO! We’re going to find out if there is life on MARS!

    One-way ticket to Mars for the Bush admin sounds about right to me. They can explore new ways to rape a planet there. As long as we cut off communications, I’m fine with this plan.

  93. 93.

    Nikki

    March 7, 2008 at 11:16 am

    How progressive of them.

    Naw. It’s “how conservative of Franken.”

  94. 94.

    tBone

    March 7, 2008 at 11:23 am

    No instead they just send us to fight in wars that they themselves are too chickenshit to fight in. Do me a favor, peel your yellow magnet off the SUV, cuz supporting the troops means not actively supporting us getting whacked for nothing.

    You’re asking for a no-holds-barred countertop inspection with that kind of talk. Why do you hate America?

  95. 95.

    TenguPhule

    March 7, 2008 at 11:46 am

    KBR provides that kind of infrastructure support. They aren’t security or paramilitary.

    No, they’re just bloody thieves who don’t deliver half of what they bill for.

  96. 96.

    Z

    March 7, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    Shorter Phil: So what if the Republicans routinely engage in criminal behavior, the Democrats are WORSE!

  97. 97.

    slippy hussein toad

    March 7, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Shorter Phil: So what if the Republicans routinely engage in criminal behavior, the Democrats are WORSE!

    Z, I think that’s all he was here for, since he fucked himself off after failing to jack the thread. I see this office somewhere in Greater Wingnuttia where five or six greasy guys with a million user IDs run all over the internet trying to confuse people when someone overturns a stone and sees all the Republican cockroaches scurrying off into the brambles — it’s the job of the Phils of the world to rush in and point and scream “LOOK! HE’S ON FIRE!”

  98. 98.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    March 7, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    Naw. It’s “how conservative of Franken.”

    Silly PaulL. Don’t you know the Bizarro Juice Rules?

    1) When a Republican does something wrong, it’s because he is an evil, unpatriotic hypocrite. When a Democrat does something wrong, he is pre-forgiven for just “doing what the Republicans do.” E.g., “Franken For Senate!” Or, “Hillary’s just doing to Obama [or vice versa] what the Evil GOP Smear Machine will do to him in the General!”

    2) Bush invented tax havens on Inauguration Day, 2001. Really. Unheard of during the Clinton Years. Google it, people!!

    3) Kellogg Brown & Root is somehow a Republican. Not only that, I read here that it is actually a branch of the Bush Administration! All evidence to the contrary is planted by Republicans and probably human-alien hybrids.

    You learn something new and fun everyday here!

  99. 99.

    Fledermaus

    March 7, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    The Bush administration is giving special favors to politically connected corporations at the expense of tax payers? That’s unpossible.

    officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving defense dollars.

    Hey I have a job contracted by government. Maybe I should try this argument out this April

  100. 100.

    binzinerator

    March 7, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    You learn something new and fun everyday here!

    Well, I’d disagree with #2 as tax havens existed long before the Clinton years, but since tax havens are created as a means for corporations and the wealthy to avoid paying their share, if you replaced “Bush” with “Republicans” it would stand as corrrect.

    But even so, 2 outta 3 is pretty darn good!

    Dammit eel, even though you’re still retarded about history you’re way smarter than I thought you were! And to think I used to look down my nose at you for your ignorance.

    Learn something new everyday, yes indeedy!

  101. 101.

    Thepanzer

    March 7, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    Zifnab: Well, more courage than people in Boston, who regularly shit themselves at Lite-Brit sets.

    I laughed my ass off at this. I live in Boston and it’s embarrassing to watch our PD go all SWAT over a kid wearing a circuit board into an airport or have a lite-brite hanging under a bridge. Of course the extra pathetic creamy filling is how proud they act during the press conferences about the big “bust” and how they caught the scary college terrorists.

    I’m surprised we haven’t started “Friends don’t let friends play with lite-brites” public service announcements yet.

  102. 102.

    Adam

    March 7, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    I think Phil was talking about the tenuous links between Obama and the Weather Underground…you know back when he was 8 years old and living in Hawaii or Indonesia…

    Phil was sort of making a Wingnut Blend of “Obama Is One Of The Weathermen” story and the “OMG An Obama Houston Office Has A Che Guevara Flag COMMIES” story. That was what I got out of it.

    Mmmm, fresh Wingnut Blend.

  103. 103.

    Adam

    March 7, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    And on initial read, I thought the “DOMESTIC TERRORISM by the Left” comment was about the recent bombing, but… yeah, I got nothing on that one.

  104. 104.

    r€nato

    March 7, 2008 at 4:41 pm

    Say what you will about who supports the troops, but you don’t see conservatives blowing up military recruiting stations.

    Indeed, they don’t bother with such trifles. Instead they go for the big kill by blowing up federal office buildings, like Tim McVeigh.

  105. 105.

    r€nato

    March 7, 2008 at 4:50 pm

    If I were Dug Jay, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that the recruiting office bomber was on Teh Left just because he was protesting the war. After all, there are quite a few Ron Paul supporters who think this war is every bit the travesty that most Democrats do.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. The Bush Bust-Out, Cont’d « The Opinion Mill says:
    March 7, 2008 at 8:12 am

    […] March 7, 2008 Thanks to John Cole, I see that while the Republicans try to gin up outrage over whether Barack Obama wears a flag pin on his lapel, one of their favorite politically connected firms, Kellogg Brown & Root, is hard at work patriotically vampirizing the U.S. economy: More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq – including about 10,500 Americans – are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands. […]

  2. New Details of KBR’s War Profiteering at Tax Payer Expense says:
    March 7, 2008 at 11:54 am

    […] Over at Balloon Juice, John Cole quotes one of his commenters response to this story:  This is fucking ridiculous. You literally cannot go one fucking day without hearing about someone tied to the Bush administration doing something patently fucking evil, borderline illegal, or screwing the public. You’d think they’d need to at least go on vacation at some point after the last 7 years of this. It’s got to be hard work finding something reprehensible to be part of every single day. […]

  3. Smart Remarks » Blog Archive » Artless dodgers says:
    March 7, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    […] Via John Cole, who notes that patriotism means dodging your taxes: Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation’s top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven. … […]

  4. From Pine View Farm » Unemployment Compensation says:
    March 8, 2008 at 6:14 pm

    […] John Cole.   […]

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