Melder's Musings

Vice President Dick Cheney's lips are moving. Odds are, he's lying.

It's probably no surprise to most readers of this blog, but a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report catches Vice President Dick Cheney in a lie regarding his interest in the Halliburton corporation.

Rather than edit, I re-print to following from a newspaper discussion board. Be sure to click all of the links and see the facts for yourself. Don't forget to download your very own copy of the CRS report.

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About two years ago, Dick Cheney told a national television audience, "[S]ince 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," Cheney said. "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had now for over three years." Even at the time, the claim wasn't true.

A non-partisan congressional report requested by Sen. Frank Lautenberg's (D-N.J.) office showed that Cheney still has substantial financial interests in Halliburton, including lucrative deferred compensation and more than 433,000 stock options. But instead of acknowledging the ties divesting himself from his former company, Cheney denied everything.

Lautenberg, to his enormous credit, has stuck with this story, and issued a report today explaining that the value of Cheney's Halliburton stock options rose in value 3281% in one year.

An analysis released today by the Office of Senator Frank R. Lautenberg reveals that Vice President Cheney's Halliburton stock options have increased in value 3,281 percent in one year. The stock options, which were worth $241,498 one year ago are now valued at $8,165,489.07. In light of the surging value of Vice President Cheney's holdings, Senator Lautenberg reiterated his call for the Vice President to forfeit his continuing financial interest in the Halliburton Co (HAL). Vice President Cheney continues to hold 433,333 Halliburton stock options and receives almost $200,000 a year in deferred salary from Halliburton.

"As Halliburton's fortunes rise, so do the Vice President's, and that is wrong," said Senator Lautenberg. "Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina contracts. It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial ties to Halliburton once and for all."

Given the circumstances, that seems like a reasonable suggestion.

According to the Vice President's Federal Financial Disclosure forms, he holds the following Halliburton stock options:

* 100,000 shares at $54.5000 (vested), expire 12-03-07
* 33,333 shares at $28.1250 (vested), expire 12-02-08
* 300,000 shares at $39.5000 (vested), expire 12-02-09

This continues to be a political problem for Cheney that can be easily resolved. Cheney could simply do what he claims to have already done: sever his ties and remove his financial interests from the company. Considering Halliburton's lucrative government contracts, and the dubious conditions surrounding the deals, this should be a no-brainer for the White House.