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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: redfish who wrote (51550)	7/20/2004 6:21:09 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 89467

He'd better....this GOP getting signature thing is a sick twist to democracy.... Speaking of SICK TWISTS! It doesn't get ANY SICKER than a LIE like this Politics - Reuters Bush: 'I Want to Be the Peace President' By Adam Entous CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - After launching two wars, President Bush (news - web sites) said on Tuesday he wanted to be a "peace president" and took swipes at his Democratic rivals for being lawyers and weak on defense. With polls showing public support for the war in Iraq (news - web sites) in decline, the Republican president cast himself as a reluctant warrior as he campaigned in the battleground state of Iowa against Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) and his running mate, former trial lawyer John Edwards (news - web sites). Bush lost the state in 2000 by only a few thousand votes. "The enemy declared war on us," he told a re-election rally. "Nobody wants to be the war president. I want to be the peace president." Bush has called himself a "war president" in leading the United States in a battle against terrorism brought about by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. "I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind," he said in February. Despite a surge in attacks in Iraq and U.S. warnings that al Qaeda is plotting another major strike, Bush said U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq had already made America safer, and that his re-election would let him finish the job. "For a while we were marching to war. Now we're marching to peace. ... America is a safer place. Four more years and America will be safe and the world will be more peaceful," Bush said. Bush was joined by his twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, and campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said the twins would pair up for campaign appearances away from their father starting Tuesday night in Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Stanzel said the events will be closed to the press. Bush and Kerry are fighting hard in Iowa, which Bush lost to Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) in 2000 by just 4,144 votes, or roughly two votes per precinct. Recent polls give Kerry a narrow lead, but a Kerry aide said the Iowa race and the one in Missouri remain a dead heat. Later on Tuesday, Bush was to attend a re-election rally in Missouri, a state he won by 3 percentage points in 2000. Underscoring its importance to Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) campaigned there on Monday. Bush and Cheney have sought to cast Kerry and Edwards as on the side of trial lawyers, who the president believes are responsible for a flood of personal injury litigation that burdens the courts and is costly to small business. Democrats get campaign contributions from trial lawyers, while many businesses tend to favor the Republicans. "I'm not a lawyer, you'll be happy to hear," Bush said to cheers. "That's the other team. This is the pro-small business team." AAHAHAHAHAHAAA YEAH RIGHT! THOSE TAX CUTS REALLY HELPED US SMALL BUSINESS PEOPLE! IT HELPED US MAKE THE RICH RICHER! He also lashed out at them for not backing an $87 billion funding for the U.S. military presence in Iraq and the country's reconstruction. The two Democrats have said they opposed the funding in opposition to Bush's Iraq policy. Bush campaign officials say they were increasingly upbeat about their chances in Missouri after Kerry reduced his ad spending there ahead of the Democratic presidential convention. But the Kerry campaign said they were not ceding any ground, only conserving resources for later and pouring ad money into other hotly contested states. "Missouri is a very competitive state and we're going to fight for every vote," said Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer. The two-state swing was part of a weeklong offensive by Bush before the Democratic National Convention in Boston starting July 26. (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan)

To: redfish who wrote (51550)	7/21/2004 5:04:53 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Legal net tightens round Halliburton _____________________________ By Matt Daily in Houston July 21, 2004 A US grand jury has subpoenaed Halliburton seeking information about the work of its Cayman Islands subsidiary in Iran, where it is illegal for American companies to operate. The company, formerly headed by the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, denies any US laws have been broken. But the disclosure, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, came as the Houston-based corporation faces a growing number of domestic and international investigations into its operations from Iraq to Nigeria. "We have a Cayman Islands subsidiary with operations in Iran, and other European subsidiaries that manufacture goods destined for Iran and/or render services in Iran," Halliburton's vice-president, Margaret Carriere, acknowledged in the filing. She said the company had received a subpoena this month requesting documents related to the operations. In an ominous sign, Halliburton has also been notified that the investigation, which was initially launched by the Treasury Department in 2001, has now been handed over to the Justice Department. Advertisement Advertisement The oilfield services company said a subpoena was also issued to a former employee as part of a separate investigation into its Iraq contracts. Halliburton's engineering and construction unit KBR, formerly Kellogg Brown & Root, is the subject of investigations over possible overcharging for fuel and food services in Iraq, where it is the largest contractor. Halliburton said it would comply with the subpoena on the Iranian operations, and reiterated it believed its links to Iran through the Cayman Islands unit did not break the law. Legal experts said a loophole in the law allowed US firms to circumvent the sanctions through foreign-based subsidiaries, if their dealings were not directly managed by US citizens or from US soil. The company said in its annual report that revenues from its subsidiary's business in Iran amounted to about $US80 million ($109 million), or 0.5 per cent of total revenue in 2003. Halliburton issued a statement in October 2003 in response to shareholder complaints about its Iranian links, in which it said it had taken steps to isolate its US operations and managers from its work there. Halliburton said its Cayman Islands subsidiary, Halliburton Products & Services Limited, had its headquarters in Dubai and was active only in Iran, where it provided a range of services to the state-run Iranian National Oil Company. Democrat Senator Frank Lautenberg said the investigation into possible sanctions violations should also address the role of Mr Cheney. "The question must be asked: did this possible violation occur between 1995 and 2000 while Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton?" Senator Lautenberg said in a statement. The US first imposed economic sanctions against Iran in 1979 after the Islamic revolution, when student fundamentalists held 52 American hostages for 444 days. Those sanctions were tightened under presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, although some exemptions were granted in 2000. Criminal violations for corporations in violation of the sanctions can range up to $US500,000, with penalties for individuals of up to $US250,000 and 10 years in jail. smh.com.au