Halliburton Bailing Out
 

ABC news just said Halliburton is moving their corporate headquarters to Dubai, United Arab Emirates........for the tax break.:eek:
Do you think they've decided they've worn out their welcome. There might be a backlash and congressional hearings on the billions they have sucked from the coffers (OUR coffers) with Cheney's blessing...no, assistance.
Or maybe they feel the US is tapped so it's greener pastures in UAE.
This stinks to high heaven.
Do you suppose they are owned by Bin Laden? That's about the only thing that could surprise me now.

It is becoming more common for large companies to move their headquarters to some tax haven O/S. It is happening down here too. Once a company becomes multinational, they do not feel the same attachment to their homeland that they used to. They always give tax breaks as one of the main reasons, and that is probably correct. When you consider that these large corporations are making billions of dollars in profits, the lower tax can amount to a large slice of money.

Gee. All the sudden that controversial move to let a Dubai firm run security at American ports starts making sense.

Whatever happened to the Cayman Is?

Smart. Very smart.

And I thought I was a cynic...

It's interesting how people just hate change.

Maybe Saudi Arabia are about to become your new allies! They'll be better use to you than us Aussies anyway. :)

It's getting harder and harder for big corporations to make ends meet in the USA these days. Why, on the fourteenth of the month there's hardley enough money left over from their corporate welfare check to give the CEO a decent bonus.

You people make me sick, all you think about is yourselves. Do you have any idea what it costs to run a fleet of private jets?

Well, yeah. That, and to make it much more difficult for prosecutors to get their hands on records and paper trails.

Let's see here...Halliburton makes their income off of our taxes...so they're leaving the US to save money on taxes. Makes perfect sense. After all, if Halliburton has to pay taxes on money that comes from taxes, isn't that like them paying themselves? And isn't that the same as a conflict of interest?

So, to summarize, Halliburton is leaving the US in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

Under that reasoning, if the US is still Halliburton's biggest client, does that mean that they'll be taking from the US taxpayers but giving nothing back?

Hmmmm...that's gotta suck!

That's precisely my point, they've been sucking billions out of the US treasury with Cheneys help. That puts them in a different category than just another multinational corporation.
It sucks big time.:mad:

@Kitsune. I think you're spot on. You know as slothy as they are, the GAO will get around to them eventually.

This is not just about the tax break, this is about escaping accountability.

Free Entreprise, right?
 

U.A.E. has no extradition treaty with the US.

I was just wondering about that.

Hey Bruce, I think I just found your pallets of missing dollars from Iraq...

*sigh* that's about all I can say about any of that.. not really surprised though. shitty move on Haliburtons part. U S A WOOOO!!!!... now where's my passport?

Say what you will about Halliburton, their upper management is smart. They know the wind direction is changing, and changing seriously. They're getting out before they're all tried for treason as war profiteers.

The people who count have made their nut; they'll live in extreme comfort for the rest of their lives. I imagine Cheney will have some pretty nice perks once he's been pardoned by Bush when he leaves office.

What? You say Cheney hasn't been charged with anything yet, so what's to pardon? Think of it as political immunization.

So today on the news, Haliburton's statement was that they're definitely staying in the US, staying in Houston. They have no intention of leaving the country and they're definitely not taking any tax breaks by moving.

So, let's say I take them at their word on this, and they're *not* going to evade/shelter/whatever any of the corporate taxes due to Uncle Sam by moving the corporate HQ, and the CEO to UAE. Does that mean as a shareholder, I have an actionable cause for dereliction of their fiduciary duty by failing to take advantage of the more favorable tax (none, in designated zones) structure of UAE?

Somebody's getting screwed, the IRS or the stockholders, I wonder which one.

Maybe they're just opening a branch office so that they can be closer to their primary markets?

It looks to me like Halliburton is betting on peace. They are selling their interest in KBR, which is the sector that provides infrastructure and government sorta stuff, and thus returning to be just an oil construction services company. Thus they want to be where the oil is. And also, the US Gov won't be a customer, just the big oil concerns.

and I'm not saying it's not a good business decision.. I just think overall it's kinda crappy. and yeah, call me skeptical but methinks it's just a pre-post election avoidal (if that's a word) of potential criminal charges.

Anyone remember the MoHo project? Any guess as to what company got the creme from that tax paid deal?
"There was a project to drill through the Earth's crust - the Moho project. This developed into the Deep-Sea Drilling Project and the modern Ocean drilling Project."

KBR is a very good company. Used thier services for years. No one can do it better. As far a Haliburton leaving, I guess it is in thier right. And it is our right to remove any and all tax breaks they would get. Now that they may not be moving I wonder what pepole gave them as an incentive to stay. Backdoor deal???

The question is could any other company do as well as KBR for a lot less money and why they charged the government billions for services NOT rendered.

Oh, and if you read the thread you'd know they are not leaving. I lied.

I have heard this argument a million times. After years on active duty I can tell you one thing. At the time of the deployment, no company, absolutely no company had the ablity, capacity, infrastructure, and history to provide us with what we needed to go to war, of for any other deployment for that matter. Historically I think you can look at the system over the years, and I mean 20 or so, and judge the way this situation got to where it is now, meaning that how did one company so totally domintate this market. Well guess what, when troops need support neither I or anyone else really gives a crap about how or where it comes from, as long is it is there when you need it and on time in running order. After that it just doesn't matter who is doing the supplying. Understand?

Well I worked for B&R years ago. If you think those price fixing sobs are the cream of the crop, you need to do a little back ground work. Before Veitnam b & r wasn't even in the top 500 cos world wide. But was soon number 3 IIRC. Wonder who had an ass full of stock?
Right Kellog and Brown and root are great. No offence Merc., But I worked construction almost all over the world. IMHO. bb
OOOps I forgot to put Steve Becthel in that bunch.

All I know is that they were there when we needed them, provided the needs, food, roof, supplies, power, etc... and they delivered, every time. How they paid workers, how they operated thier board room, how they paid thier share holders, really not a damm bit of that mattered. None of it.

As an aside, Were you paying the bill?

Absolutely, every time they gave me a pay check they took out the money to pay for it, in taxes.

Of course he forgets to mention that the Pentagon also had same people who could have done it. What KBR provided is materials necessary for a long term occupation. Nobody wants to touch that issue because we were not there to take over the country, were we? Only Rush Limbaugh tells you how to think. Project for a New American Century was a little more honest. Note the boldface word is theirs: To protect our oil.

Huh. That's a funny thing to say, for someone who's apparently so concerned about how their tax dollars are being spent.

Really? Who? KBR was at nearly every deployment I went on in the last 8 years of my AD. They were doing it long before I ever hit the field, for years.

Protect who's oil? the oil in Texas?

Oh, I am concerned. Concerned that it not be spent on non-citizens who are here in the US illegally. For troops on deployment it would be an extremely appropriate use of funds. Come to think of it we have been doing that since the birth of the nation.

Playing dumb works for you.

You want me to belive your conspiracy theory? No thanks.

How can that be, when income tax wasn't imposed until the Civil War? Even then, the average American didn't really pay any until the 20th century.

A government contractor wasting funds on overly-high salaries and perks doesn't count as spending for troops on deployment--but you know that, since you avoided the comment.

Salaries and perks are the least of the problems. (last 3 links are pdf)

How are you qualified to make that generalization? How the fuck do you know what companies not given a chance would or wouldn't do?
I suggest you ask Ike.
The problem is not the troops getting supplied, it's the taxpayers getting fucked. Overcharging on no-bid contracts, and charging for supplies and services not delivered. Understand?

Why of course I understand. And the govenment has gone after KBR and Haliburton for those over charges.

Some of the ones they can prove, but as the years drag by, yes it will take years, the evidence disappears. Tell you what, give me say 5 or 10 billion and demand it back in 7 or 8 years, I'll cooperate fully, to the penny, no problemo.

Look, don't think I don't understand your point. Decisions were made in haste no doubt. But here is the deal. And let me preface this with a disclaimer, I am only one guy, one soldier, who had this experience, KBR was the BEST and ONLY pre-positioned company to make this all happen. They have been doing it for years. I experienced it. Their support is real, tangible, effective. So not to discount all of the critical statements, because there is merit to them, no one and absolutely no one could have done the job they did. Opportunist companies sprung up overnight to take advantage of the needs required by the military, but guess what, experience and history were more important than fair play at this juncture. They had the ability, the contacts, the supply trains, the wherewithal, the experience, the list goes on, to deliver to the boots on the ground. And for that I am grateful. No disrespect to you personally but fuck everyone else who doesn't get it. I am tired of the bull shit. Ok, lets go back and get what they owe the taxpayer, fuck them, take them to court, whatever... But quit the sniping about how or why they were chosen in the first place. IMHO it had very little to do with Cheney or any other idiot. The defense industry is a revolving door of insiders, get over it already.

I don't think the two jive... a contract and how much they pay their employees are not connected.
Of course IF they are the lowest bidder. :eyebrow:

They are indeed connected--by billable (and "billable") hours, and employees who are hired to work on specific contracts.

Heh. A revolving door of insiders, except Cheney?

No, the point is that they ALL are insiders, including Cheney.

And he had nothing to do with their selection and sweetheart deal?

Didn't you hear him? Get over it already! What is it with you people?

And what's the difference. Better go back and read a little practical history of how they got to where they are today. Their history is why they got the deals. As I said before I could give a rats ass about the connection to Cheney. That relationship is one of pure amusement and fun for the lefties to jab at, who cares. Certainly not the people on the ground who were getting what they needed from them to do the job.

Those lefties will poke fun at anything as long as they know it will hurt the troops.

So first you say he didn't do it, and now you say who cares if he did. Par for the course. Deny deny deny, oops! Who cares, it's old news now.

IMHO Cheney as VP had nothing to do with it and I said I couldn't give a shit if he did. Matters not.

When schoolchildren have a true/false quiz, and they try to write something that looks equally like a T and an F,
the teacher probably just marks it wrong because she can't tell what it's supposed to be (there is no "both") ...

There is no Dana, only Zuul.....

Not in politics and certainly not in war. Things in your world may be black and white, they are not everywhere else.

Wrong. My point was regarding statements that deliberately look a little like a T and a little like an F, but don't actually commit to either.

What ever. Not really important in the greater scheme of things.

That's cute. Now the answer to the question is: it doesn't matter. (That's not an answer either!)

Ok, if it makes you feel all better and squishy on the inside, go for it. I will stick to reality.

That doesn't even make sense. Or, you haven't explained it very well.

Ok, let's try this tact. You go.

You explain to me why any of this matters. Specifically tell me why Cheney and any connection to KBR/Halliburton matters. And please specifically list any and all companies that you can name that were immediately available and in a position to do the job that KBR/Halliburton did at the time in Sept. 9/11.

Go.