New Department of Commerce secretary (moved from ATSNN), page 1

In another move to reward political backers, the President of the U.S. chose a Halliburton executive to head the powerful and important American Department of Commerce. Kellogg Co. is a Halliburton subsidiary and has been involved in questionable contract disputes. In a related story about Kellogg's dubious billing from the Mercury News government auditor recommendations to withhold nearly $90 million in payments was not heeded by the U.S. Army.

news.xinhuanet.com
Bush names new commerce secretary, expects to change economic team

www.chinaview.cn 2004-11-30 05:55:49

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bush on Monday chose Carlos Gutierrez as his new commerce secretary to succeed Donald Evans, who announced his resignation shortly after Bush won reelection early this month.
Gutierrez, chief executive officer of the cereal company Kellogg Co., became the fourth candidate that Bush has nominated for his new cabinet since his successful reelection on Nov. 2. Thenomination needs Senate confirmation.
Terming Gutierrez, 51, "a great American success story," Bush said in a brief statement at the White House that his nominee "hasbeen an effective visionary executive" who "understands the world of business from the first rung on the ladder to the very top."

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

The Bush Whitehouse is embroiled in the contract disputes related to over-billing and questionable charges from Halliburton and its subsidiaries. The Department of Commerce choice of Kellogg (Halliburton subsidiary) CEO must strike some as odd. Kellogg is a major construction arm of Halliburton doing multi-millions of dollars of business in Iraq. Government auditors had recommended large withholdings of monies due to be paid to Kellogg because of improper and dubious practices involved in Iraq. Now that the CEO of Kellogg is to be appointed to head the Department of Commerce one has to wonder what else is to develop.

From the Mercury NewsIn August, a report from the Defense Contract Audit Agency said Halliburton could not provide proper cost justifications for more than $1 billion in charges to the U.S. government. It ``strongly'' urged the Army to withhold some payment from Halliburton because of record-keeping problems.

The URLs below relate to Halliburton construction billing problems

Related News Links:
www.washingtonpost.com
www.nytimes.com
money.cnn.com

[edit on 29-11-2004 by JoeDoaks]