Surprise, Halliburton gouged taxpayers

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has released a report that shows Halliburton overcharged taxpayers tens of millions of dollars as part of their $1.2 billion contract to rebuild Iraq's oil fields.

From the Reuters article:

The Pentagon's Project and Contracting Office (PCO) found that Halliburton repeatedly overcharged the government, Waxman said, citing the documents.

PCO put KBR on notice in January 2005 that it could cancel the contract for cause. It lifted the notice six months later, saying KBR demonstrated "adequate" compliance. In January, it exercised one of three one-year options to extend the deal.

In one case, the agency said Halliburton tried to inflate cost estimates by $26 million. In another, it said Halliburton claimed costs for laying concrete pads and footings that the Iraqi Oil Ministry had already installed.

The report said the same agency reported Halliburton was "accruing exorbitant indirect costs at a rapid rate," while the Defense Contract Audit Agency challenged $45 million of $365 million in costs as unreasonable or unsupported.

What's also not surprising is that the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Government Reform had to compile this information. The Republicans, supposed defenders of your money, are nowhere to be found. I guess it's not politically correct to criticize the Vice President's former company screwing the public in a time of war.