During 1996, U.S. policy dramatically changed for the financial and military benefit of China’s military enterprises and two U.S. multinationals, Loral Space and Communications and Hughes Electronics. Loral’s CEO, Bernard Schwartz, was the largest single contributor to the 1994 and 1996 Democratic campaigns, giving $275,000 to the Democrats in 1996.

The U.S. had previously barred all American companies from doing business with China Aerospace because it had made illegal missile sales to Pakistan. Col. Liu was assistant to the president of the sanctioned company and her father, General Liu, was in charge of the Chinese Army when China sold missiles to Iran and nuclear equipment to Pakistan, as well as carried on its own maneuvers to threaten Taiwan.

The Departments of Defense and State maintained that our satellite technology should be on what is known as the “munitions list,” the list of our most sensitive military and intelligence-gathering technology. Defense and State argued that commercial satellites carry technological secrets that can jeopardize “significant military and intelligence interests.”

Over the protests of Defense and State, Clinton personally reversed our policy and transferred jurisdiction over these exports from the State Department to Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. This let the technology transfer go forward and allowed U.S. civilian communications satellites to be launched by Colonel Liu’s China Aerospace.

The chronology is interesting. Clinton’s decision to approve the rocket and satellite technology transfer was announced on March 14, 1996, but the actual change was delayed until the fall. The campaign contributions arrived in the interim.

Another powerful government-owned enterprise that benefited from Clinton’s China policy was China International Trade and Investment Corporation. Clinton signed waivers allowing the Chinese to launch four U.S. satellites on the very day that its chairman, Wang Jan (referred to by the press as a “Chinese arms dealer”), attended one of Clinton’s now-famous campaign coffees in the White House and later spent some time in Ron Brown’s Commerce Department office.

The kind of space technology that Clinton has provided to China is just what it needs to make intercontinental ballistic missiles and point them more accurately at the United States.

The Senate voted Friday to give President Bush $50 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. military efforts against terrorism, money that would push total spending for the operations beyond $350 billion.

In a 97-0 vote, the GOP-controlled Senate signed off on the money as part of a $445 billion military spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

Two years ago the Senate voted 87-12 in favor of an $87 billion supplemental appropriation for security and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of the 12 senators who voted “no” then, nine are still in the Senate, and eight of them voted “yes” on Friday. (Vemont’s Pat Leahy was AWOL.)

Cheney, and bush also, are evil incarnate.

Remember that options are not physically settled – i.e. you don’t actually receive delivery of shares if you exercise the option – instead, at settlement, you receive the difference between the strike and the price at which the security is trading. So say the (average) strike price for Cheney’s options is $30… if Halliburton traded at around $31, the options at settlement will be worth $1. With Halliburton at $61 a share now, the options will be worth $31 at settlement.

3,000%+ appreciation in value – no problemo.

[Ps. this is a gross simplification of option pricing, but just wanted to demonstrate the 3,000% appreciation is easily arrived at.]

“The United States of Halliburton”

Over the weekend (when the Bush Administration is at its most nefarious because most of America is preoccupied with getting drunk at barbeques or running from hurricanes), the Pentagon demoted the Army contracting official who criticized massive, noncompetitive contracts that Halliburton received for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The move demonstrates, to paraphrase the Administration’s tired mantra on fighting terror, that “we will move heaven and earth to find a low-level minion to blame for every gargantuan screw-up we commit…”

And don’t forget heat for the winter (whether it’s gas, electric, oil and/or kerosene). Ya think Dickey boy is going to be shriveled and pulled up tighter than a gonad in this winter’s cold? I think not…