corrente

Surprise!

AP here:

Cheney said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that since becoming vice president, "I've severed all my ties with [Halliburton], gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years."

Democrats pointed out that Cheney receives deferred compensation from Halliburton under an arrangement he made in 1998, and also retains stock options. He has pledged to give after-tax proceeds of the stock options to charity.

Some winger foundation, no doubt.

[Senator Frank] Lautenberg, D-N.J., asked the Congressional Research Service to weigh in.

Without naming Cheney or Halliburton, the service reported that unexercised stock options and deferred salary "are among those benefits described by the Office of Government Ethics as 'retained ties' or 'linkages' to one's former employer."

Cheney was chief executive officer of Halliburton from 1995 through August 2000. The firm's KBR subsidiary is the main government contractor working to restore Iraq's oil industry in an open-ended contract that was awarded without competitive bidding.

And they really need the money, too, after the mess Cheney got them into by purchasing a subsidiary encumbered by asbestos litigation.

Not that it matters, anyhow, since I'm sure Pretzel Boy will heave Cheney over the side in 2004 in favor of some Bright Young Thing like Bill "Here kitty, kitty!" Frist.