. Of course, the Bush Agenda does have supporters, especially corporate allies that have both shaped and benefited from the administration's economic and military policies. Many of those allies are found in the energy sector, while many from the energy sector are found in the Bush administration...The Bush administration itself represents the first time in history that the president, vice president, and secretary of state are all former energy company officials. In fact, the only other U.S. president to come from the oil and gas industry was Bush's father.
The Bush years have been a record-breaking bonanza for the oil industry. The twenty-nine major oil and gas firms in the United States earned $43 billion in profits in 2003 and $68 billion in 2004. oil profits were so high in 2005, that the top three companies alone (Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, and CononcoPhillips) earned nearly $64 billion between them, more than half of which went to Texas-based Exxon-Mobil, which recorded the single most profitable year of any corporation in world history in both 2004 and 2005.
Companies such as Halliburton and Chevron, which respectively count the vice president and secretary of state as former officials, are key allies to the Bush Agenda. The Bechtel Corporation, the largest engineering company in the world, with extensive work in the oil and gas field, has exercised influence over the Bush Agenda through its current and past executives, including current board member and former company president, George Shultz, Ronald Reagan's secretary of state. Lockheed Martin, the country's largest military contractor and the world's largest arms exporter, has also played a lead role, with no fewer than sixteen current and past company officials having held positions within the Bush administration.
The George W. Bush years have been remarkably rewarding for each of these companies, particularly in the post-Iraq invasion period. Indeed, each company has a long history in Iraq, played a lead through company executives past and present in advocating for war against Iraq in 2003, and has since profited greatly from that war. Chevron had its most profitable year in its 125-year history in 2004, earning $13.3 billion--nearly double its profits from the year before. The record did not last long, however, as 2005 brought more than $14 billion in profits. Bechtel's revenue increased from $11.6 billion in 2002 to $16.3 billion in 2003, to $17.4 billion in 2004. Halliburton's stock price has nearly quadrupled in value from March 2003 to January 2006, while Lockheed's stocks more than tripled from early 2000 to January 2006. Vice President Cheney is a stockholder in both Halliburton and Lockheed...
...The Bush administration used the military invasion of Iraq to oust its leader, replace its government, implement new economic, political, and oil laws, and write a new constitution. Through the ongoing U.S. military occupation, the Bush administration seeks to ensure that both the new government and the the new economic structure stay firmly in place.
The new economic laws have fundamentally transformed Iraq's economy, applying some of the most radical, sought-after corporate globalization policies in the world and overturning existing laws on trade, public services, banking, taxes, agriculture, investment, foreign ownership, and oil, among others. The new laws lock in sweeping advantages to U.S. corporations, including greater U.S. access to and corporate control of, Iraq's oil. And the benefits have already begun to flow. Between 2003 and 2004 alone, the value of U.S. imports of Iraqi oil increased by 86 percent and then increased again in the first three quarters of 2005.
I'm flabbergasted. And I don't think I will ever vote for a Republican again (at least in the near future because they can change) despite that they have always received my support on the national level.
Watch out for the potholes
