Cheney Smackdown

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Dick Cheney has claimed that his office is not subject to National Security Archives oversight of its handling of classified information because the vice president, as president of the Senate, is not part of the executive branch. Yet, to avoid public scrutiny of his meetings with energy industry leaders, Cheney declared that going public “would unconstitutionally interfere with the functioning of the executive branch.” Question 1: Does this contempt for the constitution violate Cheney’s promise to uphold the same document?

Cheney apparently considers himself his own special branch of government, outside the requirements of democracy—and perversely, he may just have a point. The report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (more here) reveals that outsourcing of government responsibilities to private contractors is “the fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending.” And Halliburton, the company Cheney once led and from which he continues to receive payment, has taken the lion’s share of the growing business. Halliburton saw a six-fold increase in its income from government contracts under the VP—err, Senate President’s watch. Question 2: Is this ethical?

So maybe the Dark Lord’s ultimate agenda is simply personal greed. ThinkProgress points out that Cheney’s stock options are worth more than 300 times more now than they were at the start of his second term. By contrast, the taxpayers have not profited from the arrangement. The House report concludes that 118 contracts—worth $745.5 billion—”experienced significant overcharges, wasteful spending, or mismanagement.” Question 3: How is this not impeachable?

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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