What can you buy with 61 million dollars?

[dave29]

From the Dean blog:

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA--Howard Dean issued the following statement today on reports that a Pentagon audit has found that Halliburton overcharged the government:

"We learned yesterday what many Americans have suspected for a long time--special interest contributor Halliburton is overcharging the American taxpayers by tens of millions of dollars. Now George W. Bush is preventing entire nations from bidding on contracts in Iraq so his campaign contributors can continue to overcharge the American taxpayers.

"Our role on the world stage and the safety of our troops should not be for sale. We must ensure that every penny in Iraq is spent wisely and efficiently—and that means enlisting the help of our allies that this President has alienated. We must have a foreign policy based on our long-term interests, not the personal petulance of President Bush."

----------

What Can You Buy? How Halliburton's $61 Million Could Have Been Spent

1. 40,700 Units of Body Armor for the Troops. Tens of thousands of US troops in Iraq lack protective body armor. If the cost of one vest of body armor vest is $1,500, $61 million dollars could have provided 40,700 vests for American soldiers.

2. Armor for 406 Humvees for the Troops. Manufacturers at home have ramped up production of Humvee to combat a shortage for the troops in Iraq. The cost of armoring one Humvee is $150,000; $61 million dollars could have armored 406 of the 3,500 Humvees that the military says need armor. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/pasgtv.htm>

3. 122,000 Flights for Soldiers Returning Home. Currently, soldiers on leave from Iraq are dispatched to three U.S. airports. They have to pay for any additional flights it takes to arrive home. If an average roundtrip flight costs $500, $61 million dollars could have provided 122,000 flights for these brave men and women.

--------------------------

There is much more from Howard "eviscerated by Bush's foreign policy" Dean at the blog, including a section where Bush is ripped a new one on contradictory statements about working with allies.

take a look:

http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002663.html#more

[Maurkov]

1. For 61 Million?

You could buy half a dozen senators. At least.

[no name no slogan]

2. One presidential election?

That is almost EXACTLY the same amount of money Shrub outspent Al Gore by in 2000-- yet Gore still won the popular vote and would have won FL had all votes been counted.

It just goes to prove that you CANNOT win a presidential election by outspending your opponent. You need a strong candidate, good on key Democratic issues, who can get out the base and convince the independents (to the right AND left of the party) that s/he is the best choice.

Rove's money can't do that, nor can Dean's. But WE THE PEOPLE can.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. Or 6,400,000 Fully Cooked Young Turkeys @ $10.00 Each!

That's almost as much as what Saddam bought from Dick Cheney and Halliburton cost, during the UN sanctions against Iraq when no US companies were supposed to do any kind of bidness with the Terra-ist Saddam! Was Dick with us or against us when he was selling Saddam 82 million dollars worth of oilwell equipment! Saddam then used the money he made using the Halliburton equipment to finance Suicide Bombers @ $10,000. a pop! Is Dick Cheney really a Patriot?

[Hubert Flottz]

4. You could build a Wa?mart in Baghdad in time for Xmas!

I wouldn't be long before the Terra-ists are all out of work after Wa?mart comes to their town!

[moondust]

5. Very little compared to

the billions they are stealing with the other hand that we'll never hear about.