The Shock Doctrine
Disaster Capitalism in Action: election 2008
Disaster Capitalism at the Democratic National Congress
Jeremy Scahill, Democracy Now!, August 28, 2008
Click here to watch Jeremy Scahill interview lawmakers about what they will do about Blackwater
Hillary Clinton on Disaster Capitalism
Contractors, Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2008
"There appears to be no crisis, tragedy or disaster immune from exploitation under the Bush administration. The examples of the waste, fraud and abuse are legion -- from KBR performing shoddy electrical work in Iraq that has resulted in the electrocution of our military personnel according to Pentagon and Congressional investigators, to the firing of an Army official who dared to refuse a $1 billion payout for questionable charges to the same company....
"But the fraud and waste are not limited to the war. In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, for example, FEMA awarded a contract worth more than $500 million for trailers to serve as temporary housing. The contractor, Gulf Stream, collected all of its money even though they knew at the time that its trailers were contaminated with formaldehyde.
"If we're going to get serious about putting our nation's fiscal house in order, let's talk about putting an end to billions in no-bid contract awards to unaccountable contractors. Let's talk about the number of lucrative contracts and bonuses being paid for duties never performed, promises never fulfilled, and contracts falsely described as complete. And let's talk about reforming the federal contracting system so that we can take on the real waste, fraud and abuse in our federal government."
Oil Industry Execs Pour Money into McCain's Campaign
Matthew Mosk, Washington Post, July 27, 2008
"Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.
"Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month -- three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May."
See also: The Los Angeles Times on Hess Corporation executives and family members' large donations to McCain's fundraising committee.
St. Paul Police Buy Tasers in Advance of the Republican National Convention
Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters, February 15, 2008
"Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, strongly supports the war in Iraq and those in uniform, but his investigations of major weapons deals have defense industry executives uneasy. Privately, some defense company officials say they are backing Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, one of the two remaining contenders for the Democratic nomination, who they see as a better ally for the industry in the longer-term....According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Clinton leads in receiving donations linked to the defense industry with $143,433, versus $129,350 to McCain and $70,502 to Obama."
