{"id":24918,"date":"2007-03-12T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T05:50:20","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T05:50:20","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T05:50:20","slug":"polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/","title":{"rendered":"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton"},"content":{"rendered":"<section>\n<p><BR\/>RUSH: To Clemmons, North Carolina, and Barry. Hello, sir.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Yes. Good afternoon, Rush.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Hi.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Hi. Greetings from North Carolina, and it\u2019s a pleasure to speak with the guru of conservatism.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: It\u2019s a pleasure to have you with us. Thanks so much for that fine, recognizable comment.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, I am a North Carolina environmentalist, and I spent a year down in New Orleans trying to solve the problems for the people down there.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: How did you do?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, basically they took everything and put it into a landfill. They didn\u2019t clean anything up; 90% of the garbage is on the ground. There are people out of houses. It\u2019s just a mess, but nobody seems to remember that KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, got the contract for $51 billion from the US government to do that job.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: A-ha.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: They sat on it for a year until they got paid. It was just an unfunded mandate, the contract that they got. They had to work out of pocket the first year.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: You think this might be why Halliburton is moving to Dubai?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, that\u2019s part of it. But what they did is they brought in the Shaw Group, they brought in Bechtel, they brought in Felson Jordan and a number of management companies and then they hired local subcontractors. A lot of them were bankrupted because they didn\u2019t get paid fairly and they didn\u2019t get paid on time.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: The subcontractors were bankrupted?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Yes, a lot of them. I had a group down there. We had 15 crews that ran construction projects, the demolition projects and removing debris, and we take it out to the landfill and dump it on a regular basis, and that\u2019s what we were supposed to do. But we got paid very sparingly.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Why did you keep doing the work?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, because the work needed to be done and the people down there need better than what they\u2019re getting.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Well, if you show a willingness to work for little or nothing, that\u2019s what you\u2019ll make.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, I agree with you, but when you are trying to solve problems and help people in a devastated area, everything that you can possibly do needs to be done.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Well, were those people trying to help themselves along with you?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, a lot of them were. We put a lot of local people to work.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Who paid them?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: We did.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Who\u2019s &#8220;we&#8221;?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: My company did.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Were you being reimbursed by the feds?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: We were reimbursed at so much a cubic yard. We just barely broke even on the deal. But that\u2019s not why I called. KBR and Halliburton, you know, Halliburton\u2019s moving their primary business entity overseas.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: To Dubai, that\u2019s right.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: To Dubai. You know, that\u2019s a nice thing for them to do. The majority of the stock that\u2019s in Halliburton is owned by politicians. The largest single shareholder is Lady Bird Johnson. It\u2019s a matter of record.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: A Democrat.<\/line><\/p>\n<p><BR\/>CALLER: Yeah. <\/line><BR\/>RUSH: But she\u2019s not a politician.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: No, she\u2019s not a politician, but a lot of senators, congressmen, judges, governors and people have retirement plans had Halliburton or KBR stock backing their retirement plan.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: So what? A lot of people with their 401(k)s and their Keogh plans and whatever their portfolio have it. You invest in successful companies. <\/line><BR\/>CALLER: It\u2019s smart business. I understand that.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Well, then why do you indict Halliburton over that?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: I\u2019m not. I\u2019m saying that they\u2019re moving out of the country now so they aren\u2019t going to have to pay additional monies and they could generate more revenues for the people that hold that stock. I think that\u2019s a good thing. The problem is that we\u2019ve lost the majority of manufacturing in this country over the years. We\u2019ve lost electronics; we\u2019ve lost textile; we\u2019ve lost durable goods; we\u2019ve lost home equipment. So many things have gone overseas, and they\u2019re not going to come back. What are we supposed to do for jobs over the next 20 or 30 or 40 years?<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Uh, I\u2019m really surprised. You sound like a smart guy.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: I am.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Well, I don\u2019t know why you\u2019re so doom and gloom and defeatist here. Unemployment is the lowest it\u2019s been historically in I don\u2019t know how long, at 4.5%. The sectors in this country that are growing&#8230; Economics is economics. We\u2019ve got a global economy. If a Singer Sewing Machine can be made cheaper in Singapore than it can be made here, guess where it\u2019s going to be made?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: It\u2019s going to be made in Singapore. I don\u2019t have a problem with that at all.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Our economy is constantly in flux, and it\u2019s constantly evolving, and for all of these manufacturing jobs lost, it\u2019s not as many as people think. We still have a pretty huge manufacturing sector here, but there\u2019s a little myth attached to all this and it\u2019s attached to people that don\u2019t like NAFTA. Some manufacturing jobs have gone, too, no question, but we\u2019re on the tail\u2019s end of the auto business as well. We\u2019re losing out to the Japanese, but there\u2019s a principal reason there, and that is it\u2019s a noncompetitive playing field because they don\u2019t have to load up their cars with $1700 additional price to cover the health care of their employees.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: I agree that the laws that our nation has passed have handcuffed businesses here and made us unable to compete on a level playing field. I disagree with that entirely.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Well, I don\u2019t know what we disagree about, other than you think it\u2019s bad Halliburton\u2019s moving and I think it makes sense, given what their business is.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: No, I think it\u2019s good that Halliburton\u2019s moving.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Well, then what are we at odds over here?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: We\u2019re not at odds over anything. What I\u2019m suggesting is that possibly the vacuum that\u2019s being created, we have a lot of illegals coming across the border, and they\u2019re going to take the jobs that are available. But we need to start looking at how to revitalize our economy. We need to start looking at what we can do with what we have here to put people back to work at decent paying jobs.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: You know, I feel like I\u2019m talking to John Edwards. <\/line><BR\/>CALLER: No.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: No, I do. We have an economy that, on balance, is roaring. It is reducing the deficit. Tax revenues are up because there are more people working. Tax cuts have created more jobs than we\u2019ve had in this country before. The job creation in the last two to three years is astounding. There\u2019s some sectors where wages are falling behind, but that happens virtually in every evolution of every economy. The great thing about this country is that we all have the ability to create our own job if we want. We all have the ability to be entrepreneurs. I was telling this at a dinner party I had last night with people. One of the most disappointing calls I received on this program and I ever remember receiving, was from a 30-year-old man in Detroit who had just been laid off. He\u2019d been bought out, got in a buyout from one of the auto companies and he thought his life was over at age thirty because &#8212;<\/line><\/p>\n<p><BR\/>CALLER: My goodness.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: &#8212; he didn\u2019t have a job with the line assembly anymore. I\u2019m thinking, this is an American! At age 30, he hasn\u2019t even hit his prime. There\u2019s so much opportunity. There\u2019s so many things that people can do if they have the passion and desire for it. This country is a waiting, golden opportunity for anybody who wants to take a stab at it. <\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Yes.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: And for all of the misery that people want to claim and talk about in this country, I can point out far more happiness and joy and success than there is misery.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, I agree with you a hundred percent. I\u2019d like to see us take the garbage that we have in this country and turn it into building products and turn it into useful products rather than just burying it in the ground.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: What do you mean like landfills?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Yes.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Landfills are great. They are some of the most beautiful golf courses in the world just built in New York on landfills.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, of course. What else can they do with them?<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Well, you build housing developments, any number of things. What are they doing with them in New Orleans?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: No, they\u2019re just putting them in the ground, and if you know anything about New Orleans, when you bury something in the ground, it migrates to the ocean, so they\u2019re just making a bigger mess. The coral is dying off in the Caribbean because of that. We\u2019re not talking about global warming here. It\u2019s a solar event, it\u2019s not a global event. The ice caps are Mars are melting at the same rate as the ice caps here on earth. People are saying that it\u2019s a global warming thing and man causes it, and that\u2019s absolutely false.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: This conversation has been sort of strange because I was expecting you and me to be at odds, but we\u2019re not. What\u2019s the one thing that is upsetting you here?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, what\u2019s upsetting me &#8212;<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: It\u2019s KBR not paying people down in New Orleans and moving to Dubai, right?<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Well, I think it\u2019s that they\u2019ve taken a contract from the federal government, using our tax dollars, and the day after they got paid, which was June 5th. On June 6th, every KBR and Halliburton company moved out of New Orleans and left. They took the profits and went home.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: Now, Halliburton has spun KBR off or is in the process of it.<\/line><BR\/>CALLER: Okay.<\/line><BR\/>RUSH: I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a factor in this, but they\u2019re getting rid of Kellogg Brown &amp;amp; Root, and they may already have done so. KBR was a losing proposition for their bottom line. The food service contract for Afghanistan and Iraq, that may have something to do with this. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m just going to accept that you\u2019re right on this because this is the first I\u2019ve heard that KBR ran out on its commitments. That\u2019s news to me. I\u2019m going to check it out, just because I want to know, not that I doubt you. I must take a break, though, because of the constraints of our busy broadcast format and time-out. Barry, thanks for the call. I appreciate it. I enjoyed the conversation. This may be the most convivial, with-as-little-rancor-as-possible conversation with a confessed liberal that we\u2019ve ever had here. But, Barry, you\u2019re not as lib as you think.<\/line><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RUSH: To Clemmons, North Carolina, and Barry. Hello, sir.CALLER: Yes. Good afternoon, Rush.RUSH: Hi.CALLER: Hi. Greetings from North Carolina, and it\u2019s a pleasure to speak with the guru of conservatism.RUSH: It\u2019s a pleasure to have you with us. Thanks so much for that fine, recognizable comment.CALLER: Well, I am a North Carolina environmentalist, and I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton  - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton  - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: To Clemmons, North Carolina, and Barry. 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Thanks so much for that fine, recognizable comment.CALLER: Well, I am a North Carolina environmentalist, and I [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/\",\"name\":\"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T05:50:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T05:50:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton  - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton  - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: To Clemmons, North Carolina, and Barry. 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Thanks so much for that fine, recognizable comment.CALLER: Well, I am a North Carolina environmentalist, and I [&hellip;]","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/","name":"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T05:50:20+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T05:50:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/03\/12\/polite_liberal_katrina_contractor_on_halliburton\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Polite Liberal Katrina Contractor on Halliburton"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24918"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}