Tithing Halliburton

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would seek next week to double the amount of funding allocated in fiscal 2006 to rail security and mass-transit security, including subways and buses.

The amendment to the annual homeland-security spending bill would double the $100 million currently proposed for both mass transit and rail security, allocating $100 million for each. It would also double funding for bus security improvements to $20 million. Fiscal 2006 begins Oct. 1. . . .

But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his agency had completed a review of security needs and would be coming out soon with policy proposals of its own.

"I wouldn't make a policy decision driven by a single event," Chertoff said at a news conference.

Democrats, including Schumer, have long pushed for increased funding for rail and bus security.

London Blasts Fuel Spending Fight, Market Watch, July 7, 2005

******

A top U.S. Army procurement official said on Monday Halliburton's deals in Iraq were the worst example of contract abuse she had seen as Pentagon auditors flagged over $1 billion of potential overcharges by the Texas-based firm.

Halliburton's Iraq Deals Described as Contract Abuse, Reuters, June 27, 2005