And right now, times aren't good.

But this week I saw another round of stories on corporate CEOs getting multi-million dollar "bonuses" even as their companies lose millions of dollars.

Christian Miller reported in the L.A. Times that, "Westhusing seemed especially upset by one conclusion he had reached: that traditional military values such as duty, honor and country had been replaced by profit motives in Iraq, where the U.S. had come to rely heavily on contractors for jobs once done by the military."

Unfortunately, what is publicly known about the extent to which corruption and deceit is rooted in the activities of U.S.-led initiatives in Iraq is probably just the tip of the ice burg. Not only has the Pentagon manipulated the structure of power and responsibility to eliminate any system of accountability, but there have been increasingly eerie reports on the ways in which the American public has been receiving incomplete, absent, manipulated or slanted news coverage on the war (and how the DoD has been behind a large part of this).

Reports reveal that in the first quarter of 2008, media coverage of the war dropped to a meager 3.5 percent . At the height of Iraq War reporting, immediately following the initial invasion, reporting was at around 30 percent.

It has long been a known fact that the administration has made it a personal policy not to do body counts, learning the lessons from Vietnam that visibility of casualties leads to public outcry. But now a report indicates that the Pentagon is considering hiring, commissioning, or co-opting bloggers “to verbally attack a specific person or promote a specific message." This coincides with a GOP strategy to bolster support for the presumed Republican nominee John McCain (a staunch supporter of the war) by launching multi-lateral attack campaigns against what they see as Democratic attempts to "legislate defeat" in Iraq.

Bottom line: whether its through the tragedies of formerly deployed troops upon their return stateside, the depletion of our economic infrastructure by the careless and fraudulent spending of our tax money on the war, or the descent of our international reputation from the surfacing stories of contractor corrosion, the consequences of the administration's mishandling of the war will follow us home. We need to take action while our country still has some integrity to defend. Sign Progressive Future's petition to enforce accountability for the events that take place in Iraq in our name.

Once again, the Bush administration is letting former Halliburton subsidiary KBR off the hook.

The Associated Press reports that KBR allegedly supplied contaminated water to our troops in Iraq. The troops suffered “skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses.”

Obviously, Bush Administration officials were outraged and called KBR to account. Demanded answers. Threatened to revoke their contract.

Well…not exactly. Instead, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morell found humor in the accusations, joking that in Iraq “they make it perfectly clear that you don't want to drink the water” and the troops “should read the signs and just drink bottled water.”

Except the troops didn't drink KBR's water. They got sick because they used it to take showers and do their laundry.

Once again, the Bush Administration refuses to hold KBR accountable -- whether it's for covering up the rape of an employee, evading taxes through offshore subsidiaries, or sickening the troops they're supposed to serve. I suppose this is what passes for national security when we hand power to people who combine their faith in war as the answer with their belief that what's good for business is good for America.

We need to move America in a new direction. Join the growing number of Progressive Future members and supporters in telling the Pentagon that you won't tolerate excuses. It's time to hold KBR accountable.

Or, I guess we could add another $100 million to the Pentagon’s budget so our troops can do their laundry with Evian…

With all the breaking stories exposing KBR's policies of corruption, abuse and fraud leading up to Tuesday's Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing. on the misuse of taxpayer money in Iraq, the findings of KBR's gross mishandling of funds should come as no surprise. We already knew about KBR's use of a judicial loophole to avoid prosecution in an alleged rape case, and about their scheme to avoid paying taxes on employee salaries. And yet, when sifting through the details of KBR's scheming practices and lining them up one by one, it is astounding that our leadership has not taken an aggressive role to hold these contractors accountable for the unending list of ways they have taken advantage of the American public and have pocketed from this war.

Highlights from the hearing included findings of ridiculous tactics used by KBR to take advantage of their “cost-plus” contracts, including using taxpayer money to individually stamp their logo onto towels supplied to troops. Also revealed was the U.S. Government's ineptitude (or perhaps unwillingness) in accounting for contractor activity: “Administration efforts to prosecute individuals responsible for the waste or theft of billions of taxpayer dollars have been grossly insufficient.” Finally, the most imploring piece of testimony taken from the hearing resport is that, “the most effective way to fight al-Qaeda and other insurgents in Iraq is to cut off their funding by implementing strict accountability measures over all monies.”

It cannot be stated in any clearer terms that the administration's lack of oversight over the funding of this costly war is damaging any chance we have of protecting the American public from the threat of terrorism. We cannot allow our tax dollars to be funneled to this machine of corruption and ineptitude any longer, especially with the knowledge that it undermines our security at home. Progressive Future is a new organizing group that is working on reshaping the American political consciousness around the idea of Progressive Values, and we believe that this means redefining "security" to include accountability for actions that represent the United States overseas and cleaning up our international reputation. Click here to help us call for consequences for Iraq. contractors.

First, Sally Kern, in her gay-crucifying speech (I was gonna use "gay-bashing" but I don't think that term goes far enough) presents such mistruths as "gays have shorter lifespans" (which, if she's referring to AIDS, she obviously hasn't picked up a medical journal in about, oh fifteen years...) and "no society that has embraced homosexuality lasted more than a few decades," (hmmm, maybe she should read up on ancient Roman practices and get back to me...they lasted more than a few decades, right?). Then, the former Social Studies teacher proceeds to hang the crux of her fear-mongering on the claim that "in schools....they don't teach facts anymore, they teach indoctrination."

 If her little display of ignorant hatred isn't fact-spinning and indoctrination, what is? And, tell me, how long are we going to just sit here and tolerate the undending instances where our leaders completely reject reality and fact, and just state whatever unfounded claim they believe will further their own personal cause? When will they be held accountable for the things that come out of their mouths? 

We're working on putting up a brand-new website at Progressive Future, which will offer supporters more chances to take action, voice their opinions and, for once, hold our leaders accountable. While the new website isn't up yet, you can still go to our old website, http://progressivefuture.org?id4=BL, and join our email list, which will notify you when the new site is up. Don't let outrage get the better of you without taking action!

It is clear that KBR will try every trick in the book to profit off of a war that is ripping our country apart. After the way KBR treated Jaime Leigh Jones when she reported being sexually assaulted while on duty in Iraq as a contractor, it comes as no surprise that the private contractors are cheating over 21,000 of their employees out of unemployment benefits by claiming them as employees of phony offshore companies in the Cayman Islands.

But what is even more appalling is that KBR ducked out on over $500 million in taxes -- funds that would have provided for social security and medicaid beneficiaries. While average citizens like you and I have our tax money funneled to support this unjust war, the companies reaping the benefits are cheating us to avoid their profits benefiting anyone but themselves, and Bush and his cronies are letting them get away with it. The Pentagon has known about KBR's corrosive practices since 2004, and has turned a blind eye. Progressive Future is working to make sure the Bush administration cannot ignore the public outcry against its consistence practices of favoritism and deceit.

It's time to hold those contractors accountable to the community that they claim to be defending: the American public. It's time to end the era of having policies formed out of greed and corruption dirty our international reputation. It time to take this country in a new direction.

Click here to tell your friends

The United States is the only industrialized nation to refuse to sign the Kyoto protocol and has objected to a UN proposal to significantly reduce carbon emissions by the year 2020. The Bush administration has slashed budget funding for renewable energy incentives. And Bush's 2005 Energy Policy Act gave a total of $4.3 billion in tax incentives to oil companies.

Yet, at the March 5th Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, Bush looked the world in the eye and said with a straight face, “America is in the lead when it comes to energy independence; we're in the lead when it comes to new technologies; we're in the lead when it comes to global climate change; and we'll stay that way.”

The Bush administration has refused to come clean about their unwillingness to address the United States' contribution to global warming. Instead, they rely on a campaign of propaganda, false “science,” and now, outright lies. They believe that if they repeat something often enough, the public will simply accept it as truth. And they believe that the American people won't bother to check the facts.

President Bush is undermining our society's commitment to fighting global warming to the world and making us a laughing stock in the international community. And he has made it clear that he has no intention of addressing this impending crisis.

Progressive Future is working to make the United States a true leader in renewable energy. It's simply a matter of being a responsible member of the global community. Show the Bush administration and the world our commitment to fighting global warming by signing our Priorities for a Progressive Future.