Jim Hightower

Look out – here comes Halliburton again! With its own personal sugar daddy occupying the the vice president's chair, this giant government contractor keeps getting multibillion-dollar, no-bid contracts from the BushCheney regime, despite having been found guilty of shoddy work, massive cost-overruns, and fraudulent billings.

Its latest windfall, however, should not merely be worrisome to tax payers, but also to anyone concerned about the Bushites' anti-democratic penchant to extend ever-more police and military power over We the People. Halliburton has been granted a $385 million contract for a most unusual project: building a network of detention centers across our country. Up to 5,000 people could be "detained" and held in each of these centers, which are to be run by homeland security authorities and possibly located on unused military bases.

"Detain," of course, is a euphemism for "incarcerate" – or "lock up." And "center" is a gentle term for "prison."

So, why does America suddenly need to spend a third-of-a-billion dollars to establish a new mass prison complex in our country? The feds and Halliburton cryptically say that the detention centers could be needed for "some kind of mass migration" or for "the rapid development of new programs." When asked what is meant by the ominous term, "new programs," a Halliburton spokeswoman said she could provide no additional information.

Another curious aspect is that the Bushites refer to this as a "contingency contract," saying that the detention centers might never be built, but that Halliburton will have the cash and authority to move quickly if and when given the go-ahead. The corporation's executive vice president says that Halliburton is "gratified," because the deal "builds on our extremely strong track record in the arena of emergency management support."

This is Jim Hightower saying... But who is to be managed, and in support of what policy?