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Former managers working for Custer Battles, a high-profile private security company in Iraq, are accusing the firm of using companies in the Cayman Islands and other "tax haven" countries to fraudulently overcharge on government contracts by tens of millions of dollars.

Finance sector invests heavily in candidates

When former Texas Senator Phil Gramm came out of the Tavern on the Green one recent August morning, his disposition turned edgy. Now a vice chairman of the Swiss financial corporation UBS, he had just left his colleagues at the Financial Services Roundtable breakfast. He wasn't keen on talking to waiting journalists, certainly not to the CorpWatch team.

A once secret Halliburton oil contract raked in billions long after the Army said the work would be competitively bid. As of September 2004 Halliburton billed over $2.5 billion. A Bechtel whistleblower calls the bidding process to break up the work, "a sham."

Exam privatization threatens public schools

"They make kids in my class feel dumb," says Vanessa Verdín about the corporate-designed standardized tests that millions of U.S. students are required to take under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Vanessa, an energetic eleven year old whose hobbies include soccer, knitting and research, feels that the tests "ask the wrong questions" and "waste time when we could be learning."

Electronic Voting Machines Add Uncertainty to Close Election Race

Across the U.S., dozens of election commissions, county clerks and voting registrars are scrambling to maintain public confidence in an election system shaken by the Florida 2000 debacle and challenged by security flaws in hi-tech electronic solutions. In the swing states, where the presidential election is expected to be close, 14 of 20 states will be experimenting with untested technology.

The extravagant spectacle is expected to dwarf the record $95 million spent by Democrats this year. In fact, the Republicans will spend more than the $130 million raised by Al Gore for his entire 2000 campaign.

Media corporations give millions, receive billions. The cost for two weeks of ad-driven debate on Kerry's military record cost almost $1 million. Political advertising will bring over $1.5 billion to media corporations this election season. In turn they will invest millions in campaign contributions and lobbying. Meanwhile, substantive political coverage continues to decline.

Ten years after the first democratic elections in South Africa brought the African National Congress to power, critics claim that privatization and neoliberal economic policies have usurped the promise of democracy.

Soweto Resists Privatization Moves
Trevor Ngwane/Walter Turner
ANC Privatizations Fail to Deliver in South Africa, Patrick Bond

Behind the five intertwined rings of the Athens games, underpaid workers are sewing the shirts, gluing the shoes, and putting zippers to running suits and track apparel branded as Olympic--in working conditions that would make even the most highly trained athlete sweat.

Rendon Group Wins Hearts and Minds in Business, Politics and War

The Rendon Group is a consulting firm whose services range from creating "a favorable environment before privatization begins" to helping justify war. Rick Rendon, a founding partner talks to CorpWatch about his latest project, "Empowering Peace."