Harold J. Nicholson is an odd pick for The Lang Report’s Golden Fleece Award, nevertheless, he meets all of the criteria….dishonesty, larceny and let’s not forget treason. Nicholson remains one of the highest-ranking CIA officials ever to plead guilty to espionage, and now has enlisted his youngest son to travel the world and collect cash from Russian agents as a “pension” for his past services, federal officials declared.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named outgoing Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) its December Porker of the Month choosing to honor him one last time for his lifetime of pork-barrel overachievement. The Lang Report concurs with the CAGW and is bestowing Senator Stevens with its Golden Fleece Award.

The United States Congress, ever diligent in finding creative ways to bilk taxpayers like you and I, are once again The Lang Report’s winner of the Golden Fleece Award. In fiscal year 2008, Congress stuffed 11,610 projects (the second highest total ever) worth $17.2 billion into the 12 appropriations bills. That is a 337 percent increase over the 2,658 projects in fiscal year 2007.

We, at The Lang Report have the lowest regard for lobbyists, the way they conduct their business and the fact that they even exist at all. They corrupt the democratic process as part of their daily methods of operation. Then it should come as no surprise that when Congress approved the $840 billion bailout, that lobbyists came crawling out out every nook and crevice like cockroaches with the lights out. wanting to carve out their piece of the political pie.

While crafting a bill intended to rescue the U.S. economy this week, lawmakers couldn’t stop themselves from adding billions of dollars in tax breaks that have little to do with restoring confidence in financial markets earning them the “Golden Fleece Award.”

The Center for Biological Diversity today awarded Alaska Governor Sarah Palin the 2008 Rubber Dodo Award. Palin has sought to remove Endangered Species Act Protection for the polar bear, suppressed and lied about state global warming studies, and denied that global warming is caused by greenhouse gas emissions

Sellers of wheelchairs, drugs and other medical supplies collected as much as $93 million in fraudulent Medicare claims based on prescriptions from doctors who were dead, for 10 years or more. Dead doctors getting rich from a very generous, but stupid Medicare system! Aren’t you proud to be an American? The U.S. Medicare system is this weeks winner of The Lang Report’s “Golden Fleece Award.”

The American taxpayers have paid Dave Lesar, CEO of Halliburton, more than $42,637,920 for the fine work he has done pillaging Iraq, aided by all of the no-bid contracts that Dick Cheney’s former employer (Halliburton) has received to date. They have billed the U.S. government for more than $20 billion worth of work in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, with $7.1 billion, or a third of its revenue, coming in 2004. SEE VIDEO

It is no secret that the war criminal, Vice President Dick Cheney, is the former CEO of Halliburton, the company that has been given carte blanche in its business dealings with the United States military.

The dictionary defines carte blanche as: Unrestricted power to act at one’s own discretion, or unconditional authority.

Now, if Halliburton was run by principled people with a conscious the outcome might not be that bad. Unfortunately Hallibuton is commanded by ”Cheney clones,” meaning that increasing the bottom line is their god and how that is acheived is not an issue of concern.

Congress has held only a handful of official hearings into contractor abuse and fraud including that of Halliburton and its subsidary, Kellog, Brown & Root (KBR), the largest contractor in Iraq.. The House Committee on Government Reform has held only four full committee hearings into the matter since the war began while the Senate has held only one hearing. —WHY?
In other words, Congress has delegated nearly all of its oversight responsibilities required by the Constitution to officials at the Pentagon even though military auditors discovered $8.8 billion in taxpayer funds went missing in Iraq while another $12 billion in cash was disbursed without any record of how it was spent. —WHY?