I'd argue in typical lazy reporter fashion, they set up the narrative Washington refused to bailout Halliburton in 2001 because of optics and ignored all the insider traders in Congress buying up the stock at firesale prices because they knew their holdings would more than quadruple in just a few short years...
The 1998 acquisition of Dresser was negotiated by Vice President Dick Cheney, then Halliburton's CEO. Analysts say Cheney isn't to blame. "He couldn't have anticipated that juries would start to award huge amounts of money in asbestos cases," says Poe Fratt, an oil analyst at A.G. Edwards. But Fratt does think Cheney is a liability for shareholders. Congress could step in and limit corporate exposure to asbestos suits or make jury awards tax deductible. But given the mood in Washington these days, no politician wants to be criticized for bailing out the veep's former company at taxpayer expense. "There's a snowball's chance in hell that asbestos legislation gets any traction," says Fratt, "especially in an election year."
I'd argue in typical lazy reporter fashion, they set up the narrative Washington refused to bailout Halliburton in 2001 because of optics and ignored all the insider traders in Congress buying up the stock at firesale prices because they knew their holdings would more than quadruple in just a few short years...
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2002/03/01/318586/index.htm
Archived link - https://archive.ph/t6pit