In plain english kendall you asked Tom Allen about money seized from Saddam's palaces by coalition forces.

In plain english Tom Allen expanded the sum the CPA has assumed control of by including Iraqi oil revenues and foreign assests. The former could not have been held in Saddam's palaces and the latter, depending on where they are held may only be frozen, not spent. But for arguements sake let us assume that they are available to the CPA.

In plain english Tom Allen states that the CPA has publicly accounted for $1 billion out of a total of $5 billion. The US military have spent a portion of the funds (portion undisclosed) and $3 billion has gone to "American companies" for reconstruction work that may or may not subcontract work to Iraqi companies. The "may or may not" indicates that he is referring to work that is ongoing and figures can therefore not be available for "public accounting".

Tom Allen's plain english then degenerates to waffle regarding questions about transparency and accountability. His concerns regarding previous/current ties to Bechtel and Halliburton of senior members of the Bush Administration, are based on what exactly. Regarding current ties and conflicts of interest - Do State Governors, representatives of both houses of congress and members of the Presidents Administration not have to declare their interests? Previous ties? Does Mr. Allen seriously support the stand that ones previous employment precludes a person from other jobs? If he does then I may well ask him what jobs he feels he should be precluded from pursuing because of past employment and political interests.

How the current administrations tax cuts come into the equation is somewhat bemusing. Tax cuts generally benefit all and it is a method of "kick-starting" ailing economies that has been used successfully in a number of countries.

Is there a "trend" of awarding "no-bid" contracts? The Halliburton Frame Agreement Contract was awarded as a result of competitive bidding, and it was under the terms and conditions of that Frame Agreement Contract that they were assigned work in Iraq. By the way, the same companies he refers to held similar Frame Agreement Contracts under the previous administration.

Not having a Republican Congressman, or woman for that matter, precludes me from writing to them to ask the same question. However, as stated above I may well write to Mr. Tom Allen.