Firms with Bush ties snag Katrina deals

[Placebo]

Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W. Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

More...

[mbperrin]

1. jUST A COINCIDENCE, they were the best qualified...

honest!

Yeah right.

[mom cat]

6. I'd bet they are disqualified as Brownie Boy!

[saigon68]

44. PIGS AT THE TROUGH

A "WAR CRIMINAL AT THE TROUGH" ---CHENEY

a FATHER OF A CHIMPANZEE AT THE TROUGH--- BECHTEL

[niceypoo]

2. Privatization Cronyism will save New Orleans!

Disaster Profit$$$$$

[Miss Chybil]

27. Ironic, considering cronyism drowned New Orleans. nt

[Gregorian]

3. Two birds with one stone.

Withold funding to insure disaster.
Hand out contracts to friends, to repair damage.






Pirate administration. Impeach, indict, imprison.

[kikiek]

17. 3 birds..sign legislation that allows companies to pay less than the

local wage for work.

[skooooo]

4. Can't we do something about this???

THese companies do nothing but profit from war and destruction of other people's lives.

[bribri16]

5. Just tell everyone you know. Arm yourself with facts, they are our

weapons for the coming days.

[usafguy99]

7. Unfortunantly what we know and what is reported are often

two different things. Anyone with an IQ higher then 5 will see the blatent abuse of contracting being implemented post Katrina.

I guess their philosophy is... if we have to spend the money we need to make sure it goes to the "right" people.

[Amonester]

9. Bet they'll get paid in cash (paper bags) so the IRS won't...

balance the books again (deficit greater than expenses + revenues).

As far as we know (and at the very least...) 8.8 billions are missing from somewhere in Iraq already... The sad part is: it seems like not too many indictments have been issued about that robbery. Why, oh why? Will justice ever recover from these "above the law" big-shot-looters??


Welcome to DU, usafguy99!! :patriot:

[jsamuel]

8. finally the media sees what we have seen for years

[DeepModem Mom]

10. Profiteering from the dead: politically, with 9/11, ,money, here. nt

[truthisfreedom]

11. gee, who would'a thunk?

surprise, surprise!

same old fucking shit.

[roseBudd]

12. voted it up on yahoo n/t

[mitchum]

13. Fucking ghoul$

[KittyWampus]

14. well,this is a no-brainer.

[are_we_united_yet]

15. Hmmmm......

Seems fishy to me.

[goforit]

16. OMG!!!...I shouldn't be surprised, but I throw up every time.....

:puke:

[Bob3]

18. File under "Duh"

God in heaven snorting government money like pigs at a trough is the only reason these bastards are involved in government in the first place. Bastards - at least buzzards eat the dead to survive, they eat the dead because they are in love with money.

[BrklynLiberal]

19. This was part of the Jan 2001 plan..when they were dividing the oil

fields in Iraq, they were also making lists for potential disaster recovery contracts.

[Joanne98]

20. Bush Allies Secure Post-Katrina Rebuilding Contracts......

Bush allies secure Post-Katrina rebuilding contracts
Companies with ties to the White House and the former head of FEMA have clinched some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group and the other is Halliburton-subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR). Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

Bechtel National, a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp, has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1457680.htm

[wakeme2008]

21. a link would be good

:)

[Joanne98]

22. There you go. Sorry...

[NeoConsSuck]

23. Great.

Our country has become a North American version of Iraq. Blackwater is patrolling New Orleans, Kellog Brown & Root are ripping off the taxpayers in a different venue.

The only thing that's not similar are missle attacks on Wolfowitz and his gang of neocons.

[daninthemoon]

24. This is probably the only planning FEMA did in advance.

[tom_paine]

25. Disgusting. No tragedy so awful Busheviks can't make some $$$$

These people are monsters, plain and simple.

[Miss Chybil]

26. It's amazing how this always seems to work out for these companies.

And now, they don't even have to pay the federal minimum wage. More money for Bush's friends.

[Blue_Tires]

28. kicked/nominated n/t

[moobu2]

29. You think

Congress will do a good job overseeing the money being spent? Hell no.
They’ll probably require a Republican loyalty oath before they’ll let companies get contracts.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

31. Things that go bump in the night.

:kick:

[maddezmom]

32. kick to combine

[Chicago Democrat]

33. Bush allies getting Katrina work (CNN - Reuters)

Bush allies getting Katrina work
Companies with ties to the White House among the first awarded reconstruction deals.
September 12, 2005: 2:48 PM EDT



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group Inc. (Research) and the other is Halliburton Co. (Research) subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

(snip)

Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.

Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/12/news/economy/katrina_contracts.reut/index.htm

[Robert Oak]

34. They locked this earlier even though today's news

I posted this earlier to get it locked.

I alerted the admin that this is a story published today,
giving more details on who is getting the contracts.

This is not stale Saturday news.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1773910&mesg_id=1773910

[Arkansas Democrat]

35. Sounds about right!

I dont know what can be done about this but I sure wish this was being seen in the news again and again!!

[spacelady]

36. They have no shame; just thumbing their noses at us. n/t

[Helga Scow Stern]

37. Recommended! It was on NPR too today, just now.

[lateo]

40. Isn't Shaw Group's CEO a Democrat?

What are Shaw Group's ties to the Bush team?

[lynne]

45. Shaw Group's CEO is head of LA DEMOCRATIC PARTY -

- his name is Jim Bernhard.

[liberallori]

38. HELP... I sent this to my brother (a repub) - here's his reply...

Bechtel Group Inc., one of the lead contractors in the reconstruction of Iraq gets $600,000,000.00 and $1.03 billion contracts for Iraq work. Diane Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum owns 24% of the company that got the contract.

Perini Corp, with contracts worth up to $525 million in Iraq and Afghanistan, is owned by a group of investors that includes Richard Blum, husband of Sen. Diane Feinstein, California Democrat and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The San Francisco based engineering firm URS Corp. received its second major Army contract since February. All told the company could make $3.7 billion over the next eight years. URS is owned in part by Richard Blum the husband of California Senator Dianne Feinstein.

The Shaw Group, a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, is headed by Jim Bernhard, the current chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. Bernhard worked tirelessly for Democrat Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s runoff campaign and served as co-chair of her transition team. Another Shaw executive was Blanco’s campaign manager. Bernhard is back-scratching chums with Blanco, whom he has lent/offered the Shaw Group’s corporate jets to on numerous occasions.

WHAT DO I SAY NOW????

[jayfish]

41. Uhhhh... Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right? -NT-

Jay

[Shakespeare]

42. *snort* yeah, right

THAT'S HUGH!!!11!!!1!!!oneoneoneoneone

[liberallori]

43. ????????

[President Kerry]

46. tell him that there's no justification for no bid contracts,

regardless of who gets 'em. What * is doing smacks of a centrally planned economy, which you bro is probably not a fan of.

[Arkansas Granny]

39. Hope they do a better job of accounting for this money than

they did in Iraq. Maybe they will just save time and issue them a blank check.