"Auditors Eye Open-Ended Katrina Contracts"

[GreenPartyVoter]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Government auditors are questioning whether several multimillion-dollar Katrina contracts - including one involving a Halliburton Co. (HAL) subsidiary - invite abuse because they are open-ended and not clearly defined.

The contracts, for services such as levee repair and emergency housing, were granted to companies based on their pre-existing business relationships with the government. Critics say the arrangements foster cronyism because a few repeat players typically get the best deals.

The Government Accountability Office and the Homeland Security Department, which has primary responsibility for reviewing the billions of dollars worth of Katrina contracts, said they will focus on the agreements that were awarded with little or no competition.

They include "indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity" contracts such as those involving Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc. of Arlington, Va., and San-Francisco-based Bechtel Corp. Both firms have strong ties to the Bush administration.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20050922/D8CPHBG00.html

[annabanana]

1. Anybody got a problem with that money shovel?

("not as long as it dumps a little on me")

[Missy M]

2. Open-ended contracts - No bid contracts........

just Washington DC doing business as always. All of this going to the chosen view companies. Just think if they gave other smaller businesses that would probably do a better job a chance. It just might help the country, but then again we wouldn't want to do that, would we.