Next thing to watch for…privatization of the reconstruction of New Orleans. The Republican led Congress will appropriate billions that will be divided into no-bid contracts that go to big Republican donors.
$236,000,000 - Amount FEMA agreed to pay Carnival Cruise Lines to house Katrina evacuees for six months in three ships, now half empty.
$2,550 - Average cost per person a week, based on the ships' current occupancy rate, according to senators Barack Obama and Tom Coburn
$599 - Price Carnival normally charges per person for a seven day western Caribbean cruise from Galveston, Texas.
Source: "Numbers" - Time Magazine - 10/10/05



" [T]he first winner out of the gate on Katrina is none other than the Halliburton Co., whose deserving subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root has already been granted a $29.8 million contract for cleanup work in the wake of Katrina.

Of course, no one would suggest Halliburton and its subsidiaries get government contracts (more than $9 billion for reconstruction work in Iraq, with Pentagon audits thus far showing $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported costs") just because Vice President Cheney is still on the payroll. Heavens no. The veep continues to receive deferred pay from the company he formerly headed -- $194,852 last year.

But Cheney has nothing to do with the Halliburton contracts -- that, friends, goes through none other than the noted lobbyist and former head of -- of all things -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Since Joe Allbaugh, who was Bush's campaign manger in 2000, left FEMA in December 2002, he has been busy making sure reconstruction contracts in Iraq go to companies that give generously to the Republican Party.

Now, aren't you ashamed of yourself for thinking there's something wrong with that? Besides, Allbaugh is now with a big-time Washington lobbying firm, where he also represents Shaw Group Inc., and -- viola -- Shaw Group, too, already has a $100 million emergency contract from FEMA for housing management and construction, and a $100 million order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Katrina repair.

Congress has appropriated over $60 billion in emergency funding for recovery costs, and estimates are the final costs will top $100 billion.
Source: "The graft goes on" by Molly Ivins - Creators Syndicate - 09.13.05



[The inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, Richard L. Skinner] , a former acting inspector general of FEMA, would not discuss details of the accusations his office had received in recent days involving hurricane relief projects. But he said he was dispatching about 30 investigators and auditors to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama next week to "focus on prevention, to prevent things from going wrong" in the way the disaster money is spent.

He said that his investigators would focus on several no-bid contracts awarded over the last two weeks to large, politically influential companies, including the Fluor Corporation of California, a major donor to the Republican Party, and the Shaw Group of Baton Rouge, La. Shaw is a client of Joe M. Allbaugh, a consultant who is the former head of FEMA and was President Bush's campaign manager in 2000.

Another of Mr. Allbaugh's clients - Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the giant defense contractor once led by Vice President Dick Cheney - is doing major repairs at Navy facilities along the Gulf Coast that were damaged by the hurricane. That work is being done under a $500 million contract with the Defense Department.

He said his investigators would also closely monitor expenditures on the government-issued credit cards of Department of Homeland Security contracting officials involved in the hurricane relief program. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, Congress last week raised the limit that could be charged on the cards to $250,000 from $25,000, a move that Democratic lawmakers have warned will invite fraud.
Source: "Official Vows Investigation of No-Bid Relief Contracts" By PHILIP SHENON - NY Times - September 14, 2005





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Comments Contributor Date Submitted
I don't suppose any local, minority-owned businesses will be receiving contracts, huge or little. This bunch in Washington makes me very, very sad, and angry. Linda
Denton
9/13/2005
When you say minority I assume you mean white males. Blue Max
9/22/2005
White males are not a minority. Webmaster
SpinShield
10/2/2005
Affirmative Action should now be applied to white males since thay are the minority. Blue Max
10/19/2005

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