WP: Gulf Firms Losing Cleanup Contracts

[Pirate Smile]

Gulf Firms Losing Cleanup Contracts
Most Money Going Outside Storm's Path

By Griff Witte, Renae Merle and Derek Willis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 4, 2005; Page D01

Companies outside the three states most affected by Hurricane Katrina have received more than 90 percent of the money from prime federal contracts for recovery and reconstruction of the Gulf Coast, according to an analysis of available government data.

The analysis by The Washington Post takes into account only the first wave of federal contracts, those that had been entered in detail into government databases as of yesterday. Together they are valued at more than $2 billion. Congress has allocated more than $60 billion for the recovery effort, and the ultimate total is expected to rise far higher.

But already the trend toward out-of-state firms is clear, despite pledges by administration officials that federal funds for Katrina relief will become an engine of local economic redevelopment. Among the contracts analyzed, 3.8 percent of the money went to companies that listed an Alabama address, 2.8 percent to firms in Louisiana and just 1.8 percent went for Mississippi contractors. Taken together, that amounts to less than $200 million.

The lack of contracts for firms in the devastated area has angered local political and business leaders who say they fear that even with the massive commitment of federal money, the region's recovery will be stymied if funds primarily flow into the pockets of large, out-of-state corporations. It has also raised the ire of small-business advocates, who say the government has tilted the playing field against the companies that most desperately need the work.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/03/AR2005100301691.html

[aquart]

1. That's an outrage.

Save the state by destroying its businesses?

[SoCalDem]

2. Just like Iraq..

FEMA should have kept all the able bodied people who wanted to work and sent the mothers with children to shelters or the cruise ships.. They should ahve started at $20 an hour for clean up.. These families could have had a nice nest egg to start over once the dirty work was done ..

[sandnsea]

3. I wrote on this on Sept 16

Just saying.

"George Bush stood before the nation tonight and in an attempt to repair his tarnished image, unveiled the most massive reconstruction program since - maybe the reconstruction. At the same time, the US Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with FEMA announced 4 contracts worth $500 million each, with the option of an additional $500 million. While Bush touted local jobs and local small business incentives, the debris removal contracts have been awarded to 2 corporations in Florida, 1 in Minnesota and 1 in California. Not a very promising start."

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=1374

[OneBlueSky]

4. totally oblivious to the needs of real people . . .

it's all about corporate profits, and everything else is secondary . . . or tertiary . . . or worse . . .

they honestly DON'T CARE about people . . . about you, about me, about any of us . . . other than themselves and their cronies, of course . . .

[aaronbees]

5. Way to reinvest in those communities that are hurting...

:mad: Hardly surprising ... promises of giving a helping hand to the people and businesses of the Gulf Coast are nothing compared to the bottom line. That's BushCo principles at work.

[leesa]

6. Well, that's the deregulated free market...I'll bet these small business

owners worshiped the concept. Karma's a bitch.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

7. Kicked and recommended

I nearly fell out of my chair when I found out the first cleanup contract had gone to Halliburton. America is becoming one big story from The Onion.

[MissMarple]

8. The government doesn't know how to work with small companies.

Unless of course, they are run by friends of the GOP. Even the big corporations need to have donated "big time" to the GOP. Delay's indictment has highlighted how George and his people run the government. It's all pay to play with them.

And Olympia Snowe uses the lack of planning phrase. George and his cronies must think planning is for "the little people".

"Even so, the overall small percentage of contracts with local firms "suggests a lack of advance planning to tap local small business partners in an effective disaster response strategy," Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), who chairs the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said in a statement."

[FlaGranny]

9. Just like Iraq! n/t

[IbeaBonehead]

10. and this surprises precisely who?

lay with dogs - get fleas..

never mind

[ReadTomPaine]

16. Great cartoon! n/t

[ninkasi]

11. Giving the work to local firms

seems to be the best way to help the affected communities get back on their feet. Of course, it wouldn't do anything to help Bush's cronies, so they don't do it. It would be so nice to see even once, just one time, this administration do something to help regular people, especially since they are suffering.

But no, not even the people's suffering, not even the loss of their homes and businesses, not even their pleas for help, will sway Chimp from his absolute single minded devotion to handing out paybacks to his friends. It would be such a simple thing to do, it would get the work done faster, and for less money, it would give the people hope, but in spite of all of that, Republican greed rules the day.

[Toots]

12. There may be an explanation in that local contractors were decimated

by Katrina. If you had lost most of your equipment or had been forced to evacuate and are just now getting back to your place of business it would be hard to put in a bid for a government contract. What is becoming plain though is that people are coming from all across America to take part in the pillaging of the US treasury and will likely ace the locals out of the better job opportunities. Not to mention the govenrnment doing away with Davis-Bacon so that Halliburton does not have to pay fair wages. The poor and uneducated (black) are going to lose out again and again and again and again....

[pitohui]

14. they're going to have to pay better than fair wages

doing away w. davis-bacon is a joke, you are not going to be getting a licensed contractor, roofer, etc. for less than the going rate, in fact, you are going to pay more unless you want to restrict your crews to illegals who only speak mayan or something & have no idea what everyone else is being paid...

one lady they interviewed on nola.com had TWO roofing crews hired right off her roof in the same day

& this is a lady who had enough money to interest them enough to get started on her house to begin w.

i had two roofing crews hired right off my roof in a much smaller disaster a couple yrs back

if you want to go cheap, you are not going to get any workers

and, yes, local contractors, many of them actually lost their own homes & offices but others are back & do want work, the gov't is going to have to be willing to pay tho or they'll do the work for individuals who ARE willing to pay

that is the reality

[alfredo]

13. What else do they expect from the chimp, a fair shake?

Get real, he doesn't care about you.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Carpet baggers.

[mom cat]

17. BUSH turns his back on the SOUTH...The solid south may crack

under this abuse.

[salin]

19. guess the "engine for economic redevelopment" =

huge profits for outside companies - and lower than prevailing wage for residents.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. They've been doing this for some time.

Our parks department in this county steadily got rid of a lot of workers, claiming that they were only hiring parks & rec. rangers with degrees. Then, when the hurricanes hit, they went out of state, to Texas, actually, to hire people to come and clean up the parks. It really makes no sense, but that Jeb Bush was here, and that a Texas company was hired is suspect.

[NVMojo]

18. we need a separate posting area just for the many ways Bushco

screws Americans and other living creatures ...