Katrina work goes to officials who led Iraq effort

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2005-10-06T180122Z_01_N02716578_RTRIDST_0_HURRICANES-CONTRACTORS-SPECIAL-REPORT.XML

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Top officials who managed U.S. reconstruction projects in Iraq have been hired by some of the same big companies that received those contracts and which are now involved in a rush of deals to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

A review of company statements and documents show that two former directors of the Projects and Contracting Office in Baghdad are now working -- either directly or indirectly -- with major Iraq contractors.

Top officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Pentagon's inspector general office have also joined companies that are benefiting from Katrina contracts and subcontracts in what is expected to be one of the world's biggest reconstruction efforts, worth as much as $200 billion by some accounts.

Some lawmakers and watchdog groups complain that contractors like Shaw Group Inc. <SGR.N>, Bechtel National Inc., and Halliburton Co. <HAL.N> subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root are using inside connections to win lucrative deals.

Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, accused the government of "throwing money to the usual suspects" and warned that the "revolving door compounds the problem of the government steering contracts with little, or no competition, to non-responsible contractors."

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday: "Under the Bush administration, the revolving door is spinning out of control;" Acting FEMA Director David Paulison said federal contracts for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts that were handed out with little or no competition would be rebid.

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[Teaser]

1. As they say in the Guinness commercial:

BRILLIANT!

[Angry Girl]

2. No shame, no accountability.

If this were in a screenplay, it would be rejected on the basis that the plot lacks credibility.

[Solly Mack]

3. The Bush Regime is doing exactly what it was selected for

to generate profits for their cronies (and themselves, of course)

It's what they do - use America's resources (defining a resource as anything and anyone that can be used to further their aims) to make as much money as possible until the ride's over - and to create laws and rules that ensure the ride continues, even if they aren't the ones doing the driving.

To that ilk, America is just another country to pillage and Americans are just another people to exploit.

Nothing more.

[Atman]

7. Hey, he promised he'd "run America like a business."

He's doing exactly that. He's running it just like he's run every other business he's ever been involved with.

[acmavm]

4. They gotta hurry up and steal as much as they can. Get while the

gettings good and all that.

[superconnected]

5. This is going to give Bush and his Cronies ideas that it's

more profitable, convient and safer to destroy and rebuild american cities than iraq ones.

[UpInArms]

6. related: Hurricane contracts to be rebid - U.S. official

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-10-06T185106Z_01_N06675070_RTRIDST_0_HURRICANES-CONGRESS.XML

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Contracts for clean-up and rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina that were awarded without competition will be opened up for rebidding, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Thursday.

David Paulison, who took over at FEMA last month after the previous director quit under a hail of criticism, told the Senate Homeland Security Committee that the agency was looking at the no-bid contracts carefully and was striving to reduce dependence on them in future disasters.

"We are going to rebid all of those no-bid contracts and then they were in the process of starting to do that," Paulison said. "And maybe they should have done sooner."

He said he had "never been a fan of no-bid contracts," but that "sometimes you have to do them because of the expediency of getting things done."

Contracts worth at least $1.5 billion were awarded to firms with little or no competition to help clean up and begin the reconstruction of the devastated Gulf Coast region, and local many contractors were pushed aside.

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