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Katrina No Bid Contracts Making DHS IG "Apprehensive"

by Last Night in Little Rock

Articles about no bid contracts from the Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency are starting to pile up. Today's NY Times has "Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise Questions" quoting the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Homeland Insecurity.

More than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency alone [post-Katrina] were awarded without bidding or with limited competition, government records show, provoking concerns among auditors and government officials about the potential for favoritism or abuse.

Already, questions have been raised about the political connections of two major contractors--the Shaw Group and Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton--that have been represented by the lobbyist Joe M. Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former leader of FEMA.

"When you do something like this, you do increase the vulnerability for fraud, plain waste, abuse and mismanagement," said Richard L. Skinner, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, who said 60 members of his staff were examining Hurricane Katrina contracts. "We are very apprehensive about what we are seeing."

As noted previously here, as noted on FEMA's own website, he commented that FEMA was an "oversized entitlement program."

The question now is: for whom? Bush's cronies or the victims of disaster or both? The victims of disaster get short shrift while the cronies make out like bandits.

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    And is anyone left of extreme right surprised? It's a bit like your neighbor siphoning your car's gas tank dry every day and not even trying to hide in the cover of the night. Bush and his associates stand in front of your picture window while pumping your tank dry and wave "Howdy!" when you look out the window. Hubris? Chutzpah? No, much worse.

    Re: Katrina No Bid Contracts Making DHS IG "Appreh (none / 0) (#2)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:19 PM EST
    Dongus - And if they went through the bid process, it would be 9 months before anything was done. Is that acceptable?

    Re: Katrina No Bid Contracts Making DHS IG "Appreh (none / 0) (#3)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:19 PM EST
    Yeah, Jim, it's because they care. Good one.

    Re: Katrina No Bid Contracts Making DHS IG "Appreh (none / 0) (#4)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:19 PM EST
    Tell ya what, I'll fix the budget and win the war in Iraq over the weekend for only 1 billion dollars. Just don't ask questions. If you don't approve, you hate America, because you'd rather spend more time and money. Prove me wrong.

    JimakaPPJ, et al-- Another example of W's lack of preparedness. No prequalified contractors operating under pre-arranged agreements (including performance objectives). This bunch is wholly reactive (and even that part is defective)--no planning. Halliburton divisions got the work under a handshake. See the man siphoning your tank? Don't forget to wave back. Hope hitchhiking is legal in your neck of the woods. God save America!

    Re: Katrina No Bid Contracts Making DHS IG "Appreh (none / 0) (#6)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:24 PM EST
    I will do it for 800 Million dollars... Oops! That is competitive bidding. Sorry.