Companies with ties to Bush gets Katrina contracts
 

The bullshit from this admin never ends.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9282533/

Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W. Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.

Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq.

But the web of Bush administration connections is attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100 billion.

"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight.

Halliburton Connection
Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.

In lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal was to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root."

Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has not, since he was hired, "consulted on any specific contracts that the company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company with any lobbying responsibilities."

what are you going to do? stop him? he got reelected you had your chance...

Handy when disaster strikes - it saves having another war to earn a dime.

"Conflict of interest" is a term yet unknown in the current Admin.

that is truely fucked up

who cares who does it as long as it gets done :2 cents:

Because of shit like this.

Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq.

Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.

I am on the wrong end of the food chain

Shit

Finish the fucking sentence dickwad:

Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office.

Halliburton again huh?? jeez, this shit is rediculous.

its very fucked up

It's all big business and the ultra rich.

They own the politicians and they control the US government.

Republicans, Democrats, there's no difference. Its just differenet super rich people behind the scenes pulling the puppet strings and sucking government money from your pockets to theirs.

The citizens of the United States have become sheep. Bah, bah, bah.

Doesn't matter who is in the White House. The corruption never ends.

Very sad, but very true.

ADG Webmaster

EXACTLY, thats why i dont give a fuck about politics..

sad but true

EXACTLY, that's why this stuff happens...