Firms with Bush-Cheney ties clinching Katrina deals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — 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 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.

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."

Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume.

A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.

Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.

On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired.

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.

Cheney's office said the amount of deferred compensation is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.

Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects — Apply Here!"

Shaw said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the company with "general consulting on business matters," and would not say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. "We don't comment on specific consulting activities," he said.


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Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2005/09/11/inside-allbaugh.jpg Joe Allbaugh, seen here working on the Bush 2000 campaign, has at least two corporate clients with Katrina deals. 
By Paul Whyte, USA TODAY file

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-10-katrina-contracts_x.htm

Having worked on the Big Dig I find it incomprhensible that bechtel should ever recieve a government contract again.

Having worked on the Big Dig I find it incomprhensible that bechtel should ever recieve a government contract again.



It just goes to show ya, it is not a matter of WHAT you know but WHO you know.  ::)





Cat

Yadda yadda.  What is the deal with the way these press services work?  Why do people not have to sign there names to these stories.  I can't blame <Mr Rueters> for irrasponsable troublemaking journalism. >:(  Oviously, Bush and Chaney are two of the most connected business people in the US.  So oviously if a lot of big companies get government work, they have connections with a lot of the main executives involved.


This story gets a big yawn from me.

Has anybody seen who some of Joe Allbaugh's clients (and former clients) are?  Here are a few:

Daewoo
Northrop-Grumman
Boeing
Union Pacific
General Motors
Ford
British Patroleum
Hallburton
Shaw
K-Mart
True Position
Verizon

And the list goes on and on and on.  This gets a huge "So fracking what?" from me.

Remember, we are talking about a business lobyiest and advisor.  It should be no surprise that he has connections.

And once again, who would you prefer to employ to repair the things that are broken?  Should we give "Joe Bob's Mobile Home Sales" a blank check, and tell him to scrape up as many homes as possible?  No, we go to companies with the assets, experience, and people available to do the job.

We may not like some of the choices, but unless you can give me the name of another company as qualified to do the jobs, I guess we are stuck with them.

I just cant help but saying........That guy has got the flat top from HELL

Okay, I understand that companies will be needed to start the reconstruction, but don't you think they should get everything cleaned out and assess the damage BEFORE they start awarding contracts to people?


I don't know for certain but my rationale would be that they want to find an experienced company first, and do a jumpstart to assess the damage once the company is found so they do not have to transfer responsibilities and data and what not.

Okay, I understand that companies will be needed to start the reconstruction, but don't you think they should get everything cleaned out and assess the damage BEFORE they start awarding contracts to people?


I myself would have no problem with that.

But then, I can already hear the screams.  "Bush is not doing anything."  "They are sitting on their ass, and nothing is being done."

And it takes time to get people and resources for a project like this.  My ex-gf is already on alert that when she finishes her current project next month, she may be in the region for an indefinate period of time.  She works for a company that is the nations leader in providing water and sewer services.  Because of this, it is no surprise that every crew in the region that works for the company is preparing to move to try and clean things up.  But they have a contract to finish work on a local military base, and have it finished by the end of the fiscal year.

The fiscal year is a hard deadline, and can't be shifted.  But since New Orleans will not be ready for them for at least a month, it is no big problem.  It gives the company time to prepare, get equipment and people into the area, arrange transportation and living arrangements, and things like that.

On the one hand you've got your private profit incentive, which we are lead to believe--with some justification--is more efficient than government bureaucracy.
On the other hand, you've got your private profit incentive, which will seek to maximize profit by charging the most money for the cheapest materials, and skimping on costs all down the line.  This does not bode will for improving the lot of the have-nots who were stuck in crummy welfare state subsized housing to begin with.  Are American taxpayers going to get soaked paying for inflated government contracts while companies (such as Bechtel and Haliburton) get fat off of building balsawood homes for palatial prices?

http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2005/09/11/inside-allbaugh.jpg

To quote Cheech Marin in Born In East L.A., rocket scientist huh?  ;D ;D ;D