izing From Tragedy
By: Daniel Hall
Let’s say you're in charge of a heavily industrialized nation. Now let’s say that your nation has given billions of dollars in the form of no-bid contracts to several major corporations in order to rebuild a country you illegally invaded. Somewhere along the line you find that the company that has received the largest contract has been defrauding your nation of millions of dollars. Now let’s say a large city in your nation was absolutely devastated by a natural disaster. What would you do?
If your answer was 'award no-bid contracts to the same company you've already found to be cheating your country out of millions of dollars' then I suggest running for public office. Yes, even you could be President of the United States.
While it would be great if what I just presented was a hypothetical situation, the truth of the matter is that the Bush administration is guilty of doing just this. This spring, the Defense Contract Audit Agency identified Halliburton subsidiary KBR as overcharging $212 million dollars for work done in Iraq. It seems that a President who comes from a political party big on fiscal responsibility would learn from this. However if you look at the no-bid contracts given out by the federal government to rebuild New Orleans, you will see an alarming number of the same corporations. So far contracts have been handed out to Bechtel, Fluor, Halliburton and Shaw.
Handing out no-bid contracts to these companies is irresponsible. Continuing to hand out contracts to a corporation (Halliburton) that has been shown to overcharge U.S. taxpayers is doubly so.
Why might these contracts be handed out in such a fashion? Why is our government giving the same companies who profited off the war in Iraq a green light to profit off the misery left in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?
The Wall Street Journal spells out the answer in an article published Sept.30, entitled “Connections Are Key to Contracts for Katrina Aid.” As with the war in Iraq having connections to the Bush White House seems to determine which corporations receive contracts. It is a well known fact that Dick Cheney was the one time head of Halliburton. Joe Allbaugh, former Bush campaign manager and head of FEMA from 2001-2003, is also a key part to this puzzle. As a lobbyist, Allbaugh has represented both The Shaw group and Halliburton.
Even more troubling than the fact that 80 percent of the contracts given out to rebuild the Gulf Coast involved no bidding process, giving a green light to allow fraud and overspending is the vision for New Orleans expressed by many leaders to affect rebuilding. Republicans in Congress and the White House are using the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina to push through programs that would lift any regulation of industry in the region. Already the Prevailing Wage Law, in place in Louisiana since the passage of the 1931 Davis-Bacon act has been overturned. This law previously guaranteed that any company taking government contracts would pay its workers a competitive wage.
The deregulation of business has not been limited to giving companies the ability to pay less than a ‘livable’ wage. The Houston Chronicle has reported that a bill has been drafted by senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency,which would allow for the exemption of regulations put in place under the Clean Air Act.
The disaster area along the Gulf Coast seems to be turning into a playground for some conservative politicians. Tom Feeney, a Republican member of the House was quoted in the St. Petersburg Times as saying "We'll be pushing conservative ideas in a city that has been beleaguered by big government liberalism, corruption and a large amount of systemic poverty." Getting rid of environmental regulations and allowing businesses to pay low wages will not help the people of New Orleans rebuild their lives.
The utter irresponsibility of the Bush Administration is truly alarming. The crony-ism that seems to be the prevailing means of doing business in the White House has already allowed corporations to make millions off an illegal war and occupation. It now seems that rebuilding of New Orleans will be no different than the 'rebuilding' that has been going on in Iraq, with corporations making millions at the expense all of us.
Feedback Welcome 
Here
<small>P
spank bare ass spanking self spanking caning video otk caning girl
amateur upskirts panty upskirts hot girls in skirts schoolgirl skirts side skirts hot girls in skirts
reality pass plus dvd vr search reality porn reality show reality porn review search reality porn
scat piss pregnant piss pregnant amateur scat piss drinking girls shit
pictures of animals having sex animals porn free animal porno girls animal sex sex animal animal sex free
naked gay bears nude gay bears bears gays gay daddy bears mature gay bears gay older bears
ejaculation pussy masterbation tips masterbation pics wanking masturbation gallery mutual masturbation
?|
?|
</small>