Rove’s Katrina Reconstruction Should Warn Us That Paulson's Cash Giveaway Is a Bush/GOP Scam

[McCamy Taylor]

I. Once Bitten Twice Shy

I can think of one reason why the Bush administration might want to get its hands on close to a trillion dollars of tax payer money that it can hand out to any corporation or investor it feels like in the next couple of months. The Republicans are lagging behind the Democrats in fund raising this year.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9665.html

Palin has temporarily helped John McCain raise money, but there are lots of other GOP candidates who need lots of cash as the election nears.

If the administration could dole out the corporate welfare to reliable Republican donors, they could have their employees make campaign contributions to Republican candidates right when they need it most, in order to pay for a last minute television blitz of advertising as well as teams of lawyers to counter all those pesky legal challenges of the voter suppression efforts which the RNC is mounting.

Think that the Bush administration would not use tax payer money designated for a national emergency in order to further the Republican political agenda? You must not have been paying attention to what Karl Rove was up to during the time that he was in charge of the Katrina reconstruction funds.

Anyone with an ounce of sense knew that there was only one reason why Karl Rove would be placed in charge of that much money. His job was to funnel the cash to those businesses which could be counted upon to donate some of it back to the right Republican Congressional candidates in the 2006 elections---and keep it out of the hands of businesses which might donate money to Democratic candidates.

Then, there was Grover Norquist’s plan. Bankrupt the federal government now so that it would be unable to enact social reforms under a future Democratic administration. Recall Bill Kristol's theory that if Democrats ever get a chance to enact universal health care, they will become the party of FDR again---that means 20 years of executive power. Plus, there was the Bush-Cheney administration’s premiere raison d’etre which has always been to line their own pockets and that of their friends in big business.

Knowing all this, it was clear that the Katrina Slush Fund would not be used to aid the victims of the Hurricane. Instead, it would be a run on the federal tax coffers, with Republican partisan Karl Rove in charge.

II. The Katrina Reconstruction Slush Fund

Here is an eye opening article from OpenSecrets.org from way back in October 2005. It is called “Ties that Bind:A money-in-politics look at some Hurricane Katrina contractors whose political ties have raised questions in Washington.”
by Courtney Mabeus

http://www.opensecrets.org/capital_eye/inside.php?ID=188

The political ties of several contractors hired to help with Hurricane Katrina cleanup efforts are being called into question by some lawmakers and government officials who have said they fear those ties could lead to abuse.
Of the $2.3 billion in contracts awarded by the federal government in the weeks since Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, at least 15 exceed $100 million; including five that are valued at $500 million or more, according to a New York Times analysis. More than 80 percent of those contracts were awarded with little or no competition.
Snip
A Washington Post analysis earlier this month found that less than $200 million, or about seven percent of the money already spent, has gone to Alabama, Louisiana or Mississippi companies.
Several of the companies that won huge contracts have close ties to Washington lobbyists, as well as lawmakers. They include AshBritt Environmental, based in Pompano Beach, Fla., and Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root. Baton Rouge, La.-based Shaw Environmental, a subsidiary of the Shaw Group, is the largest local company, with 18,000 employees, to receive Katrina contracts, according to government records.

I decided to delve deeper and found that in this case where there was smoke there was indeed fire.

Take the case of Flur Co. from Texas, which received one of the notorious, lucrative no bid contracts for Katrina housing (you know, formaldehyde trailers)

In the weeks and months following the storm, the doled out lucrative, no-bid contracts to politically connected companies. Texas-based Fluor Corp., one of the largest procurement and construction companies in the world, was one of four companies awarded contracts worth $400 million each to provide the ubiquitous “FEMA trailers” to homeless residents.(52) The Fluor Political Action Committee donated more than $500,000 in the 2006 election cycle; when it gave directly to U.S. Congressional candidates, 74 percent of its campaign contributions went to Republicans.

See? For a whopping sum of $400 million, Rove was able to funnel $400,000 to Republican Congressional candidates. An investment of $1000 for each dollar donated. What a deal! Maybe he even got to tell Fluor which GOP Congressmen needed the cash.

Note that Fluor was in the middle of settling a lawsuit over a case in which it over billed the federal government.

http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/fluor110405.htm

Before Bush-Cheney, stuff like that was grounds to strip companies of their right to work for the federal government. Under Bush, it became a reason to exempt them from the bidding process. Halliburton was one of the first which was able to continue getting federal contracts despite being convicted of fraud (under Clinton).

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13414

Bechtel---that is another familiar name. They were big Bush donors and got Iraq War contracts. They also got no bid Katrina contracts. Guess how they donated money during the 2006 Congressional campaigns?

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bechtel

The Bechtel political action committee gave $269,500 to federal candidates in the 2006 election - 37% to Democrats and 62% to Republicans.

The Shaw Group was one of the top donors to Rep. Gov. of Louisiana Bobby Jindal. Good thing they had a lucrative no bid contract from Karl Rove.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bobby_Jindal

From the link above about Shaw, Fluor and their trailers:

But two years later the “renaissance” that residents dreamed of has yet to materialize. Many feel isolated, abandoned and simply want to return home. During the first year after Katrina, residents were already speaking of an oppressive prison-like atmosphere. The site is surrounded by a chain-link fence and protected by armed guards. Residents had to wear identification badges at all times, while security guards blocked all outsider access to the camp and prohibited residents from giving interviews.(43)

Drug use has become rampant with some trailers used exclusively as drug distribution centers. Furthermore, one resident, Michael Whins, told 225 magazine, a local Baton Rouge paper, that Keta employees took "the lion’s share of donations intended for park residents" such as kids' bikes.(44)

And recently it turned out that the toxic atmosphere was a literal as well as metaphoric description. The trailers were recently reported to be contaminated with formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

I wonder if Jindel thinks those trailers make a good statement about Louisiana.

CH2M Hill Inc. which got the last of the big no bid contracts (and which recently bought VECO in Alaska of Ted Stevens fame) proves that you can not buy corporate loyalty. According to Open Secrets.org, they used to give over 60% to the Republicans up until 2004, but in 2006 that dropped to 53% and this year they are giving more to Democrats.

Then there is Ashbritt which got a big clean up contract. Their claim to fame? The year before they gave $50,000 to the Republican National Committee.

Ashbritt has also come under fire after a report in The Washington Post revealed that until October 2005, AshBritt listed itself in government databases as a minority-owned, woman-owned company, even though it's run by a white man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashbritt

From the OpenSecrets.org article above

AshBritt employees have contributed $30,500 to federal candidates, parties and leadership political action committees since 1999. Of that, $26,500 has gone to Republicans.

KBR (Halliburton) which got a big slice of the federal pie was also a reliable GOP donor.

Allbaugh, who was Bush’s chief of staff while Bush was governor of Texas, represents Kellogg Brown & Root and Shaw Environmental.
At the federal level, Joe and Diane Allbaugh have contributed $20,000 to Republicans since 1999, including $2,000 to Bush in 1999 and again in 2004. That total does not include an additional $1,340 that Allbaugh contributed to Bush's inaugural committee in January. Allbaugh could not be reached for comment.
KBR, which has received a reported $60 million in contracts, is owned by Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former employer. KBR is working for the Navy and Homeland Security Department on Gulf cleanup. Its employees and PAC have contributed $128,000 to federal candidates, party committees and leadership PACs since 1999. Of that, $116,500 has gone to Republicans, including $7,502 to Bush.

There is also more on Shaw:

Shaw Environmental has a $100 million contract with the Army Corps of Engineers and another $100 million agreement with FEMA that will be reopened to competition. Shaw Group employees have contributed $224,824 to federal candidates, parties and leadership PACs since 1999. Of that, $103,500 has gone to Republicans. Shaw also contributed $100,000 to Bush's inaugural committee this year.

III. You Do Not Have To Own a Tinfoil Hat to Think That Trusting the Bush Administration With Our Money is a Bad Idea

So, before we trust the Bush administration with an enormous wad of our money we need to ask ourselves why Lehman Brothers was allowed to collapse but Goldman Sacks (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s company) gets the VIP treatment and no company with Morgan in its name can ever be tainted with even a hint of failure and why the Bush administration needs to be free to give the money to whomever it wants right now no questions asked.

Why does Paulson demand that he have no accountability? Why does he want to be assured that no one will ever take him to court? Who is he afraid will take him to court? Who does he plan to screw over?

Here is a cartoon I did way back when---before Rove started spending his new found Katrina Reconstruction wealth. I admit, that I am more skeptical than some:

[Lilith Velkor]

1. kick & 5th rec

:woohoo:

[bleever]

2. I've never seen this much detail about Rove's Katrina machinations.

Really good work.

K&R.

[Stardust]

3. K&R. Great research. Have I mentioned how much I despise these people?

[Vanje]

4. Kicked! nt

[Joe Chi Minh]

5. K&R

[Krashkopf]

6. Kick . . .Far and Wide

[BraneMatter]

7. Once again...

a great post!!!

And don't forget all the billions paid out to the war contractors, and billions more that have just disappeared down black holes in Iraq and the "war on terror."

Bush has funneled TRILLIONS to the GLOBAL MASTERS, and now he wants another trillion as he makes his exit and getaway...

It's been the biggest robbery and transfer of wealth in history under Bush.

[unpossibles]

8. K&R!

Interesting take, and I agree, especially in light of the lack of oversight, and how the administration is fighting the very idea of said oversight.

[tom_paine]

9. K & R and bookmarked for a wealth of good info!

[crickets]

10. Sickening. K&R

:mad:

[Willo]

11. K&R Is there a Digg link for this?

[Karenina]

12. NO CASH FOR TRASH!

They want money? We want an INDEPENDENT AUDIT FIRST!