Re: MAILBAG: Follow the money on Katrina rebuild

>
> Subject: Kellogg, Brownie & Root
>
>
>
> Bush allies getting Katrina work
>
> Companies with ties to the White House among the
> first awarded
> reconstruction deals.
>
> September 12, 2005: 2:48 PM EDT
>
> 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. (Research) and the other is
> Halliburton Co.
> (Research) 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 ties
>
> 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 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. Jim
> Bernhard, chairman and CEO of Shaw Group, is also
> the chairman of the
> Louisiana Democratic Party.
>
> 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.
>
>
> Find this article at:
>
>
http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/12/news/economy/katrina_contracts.reut
>
>
>