This is why Americans should be pissed

[SobaViolence]

about Katrina (http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0911-30.htm), anyway

This fatal failure should be evidence that it is time for an attitude adjustment in Washington. If just a few heads roll, it won't be enough, because the problem is far more than incompetent, uncaring, slow-to-awaken, negligent appointees. It's the "starve the beast" philosophy that has hollowed out important government agencies. Hurricane Katrina should make the Republicans who control the White House and Congress ashamed of themselves.

[yeahwho]

Katrina came through and blew the lid off of this administrations failed policy decisions. I still am amazed at how much more of a colossal fuck up GWB has turned out to be than I anticipated. It's been an amazingly ugly 5 years.

Profiteering has no boundaries with these guys.

[EN[i]GMA]

Erm, how exactly are they profiteering from this?

[Vladimir]

I second that question...I mean I agree that they are creeps and that they fucked over a whole city, but the fact is that the Bush people are getting crucified over this, I don't see how they are profiting in any way.

[valvano]

so i guess the local and state govts did an excellent job then, huh? it was bush's fault that they left all those school buses in new orleans to flood instead of using them to get the poor people out? i guess it was also his fault that 2 of the 3 boats owned by the NOPD were broke down?

my lottery numbers didnt come up last night, can i blame bush on that??

so you are saying that when a hurricane comes and you ignore all the warnings, you do some looting and raping and murdering, after thats all done and you find yourself sitting in your own filth you should blame the president for the condition your are in???

thanks for clarifying that for me!!
(y)

[K-nowledge]

^ (y)

Yup! It's all Bush's fault. :rolleyes:

I burnt my toast this morning and the first thing I did was blame Bush.

[ms.peachy]

GMA']Erm, how exactly are they profiteering from this?
Haliburton, I reckon.

[valvano]

Haliburton, I reckon.


and the profits are being routed through the saudi royal family??

:)

[DroppinScience]

I burnt my toast this morning and the first thing I did was blame Bush.

I burnt my toast today, too. However, I didn't blame Bush. I blamed the mayor of New Orleans. And Hitler.

[ToucanSpam]

I burnt my toast today, too. However, I didn't blame Bush. I blamed the mayor of New Orleans. And Hitler.
Everyone's always taking pot shots at Hitler.

Pick on Wilhelm, he started it!

Pick on Bismark really..

[Documad]

so you are saying that when a hurricane comes and you ignore all the warnings, you do some looting and raping and murdering, after thats all done and you find yourself sitting in your own filth you should blame the president for the condition your are in???
Are you saying that if you can't afford to buy a car and rent a hotel room for a few weeks you deserve to be starved, raped and/or murdered? Because that's what I'm reading. :confused:

[Schmeltz]

when a hurricane comes and you ignore all the warnings, you do some looting and raping and murdering, after thats all done and you find yourself sitting in your own filth


Now there's a truly empathetic and rational position: blame the victim! And then smear and defame him! One would expect no less from a conservative, I suppose.

[valvano]

schmelz and documad,

you ever heard of personal responsibility? of course, i dont blame the poor in new orleans, the democratic party have fooled the poor and disadvantaged to believe the the us govt will look out for their best interest, that the govt will get them social justice, economic justice, will make sure they are safe and secure, just put all your trust in the dems and the fed govt....

and as i posted on another thread, the govt fucked them over, just like it does with everything it gets involved with...

so if you allow yourself to put into that position, then you were screwed long before katrina ever showed up on any weather map...

:eek:

[QueenAdrock]

Everyone's always taking pot shots at Hitler.

Pick on Wilhelm, he started it!

...I'm related to Wilhelm. :(

[QueenAdrock]

of course, i dont blame the poor in new orleans, the democratic party have fooled the poor and disadvantaged to believe the the us govt will look out for their best interest


I'm pretty sure the democratic party believes that this government doesn't give a SHIT about anyone. The democrats just believe they should.

[QueenAdrock]

Can't you say any goddamn thing else? You've posted up that same goddamn phrase AT LEAST 10 TIMES BEFORE! Stop throwing out goddamn catch phrases and learn how to use your brain!

I mean, JESUS FUCKIN' CHRIST!

[Documad]

you ever heard of personal responsibility? of course, i dont blame the poor in new orleans, the democratic party have fooled the poor and disadvantaged to believe the the us govt will look out for their best interest, that the govt will get them social justice, economic justice, will make sure they are safe and secure, just put all your trust in the dems and the fed govt....
Are you an American? Did you go to school in the USA by any chance? If so, I'm really confused. What do you thing the federal government is there for?

I don't expect the federal government to protect me from natural disasters but if most of the country is still functioning after a serious natural disaster occurs in my part of the USA, I expect the federal government to do everything humanly possible to help my region get through the worst part of its aftermath. And I'm happy to spend my tax dollars doing that for you too.

And for the record: I am the fucking QUEEN of personal responsibility. It's just that I don't expect nursing home residents to wheel themselves hundreds of miles down the freeway in their hospital beds and whatnot. And frankly, I don't keep a week's supply of water on hand at my home.

[Medellia]

it was bush's fault that they left all those school buses in new orleans to flood instead of using them to get the poor people out?
Kinda hard to get people out of town on buses when there's nobody to drive them.

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (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 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. <SGR.N> and the other is Halliburton Co. <HAL.N> subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton. (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09727978.htm)
Yep, Halliburton.

PS-Did anyone else see the footage of Harry Conick Jr. saving that little old man? Christ, that really choked me up.

[D_Raay]

^ (y)

Yup! It's all Bush's fault. :rolleyes:

I burnt my toast this morning and the first thing I did was blame Bush.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9240828/site/newsweek/#survey

You are in the minority regardless of what you think... 86, 000 people on this one poll think otherwise.

[Ali]

^ (y)

Yup! It's all Bush's fault. :rolleyes:

I burnt my toast this morning and the first thing I did was blame Bush.It happened on his watch. Kerry would have gotten the blame just the same. That's politics, man, using any opportunity you can to knock down the opposition. You know that damn well.

[D_Raay]

I don't even have to make Bush look bad here are some of his quotes:

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." –President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina

"We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is — and it's hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter) —President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." –President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring Hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005 -after which "Brownie" was relieved of his duties.

Oh and how about his Mummy's quote:

"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle) – this is working very well for them." –Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5, 2005

And of course "Brownie" himself:

"Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005

Then there is the current first lady which is a video of her not even knowing the correct name of the hurricane:

http://prisonplanet.com/Pages/Sept05/100905wife.htm

[D_Raay]

GMA']Erm, how exactly are they profiteering from this?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050910/pl_nm/contracts_dc;_ylt=AriIiBLY1z8kOHr9B0endJIDW7oF;_yl u=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

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,the college roommate of Michael Brown and
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.

TWO BUSH APPOINTEES AT HALLIBURTON

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

[Ali]

They were in the right place at the right time.

Democrat campaign contributors would have gotten the contracts if it was the other way round.

[D_Raay]

They were in the right place at the right time.

Democrat campaign contributors would have gotten the contracts if it was the other way round.
And that makes it right?

[Ali]

And that makes it right?That makes it Politics.

[D_Raay]

That makes it Politics.
And again that makes it right?

[ToucanSpam]

...I'm related to Wilhelm. :(
Then you must be related in some way to the royal family.....

[infidel]

so i guess the local and state govts did an excellent job then, huh? it was bush's fault that they left all those school buses in new orleans to flood instead of using them to get the poor people out?
(y)
The mayor did suggest using the school buses for evacuations but was told that the drivers would have to have to bus drivers licenses for liability reasons. Many school buses were used when a driver could be found, but most drivers evacuated beforehand.
Even if all the buses had been used they would have only been able to make one trip since all highways out of New Orleans were converted to one way. Sure they could have helped some people, but just a very small fraction.

[Ali]

And again that makes it right?It makes it real... and irrelevant.

I don't think that the fact that Republican Campaign Contributors got first choice on reconstruction contracts makes any difference to anybody, except Democrat wanting to score points.

There are much more important things to worry about.