The Dearth of Outrage is Appalling

The AP reports that FEMA, "will extend, not rebid, deals with politically connected firms."

FEMA has broken its promise to reopen four multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts for Hurricane Katrina work, including three that federal auditors say wasted significant amounts of money.

Officials said they awarded the four contracts last October to speed recovery efforts that might have been slowed by competitive bidding. Some critics, however, suggested they were rewards for politically connected firms.

Acting FEMA Director R. David Paulison pledged last fall to rebid the contracts, which were awarded to Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Corp., CH2M Hill Inc. and Fluor Corp. Later, the agency acknowledged the rebidding wouldn'’t happen until February.

I'm SHOCKED. Not that there won't be rebidding, we all knew that when it comes to dolling out federal dollars to corporations with 'friendly' boards, Republicans just love to 'speed up the process.' Poor people trying to buy food for their families are a different story. Nor am I shocked that this potentially politically damaging news came out late in the day on a Friday. Nobody's thinking about anything other than the weekend at this point.

I'm shocked that the Administration didn't classify the whole procedure, claim that if we revealed our methods of handing out contracts the terrorists would win and blather on about how people who want things like government accountability just don't understand what it means to be a patriotic American.

Anything else? Oh, yeah, this gem:

An additional $1.5 billion in work promised to small businesses also has yet to be awarded.

Thanks to grossincompetencee (or more likely maliciousness) there are people who trusted their government to make good on its promises getting shafted.

Typical.

Bush FEMA Corruption