Bush Cohorts Profiteering at all levels


http://www.newshounds.us/2005/09/08/bush_cohorts_profiteering_at_all_levels.php


As Donna reported yesterday, inept FEMA director Mike Brown told a reporter on
Studio B that the removal of bodies from New Orleans was being handled by a
company called "Kenyon". Kenyon International bills itself as "Worldwide
Disaster Management." How convenient for GWBush to have a disaster management
company that enriches his friends and supporters to clean up after him as he
spreads disasters worldwide.


Kenyon is a wholly owned subsidiary of SCI Corp., "the largest provider of
funeral, cremation, and cemetery services in North America." SCI Corp is owned
by major Bush contributor and friend Robert Waltrip, who was at the center of
the scandal known as "Funeralgate".


Current FEMA Director Michael Brown was initially appointed to the position of
FEMA General Counsel by his chum, former FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh, who was
GWBush's Chief of Staff when Bush was governor of Texas. Allbaugh, in turn, was
appointed head of FEMA by Bush after the 2000 campaign, of which Allbaugh was
Campaign Manager. Along with Karen Hughes and Karl Rove, Allbaugh was part of
the Iron Triangle.


According to Jon Elliston's must-read A Disaster Waiting To Happen, published
9/28/04, Bush's


White House quickly launched a government-wide effort to privatize public
services, including key elements of disaster management. Bush's first budget
director, Mitch Daniels, spelled out the philosophy in remarks at an April 2001
conference: "The general idea -- that the business of government is not to
provide services, but to make sure that they are provided -- seems self-evident
to me," he said.
In a May 15, 2001, appearance before a Senate appropriations subcommittee,
Allbaugh signaled that the new, stripped-down approach would be applied at FEMA
as well. "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved
into both an oversized entitlement program and a disincentive to effective
state and local risk management," he said. "Expectations of when the federal
government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned
beyond what is an appropriate level."


As a result, says a disaster program administrator who insists on anonymity, "We
have to compete for our jobs -- we have to prove that we can do it cheaper than
a contractor." And when it comes to handling disasters, the FEMA employee
stresses, cheaper is not necessarily better, and the new outsourcing
requirements sometimes slow the agency's operations.


William Waugh, a disaster expert at Georgia State University who has written
training programs for FEMA, warns that the rise of a "consultant culture" has
not served emergency programs well. "It's part of a widespread problem of
government contracting out capabilities," he says. "Pretty soon governments
can't do things because they've given up those capabilities to the private
sector. And private corporations don't necessarily maintain those
capabilities."


" At the same time, Allbaugh gave off contradictory signals on the value of
mitigation (the measures taken in advance to minimize the damage caused by
natural disasters), on one occasion chastising a community for doing too little
to prepare in advance for disaster. In April 2001, he caused a stir when he
asked Iowans, then in the midst of massive flood recovery efforts, "How many
times will the American taxpayer have to step in and take care of this
flooding, which could be easily prevented by building levees and dikes?"


A month later, the Washington Post reported that the Bush administration's moves
against mitigation programs were causing worries in disaster-prone states.
"Statehouse critics of the proposed cuts contend that in the long run they
would cost the government more because many communities will be unable to
afford preventative measures and as a result will require more relief money
when disasters strike," the newspaper noted. "


Kenyon was in NYC for clean-up after the attack on the World Trade Center, and
they're in Iraq cleaning up mass graves. Now they're in NOLA cleaning up after
Bush's shrunken and incompetent FEMA. One could wonder if the "no hurry"
attitude exhibited by Michael Brown in getting help to the victims ensured a
bigger, longer contract for them.


Bush's old chums and cronies, placed in positions of enormous responsibility and
trust, have reduced a critically important American agency to a channel through
which they can funnel lucrative contracts to other old friends. This is a
scandal and a disgrace and the parties involved, all the way to the top, should
be removed immediately.