Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon-4) rips *'s "political hacks" - BRAVO!!!!

[paineinthearse]

Yesterday Rep. DeFazio gave a "one minute speech" in which he ripped Mike ``you're-doing-a-heck-of-a-job-Brownie'' Brown, David Safavian, and other "political hacks" in the * administration. See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4911697&mesg_id=4911697)

Today, Rep. DeFazio's speech has been printed in the Congressional Record. For the reading pleasure of all, especially those who say Dems lack spine.....

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?r109:./temp/~r109QAbKLe

(Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

POLITICAL HACKS -- (House of Representatives - September 28, 2005)

(Page: H8393)
---
(Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Mr. DeFAZIO. The Bush-Rove administration has delivered cronyism, incompetence and corruption in spades. Mike ``you're-doing-a-heck-of-a-job-Brownie'' Brown is the poster child for the hundreds of unqualified, often incompetent, political hacks chosen to head, to demean, demoralize and dismantle critical Federal agencies like FEMA.

Then there is the corruption side. Mr. Brown, as he was resigning, at the same time one of his buddies, David Safarian, the head of Federal procurement for the entire government of the United States, $300 billion a year, is being led out of the White House in handcuffs for perjury, influence peddling and bribery, but he did his job till the end as a Bush political appointee. Before they drug him out in handcuffs, he let billions of dollars in no-bid contracts, awarded to Halliburton and other favorites of this administration.

Good job, Mr. Safarian. I hope prison is a good reward for you.

END

My hat is off to Rep. DeFazio :yourock:

Background information from the current issue of Time - http://www.time.com/time /

How Many More Mike Browns Are Out There?

A TIME inquiry finds that at top positions in some vital government agencies, the Bush Administration is putting connections before experience

David Safavian didn't have much hands-on experience in government contracting when the Bush Administration tapped him in 2003 to be its chief procurement officer. A law-school internship helping the Pentagon buy helicopters was about the extent of it. Yet as administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Safavian, 38, was placed in charge of the $300 billion the government spends each year on everything from paper clips to nuclear submarines, as well as the $62 billion already earmarked for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. It was his job to ensure that the government got the most for its money and that competition for federal contracts-- among companies as well as between government workers and private contractors--was fair. It was his job until he resigned on Sept. 16 and was subsequently arrested and charged with lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with the Federal Government.

Safavian spent the bulk of his pregovernment career as a lobbyist, and his nomination to a top oversight position stunned the tightly knit federal procurement community. A dozen procurement experts interviewed by TIME said he was the most unqualified person to hold the job since its creation in 1974. Most of those who held the post before Safavian were well-versed in the arcane world of federal contracts. "Safavian is a good example of a person who had great party credentials but no substantive credentials," says Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit Washington watchdog group. "It's one of the most powerful positions in terms of impacting what the government does, and the kind of job--like FEMA director--that needs to be filled by a professional." Nevertheless, Safavian's April 2004 confirmation hearing before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee (attended by only five of the panel's 17 members) lasted just 67 minutes, and not a single question was asked about his qualifications.

The committee did hold up Safavian's confirmation for a year, in part because of concerns about work his lobbying firm, Janus- Merritt Strategies, had done that he was required to divulge to the panel but failed to. The firm's filings showed that it represented two men suspected of links to terrorism (Safavian said one of the men was "erroneously listed," and the other's omission was an "inadvertent error") as well as two suspect African regimes. Ultimately, the committee and the full Senate unanimously approved Safavian for the post.

His political clout, federal procurement experts say privately, came from his late-1990s lobbying partnership with Grover Norquist, now head of Americans for Tax Reform and a close ally of the Bush Administration. Norquist is an antitax advocate who once famously declared that his goal was to shrink the Federal Government so he could "drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." As the U.S. procurement czar, Safavian was pushing in that direction by seeking to shift government work to private contractors, contending it was cheaper. Federal procurement insiders say his relationship with Norquist gave Safavian the edge in snaring the procurement post. But Norquist has "no memory" of urging the Administration to put Safavian in the post, says an associate speaking on Norquist's behalf. A White House official said Norquist "didn't influence the decision." Clay Johnson, who was designated by the White House to answer all of TIME's questions about administration staffing issues and who oversaw the procurement post, says Safavian was "by far the most qualified person" for the job. Perhaps it also didn't hurt that Safavian's wife Jennifer works as a lawyer for the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees federal contracting.

more.....

[gratuitous]

1. "I hope prison is a good reward for you"

Ka-blam. Nicely said, Peter.

Of course, Bush still has his pardon power, and I fully expect he'll wear out an autopen or two issuing "Get Out of Jail Free" cards to all his cronies.

[existentialist]

2. Not to mention

that the Administration can still hire fired cronies as consultants--including, right now Mr. Brown who is still drawing the same salary now as a consultant that he was as head of FEMA.