BREAKING HARD: FEMA, Bush, SCI, and 1999 Funeralgate as Governor

[expatriot]

This shows Bush was aware of SCI's problems intimately.
Bush and the corporation hired to do body recovery in Louisiana go way back.

This is a Google follow up on the LBN article from Raw Story
FEMA, La. outsource Katrina body count to firm implicated in body-dumping scandals
I am at work and need to go back to work right now so I will be offline immediately after posting. Keep this alive.

FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh Resigns: Skeletons Here, There, and Everywhere......Literally

Bush was subpoenaed in 1999, but refused to testify as to what his involvement was in halting an investigation into SCI's embalming practices, among other things. A Texas judge put everything right for Bush just in time to campaign for the presidency, ruling that he could not be forced to testify by an ousted regulatory official, who had not produced enough evidence or that Bush had "unique and superior personal knowledge." Bush had filed an affidavit claiming he had no conversations with SCI officials, agents, or representatives concerning the investigation or any disputes arising from it, although by his own admission he said he dropped in on a meeting between Waltrip and Allbaugh, for a quick social visit and couldn't remember what he said. May's lawsuit claimed they did talk about the investigation and asked the judge to hold Bush in contempt of court and compel him to testify. In a news conference (held in August, '99) dominated by tough questions, the issue that really irritated Bush concerned funeral homes. His remarks were, "It's frivolous. It is frivolous."

[calimary]

1. Kick!

Interestinger and interestinger.

[bluestateguy]

2. Sigh

I remember that case. One of many Bush scandals in Texas that never saw the light of day. It's amazing how much you can get away with when all of your people control the machinery of government.

[MissMarple]

28. Yup, I remember that, as well.

Politics as usually purchased. These people are so predictable! :eyes:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. I didn't realize they were the same firm.

I wish I could be surprised now that I know, but I'm long past the point of anything this admin is involved in surprising me.

[skooooo]

4. These criminals have to be impeached!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[punpirate]

5. FWIW, there's another news story currently on the latest...

... page saying that Blanco hired them, not FEMA (because she got tired of waiting for FEMA to act on it).

[justiceischeap]

6. FEMA was holding on signing the contract so Blanco did it herself.

She said her residents weren't treated with diginity in life and now they aren't being treated with dignity in death, so she's stopping that. I'm summarizing of course.

[Im with Rosey]

7. Is it in fact the same company?

I know Blanco is trying to do what is right, I hope she didn't sign on with this company.

[expatriot]

16. it was a fema contract, she was either tricked into signing it or she

didn't realize the company. Here is my take... FEMA and this company were "negotiating" this contract and taknig their FEMA time about it and the company wnated to get a sweeter deal so Blanco stepped in and signed the contract as is and the FEMA stepped back snickering about how she just is paying LA state money now to Bush cronies. She got suckered.

[Im with Rosey]

17. So this is just one more

sleazy, disgusting detail we can lay at the monster's door. I'm glad we have good people here to keep track of all the bu$$sh$t they keep shoveling on decent people. Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

[Fleshdancer]

8. Old article on Funeralgate from the Austin Chronicle

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-01-26/pols_naked5.html

So far, Bush has avoided all efforts to put him under oath. In 1996, his attorney, Al Gonzales, was able to keep his client from being selected for jury duty in a drunken driving case here in Travis County. But the stakes in that case were small and Bush wasn't the focus of the court action. Funeralgate is a different story. Bush has been named as a defendant in the whistleblower lawsuit brought by Eliza May, the former executive director of the Texas Funeral Service Commission; the suit alleges that Bush and others who got campaign contributions from funeral giant Service Corporation International worked to thwart an investigation into SCI's hiring of improperly licensed embalmers.

Just as he did in 1996, Gonzales, who is now the White House general counsel, will do all he can to keep Bush out of situations in which he must swear to tell the truth. May's attorneys have been trying to get Bush under oath for more than 16 months. And they have many reasons to support their argument that Bush, and only Bush, can answer questions about discrepancies in testimony given in the Funeralgate mess.

For instance, the attorneys want to ask Bush about his conversations with former TFSC chairman Dick McNeil, who has testified that he talked briefly with Bush in 1998 about the investigation the agency was doing. They also want to ask Bush why his chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, was so quick to intervene during the TFSC's 1998 investigation of Houston-based funeral giant SCI. May's attorneys are particularly interested in what Allbaugh, whom Bush has appointed as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will say under oath. During May's investigation into SCI, Allbaugh conducted two meetings with her. The purpose of the meetings, says May's lawsuit, was to "pressure and intimidate May concerning the SCI investigation."

Adding further intrigue to the influence-buying mess was last month's move by May's attorneys to name Texas Attorney General John Cornyn as a defendant in the suit. The attorneys charge that Cornyn went out of his way to help SCI during the TFSC investigation. As first reported in the Chronicle, the AG's office determined in early 1999 that it would not get involved in interpreting TFSC regulations while the agency was conducting its investigation of SCI. But shortly after that finding, Cornyn personally intervened, overruling the agency's earlier finding. That allowed the agency to interpret state law in a manner that was favorable to SCI. In their latest court pleading, May's lawyers, Derek Howard and Charles Herring Jr., claim that in January of 1999, Cornyn "began participating in the improper and illegal effort to prevent a full and proper investigation of SCI and to assist SCI and other conspirators in covering-up their prior improper, illegal actions, and in preventing May" and the TFSC from enforcing the law. The suit points out that Cornyn's chief deputy, Andy Taylor, used to work at the same law firm that was representing SCI at the commission -- and that by meeting with some SCI officials while working for the attorney general, Taylor acted unethically.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Put Bush under Oath.

[ClassWarrior]

14. I wanna see that.

NGU.

[zann725]

20. A sociapath under Oath? Sort of .like putting diapers on an elephant.

Pointless.

[Jackpine Radical]

24. Not at all pointless. The oath turns the liesw into crimes.

[kma3346]

27. Wow

This article is amazing. Al Gonzales was protecting Bush even before he became president. There is no way in hell that he should EVER be considered for the Supreme Court!

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Wow, and the evidence just continues to pile up

and a TV addicted America says "Who the fuck cares".

[peacetalksforall]

11. Filth - Look at the numbers and a condensed version to make it

easier to remember as it leaves the head reeling.

SCI cheats and desecrates and gets rewarded.

The numbers:
100 million – SCI settles with families whose family members were desecrated by SCI.

15 – SCI funeral homes named in the lawsuit against SCI

piles – where SCI tossed bodies ‘outside’ the crematorioums though families had paid for cremation.

100 thousand – SCI donates to Poppy’s library.

45 thousand – SCI donates to Junior’s run fro governor

67 – the number of bodies stuffed into the vault designed for one person by Menorah Gardens

1500 – the number of funeral homes operated by SCI

Other connections:
Kenyon – received Katrina contract.
Kenyon – received 9-11 PA contract
Kenyon – received Tsunami contract
Kenyon – subsidiary of SCI
Menorah Gardens – owned by SCI
Another ‘suicide’ = owner of Menorah Gardens
SCI Chairman Waltrip – friend of Poppy.

One more number:
1 – the number of people (a female) who filed a lawsuit accusing Junior of obstructing the investigation of SCI license violations in her position as TX Funeral Service Commmission Director. Female, (Eliza May), was fired and a TX judge tossed out a subpoena for Bush to give a deposition.. Later TX Gov Perry (who succeeded Junior) settles with May.

Can they get any lower? The Bush and Cheney families operate in and below the sewers and here is proof. Bush LOVES DEATH.

[CountAllVotes]

12. one word

EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL

We will not be defeated by this horrible EVIL that has fallen upon our country. EVIL kills itself by the nature of what EVIL is, thank God for that!

:kick:

[Gman]

13. Is this the same company where the idiot as Governor of Texas

stuck his head in the room when the funeral company was being questioned and asked, "Are they taking care of you?" OR something like that?

[cthrumatrix]

15. where the hell is our media ----PLEASE

[slay]

18. No kidding - how long are the BushCo criminals going to be allowed to get

away with this shit?!?! :mad:

[woodsprite]

19. Has someone sent this info and the article sourced

further down this page (the Funeralgate from the Austin Chronicle) to Conyers? Sound's like something he'd be interested in. I know Fitz is doing the Plame investigation, but someone up around there needs to know how deep this shit goes.

[snot]

21. And Apparently They're NOT actually collecting the bodies, 'cause

Blanco got tired of waiting and hired another firm on her own:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4760076
Louisiana Hires Contractor to Help Recover Bodies
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg)

-- Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said the state hired a contractor to recover bodies left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying she had given up on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"In recent days, I have spoken with FEMA and administration officials to convey my absolute frustration regarding the lack of urgency and the lack of respect of our people whose lives were lost as a result of Hurricane Katrina,'' Blanco told reporters in Baton Rouge today during a meeting with state officials.

Blanco said Kenyon International Emergency Services, a Houston-based unit of Service Corp. International that has worked on Asian tsunami recovery effort, will find the corpses left after Katrina roared ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast Aug. 29. The storm killed thousands, caused an estimated $100 billion in damage and left 80 percent of New Orleans submerged in water....

***

Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said the agency that runs FEMA created a "system of recovery" a week ago and is responsible for the recovery of bodies, Blanco said, adding that even the highest government officials couldn't "break through the bureaucracy to get the coordination done." She also blamed the agency for not committing enough workers to the effort.

Respect

"I cannot bear to wait any longer," Blanco said today during a meeting with state officials. "In death as in life our people deserve more respect than they have received."...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=add...

ON EDIT: Re. FEMA's contracting with Kenyon --

Blanco said she has signed a contract with Kenyon International Emergency Services after the company threatened to pull out of the state because it had not yet signed a formal contract with FEMA.

Asked about the issue, FEMA spokesman David Passey said: "From what I understand, Kenyon had some questions about the contract."

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?...

[expatriot]

22. No, Kenyon International is a subsidary of SCI... it is the same company.

Blanco signed the FEMA contract. FEMA was in negotiations or something with SCI's Kenyon International

[snot]

23. Hm, thanks. --nt

[donkeyotay]

25. They really do love death

Attorney General Bob Butterworth sued Menorah Gardens and parent company, SCI. Butterworth said, "This is a crime against the human soul and heart."

So is this whole administration.

[kma3346]

26. Email this story to the news media!

Everybody needs to email the news media with this information immediately. They really do pay attention (as witnessed by the deluge they received when the Katrina catastrophe first came about). Here are some to start with:

Keith Olbermann:
[e-mail]

Anderson Cooper:
[e-mail]

Jack Cafferty:
[e-mail]

[w8liftinglady]

30. emailed them all tonight eom

[burrowowl]

29. Jim Hightower discussed this

in his book before Bu$h was selected the first time.

[w8liftinglady]

31. Kick again...please email/call the media asking for coverage

[Karenina]

32. Bosch ain't got nuthin' on *Bush!!

GROTESQUE!!!

[hippiechick]

33. The Judge does actually have a point ...

"... ruling that he had not produced enough evidence that Bush had "unique and superior personal knowledge."

Because there IS no evidence that * has any kind of knowledge, let alone 'unique' or 'superior'.

It does burn my ass that being stupid has gotten Shitwad out of so many scandals over the years, though ....

[Supersedeas]

37. a pt beside a pt

[kma3346]

34. WAFB in Louisiana has the story online

http://wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=3851853

Online Journal also has a piece on it:

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/091505Leopold/091505leopold.html

OpEd News:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_jason_le_050914_division_of_funeral_.htm

But I haven't seen any mainstream media coverage yet (big surprise!) We need CNN, MSNBC and others to start talking about this. Keep up the emails and phone calls!

[FreedomAngel82]

35. Wow

Follow the money.

[lostnfound]

36. I wonder if the Mexican troops imported recently will be used to assist.

Wouldn't that be a way to keep things a little more quiet?