Dean: While Katrina Survivors Get Red Tape, Bush Cronies Get Carte Blanche

[MaineDem]

For Immediate Release
September 13, 2005

Contact: Karen Finney - 202-863-8148

Dean: While Katrina Survivors Get Red Tape,
Bush Cronies Get Carte Blanche

Washington, DC - Congress has appropriated more than $60 billion to help with reconstruction efforts following Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people from the Gulf Coast who lost everything they owned now seek to rebuild their lives, and FEMA has already begun giving no-bid contracts to Bush's political cronies. The President himself suspended rules that ensure American workers are fairly paid for their work. Even as FEMA begins to spend tens of billions, the agency's "track record in managing much smaller amounts of money has raised concerns," according to the Washington Post. So once again President Bush has put the profits of his corporate cronies ahead of the needs of the American people. What's worse, it seems they are exploiting the very chaos they created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to do it.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the survivors and communities are forced to struggle through FEMA's never ending bureaucracy and red tape to get the basic necessities, but Bush's corporate cronies have been given carte blanche in the form of no-bid contracts.

"Isn't it time President Bush stood up to his cronies? With so many people unemployed and so many businesses destroyed by the storm, we should do everything we can to ensure that local people and businesses from the Gulf Coast have the opportunity to be a part of the rebuilding of their neighborhoods and towns, not Bush's corporate cronies," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "We can do better. It's time for President Bush to make serious changes in the way his White House does business."

Shaw Group Already Got Contracts Worth Hundreds of Millions from FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers. Hundreds of millions of FEMA funds will go to engineering and construction firms, some of whom "have been major financial supporters of the Bush administration," including the Shaw Group, who employs former FEMA Director and Bush campaign manager, Joe Allbaugh. Shaw said it has received a no-bid $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction as well as a $100 million order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Bush Suspended Davis-Bacon Act, Which Protects Local Wages. In another blow to residents of Mississippi and Louisiana who are trying to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, President Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act, which obliges federal contractors to pay prevailing local construction wages. As the Atlanta Journal & Constitution editorialized, this law "protects local workers from having their wages undercut" and Bush's action could mean that "some Gulf Coast residents able to find construction work could make less than they did before Hurricane Katrina struck."

Holders of Government Credit Cards Can Spend More, With Few Strings. "Holders of government-issued credit cards will be allowed to spend up to $250,000 on Katrina-related contracts and purchases, without requiring them to seek competitive bids or to patronize small businesses or companies owned by minorities and women."

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Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

[Larkspur]

1. Dean speaking the Truth again

Keep it up Doc!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. The petard by which to hoist them.

"It's the criminal cronyism, stupid."