Scout Prime has a really superb post up on this WaPo article, which in turn talks about the big contractors that failed miserably in their Katrina response, but which have just gotten new contracts for further hurricaine response. From Scout Prime’s post:

Companies that received 4 FEMA Katrina contracts "repeatedly faulted"by the DHS inspector general, congressional auditors and the Senatereceived 4 new FEMA contracts for future hurricane work.

From WaPo…..

 

Four no-bid contracts awarded by the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees have ballooned invalue from $400 million to about $3.4 billion, prompting renewedscrutiny from Congress and federal auditors about the disaster agency’smanagement of the aftermath of the storm.

A review is underway into how the contracts were awarded, the partiesinvolved and their documentary support, according to Marta Metelko,spokeswoman for [DHS] Inspector General Richard L. Skinner.

The companies that received the contracts were:

–Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure
–Bechtel National
–CH2M Hill Inc.
–Fluor Enterprises Inc.

Despite this the same 4 companies have been awarded contracts for future hurricane work. From the Times Picayune….

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration on Wednesdayawarded temporary housing contracts worth up to $1.5 billion for futurehurricane disasters, including four to companies that previouslyreceived no-bid contracts for Katrina work.

She (he?) blamed this on Bush cronies like Bush buddy Joe Allbaugh (whom we can thank for Michael "Heckova Job" Brownie). But since the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security committee just left our party, I thought it appropriate to see if he’s part of the same nasty cronyism.