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70% of Post-Katrina Contracts Awarded Without Full Bidding

Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted by FEMA in the awarding of Katrina recovery contracts, according to a U.S. House of Representatives study released today by House Democrats. Audits show that of $10.6 billion worth of contracts awarded, more than $7.4 billion were given with either no bidding or limited bidding. In addition, nineteen contracts worth $8.75 billion wasted taxpayer money in part through double-billing or non-use of purchased items.

While acknowledging that some of the contracts needed to be awarded on an emergency, no-bid basis, Democrats pointed out that, as time passed, the number of no-bid or limited-bid contracts actually increased. Bechtel, CH2M Hill Inc. and Fluor--companies with strong political connections--were found by auditors to have wasted post-Katrina recovery money. These same companies were just awarded millions of dollars worth of temporary housing contracts by FEMA.

Posted by Diane E. Dees on 08/24/06 at 11:29 AM | E-mail | Print

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Comments

Here's one for you!how about temporary housing that isn"t housing anyone!Many acres around an airport in southwest Arkansas are filled to the brim with(you guessed it) empty trailers.Local officials from Hempstead county and the nearby town of Hope (yes,that"s Bill Clintons birth place)can"t get a straight answer from FEMA,and the trailers just keep on coming.With all the fencing around itand the FEMA gate it"s begun to look a lot like a concentration camp and it"s making the locals very nervous.Of course,no one can get a straight answer out of anyone in our government anymore.They gotta check their lies first before they open their mouths.

Posted by: D. McMillan on 08/24/06 at 5:42 PM

Ms. Dees,

Don't you realize that we are now living in a "post 9-11" world?

"Quaint" practices such as putting contracts out for bids can easily lead to "flip- flopping". Consider what would happen if you put a contract for housing up and you received 10 bids from equally qualified companies.

Not only would you have to read the bids, evaluate them, but upon making an initial determination on the decision, one of the companies may lower their price to secure the contract leading to a re-evaluation of the bids.

This is simply unacceptable as it is too "inefficient".

Most importantly, it would take time away from our fine Administration who could put that time to better use by making up terror threats to scare the public into accepting and/or being too busy duct taping their homes to notice the no- bid contracts were going to "qualified companies with exclusive abilities" (see: family and friends).

Posted by: AmeriPundit on 08/25/06 at 8:09 AM

You're right. Silly me--I didn't think it through. And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go put a 10-foot flag on my SUV.

Posted by: Diane on 08/25/06 at 9:12 AM

Diane,

Make sure you remember to have a yellow ribbon "Support Our Troops" magnet and a "God Bless America" bumper sticker on your SUV too.

That way you don't actually have to do anything to support our troops or take any political positions that would support our troops. The magnet alone is proof positive that you are a good person and everyone else is just an evil poopyhead.

Posted by: Evil Twin on 08/25/06 at 9:32 AM