DejaVu All Over Again - Bush & Iraq / Bush & NOLA

[Guest BlackJesus]

[quote][u]DejaVu All Over Again
Arianna Huffington
Sept 20,2005[/u]

Reacting to all the pricey promises the president made in his big Katrina speech, a senior House Republican official told the New York Times, "We are not sure he knows what he is getting into."

If that's true, Bush must have the worst memory since Guy Pearce in "Memento," because he's definitely been down this road before.

The coming attractions for the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast play like a shot-by-shot remake of the mother of all disaster features, the reconstruction of Iraq.

Let's start with the rhetoric. "We will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes," the president pledged on Thursday. "We will do whatever it takes ... we will stay there until the job is done," the president said of Iraq in November 2003. It wouldn't be a "Terminator" movie without "I'll be back," and it wouldn't be a massive mega-billion dollar Bush initiative without a vow to stay the course.

This rhetorical comparison extends to what the president didn't say -- namely, anything about the need for shared sacrifice. He didn't call for it after 9/11, he didn't call for it when we embarked on the war in Iraq, and he didn't call for it as we are embarking on the rebuilding of New Orleans. The closest he came was challenging "scout troops" to "get in touch with their counterparts" in the disaster area and "learn what they can do to help." Wonder if that was part of the Heritage Foundation's post-Katrina policy manifesto: Merit badges for corpse recovery and helping displaced evacuees across the street!

Indeed, responding to the devastation caused by Katrina, Treasury Secretary John Snow claimed: "Making the [Bush] tax cuts permanent would be a real plus in a situation like this." Sure, why ask for some sacrifice from the richest Americans when we have scout troops doing their part?

The feeling that the Katrina relief effort is going to be Iraq all over again is unavoidable when you look at the list of the companies already being awarded clean up and reconstruction contracts. It's that old gang from Baghdad: Halliburton, Bechtel, Fluor, and the Shaw Group (which has a tasteful notice on its website saying "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"). Together again. A veritable moveable feast of crony capitalism.

Even the Wall Street Journal is getting an uneasy sense of deja vu, pointing out that "the Bush administration is importing many of the contract practices blamed for spending abuses in Iraq," including contracts awarded without competitive bidding, and cost-plus provisions "that guarantee contractors a certain profit regardless of how much they spend." So what's the thinking on this one, Mr. President -- 'If at first you don't succeed...'?

And what about financial oversight of the tens of billions that will be doled out to these corporate chums of the administration? After consistently stonewalling investigations into the corruption that has plagued U.S. efforts in Iraq, the president vowed to have "a team of inspectors general reviewing all expenditures" related to Katrina. But such promises seem laughable when you remember what happened to Bunny Greenhouse. After blowing the whistle on Halliburton's corrupt Iraq war contracts, the Army Corps of Engineers auditor was demoted. That should really motivate the Katrina contract inspection team.

Another very troubling similarity between the Katrina plan and the Iraq debacle is the failure of Democratic leaders to address the core issues raised by the president's proposals. Mirroring the spineless bandwagon hopping that gave the president a flashing green light on Iraq, Harry Reid responded to Bush's speech by saying, "I think we have to understand that we have a devastation that has to be taken care of. And I'm not finding where we can cut yet."

Really? How about Iraq? We're spending $5 billion a month there. And what about demanding the rollback of the Bush tax cuts? Even a partial rollback would produce about $180 billion in revenue, right around what the Katrina relief effort is estimated to cost. And how about taking a carving knife to the huge slabs of pork that continue to be piled onto legislation like the new transportation bill, which included 6,371 pet projects inserted by members from both parties, at a cost of more than $24 billion. And that's just one bill! But the Senate Minority Leader can't find where to cut yet?

Iraq is an utter catastrophe. The only good that can come from it will be as an object lesson in what not to do with Katrina. But, so far, it's a lesson both the president and the loyal opposition seem unwilling to learn.

As the philosopher said: It's deja vu all over again.[/quote]

[Guest BlackJesus]

[color="red"][i][b]And just as in Iraq [/b][/i][/color] [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons//32.gif[/img]

[quote][u]Bush Helps Disaster Profiteers
By Peter Dreier
September 20, 2005[/u]

President Bush has been justly criticized for his mishandling of the Katrina disaster, for his failure of leadership and for his indecisiveness. [b]But on two matters involving post-hurricane reconstruction, Bush has been exceedingly decisive. [/b]First, [b]he suspended federal rules to allow FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers to extend no-bid contracts to corporations engaged in the rebuilding[/b]. In doing so, he also allowed companies with close political ties to get to the front of the line.

Second, [b]Bush sweetened these contracts even more by suspending the federal Davis-Bacon Act, the Depression-era law that requires contractors with federal funds to pay local "prevailing wages" on construction projects[/b].   Through these actions, Bush revealed that despite all the rhetoric about compassion toward the victims of Katrina, the administration's crony capitalism and corporate agenda is never far below the surface.

Katrina is a disaster for the people of the gulf region and for the nation's economy. About 400,000 Americans will lose their jobs, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But for some companies, especially those with political connections, Katrina -- like the war in Iraq -- is a bonanza.

Congress has already appropriated $62 billion for post-Katrina relief and repair, and the figure is expected to exceed $100 billion. The reconstruction of New Orleans and the gulf coast, like the rebuilding of Iraq, has unleashed a feeding frenzy of government contracts to companies. FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers quickly suspended rules in order to allow no-bid contracts and speed up reconstruction. Politically connected firms like Haliburton, Fluor Corporation, and Bechtel have already scooped up hundreds of millions of dollars for post-Katrina reconstruction.

Haliburton, formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney, is facing questions for allegedly overcharging on work done in Iraq. The Department of Defense has been criticized for awarding Iraq reconstruction contracts to Haliburton and Bechtel without competition. Since the storm hit, Haliburton's shares have risen by more than 10 percent to $65.

This crony capitalism, rampant during the Bush Administration, is bad enough. But Bush added insult to injury by suspending the Davis-Bacon law for Katrina-damaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The Davis-Bacon law, enacted in 1931, sets a minimum pay scale for workers on federal contracts by requiring contractors to pay the prevailing or average pay in the region. The prevailing wage in New Orleans is $9/hour for construction work, far below that of most other parts of the country. The Executive Order came a day after a group of 35 Republican members of Congress asked Bush to suspend the law for recovery effort. The Bush administration, Congressional Republicans and their corporate allies have long opposed the Davis-Bacon law, just as they've opposed raising the federal minimum wage from the current below-poverty level of $5.15.

During the 2004 election cycle, the construction industry donated $71 million to candidates for the White House and Congress. Seventy-two percent of those contributions went to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group. Now it's pay-back time.

President Bush's behavior is consistent. In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, Bush used concerns over national security as a pretext for undermining workers' rights. His legislation sought to strip 170,000 federal employees being transferred to the new Department of Homeland Security of various workplace protections, including civil service regulations and collective bargaining rights. Similarly, the legislation federalizing about 56,000 airport screeners exempted them from union protections. Soon after 9/11, Bush also established a quota requiring government agencies to outsource at least 425,000 (later upped to 850,000) federal jobs to private contractors (many of which, it turns out, had contributed to his campaign).

In December 2001, Bush also revoked rules prohibiting companies with a track record of violating federal labor laws -- as well as environmental, consumer protection, civil rights and tax laws -- from signing outsource employment contracts with federal agencies.

Now Bush is taking advantage of the Katrina tragedy to get rid of workers' protections in favor of higher profits for favored corporations. The suspension of Davis-Bacon is an open invitation to employers to hire people who are desperate for jobs, and pay them low wages.

Edward Sullivan, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, called Bush's act "legalized looting of these workers who will be cleaning up toxic sites and struggling to rebuild their communities, while favored contractors rake in huge profits from FEMA reconstruction contracts."

Indeed, suspending Davis-Bacon is the exactly the wrong move at this time. What the devastated areas need is people with jobs that pay decent wages so they can contribute to stimulating the local economy. Federal funds should be used to help get families back on their feet, not to exacerbate their suffering.

As the reconstruction proceeds, the federal government will not only be rebuilding levees, dams and road, but also subsidizing the rebuilding of the region's low-wage tourism economy, including its hotels and casinos. Three years ago in New Orleans, ACORN (a community group) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) initiated a referendum -- supported by 63% of voters -- to adopt a municipal wage of $1 above the federal level for businesses with over $500,000 in revenues. The law would have benefited about 70,000 low-income workers, mostly African-Americans, mostly employed in the tourism industry. Those businesses led the opposition to the minimum wage proposal. After the voters approved it, the major New Orleans employers successfully filed suit in Louisiana Supreme Court to overturn the people's will.

These same firms will soon have their hands out to receive federal largesse to rebuild their enterprises. If major hotel and casino chains -- as well as big construction firms -- are going to get billions of dollars in taxpayer funds and government-backed insurance, shouldn't there be some quid-pro-quos -- like requiring them to pay a living wage -- that guarantee fairness for the real victims of the Bush administration's failure of leadership in protecting people from Katrina?

The Bush administration obviously doesn't think so. Even amidst the tragedy of Katrina, Bush's conservatism trumps his compassion.[/quote]

[Guest BlackJesus]

[color="blue"][i][b]Where was this Kerry back in October.... This one grew balls [/b][/i][/color]

[i]"Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq, what George Tenet is to slam-dunk intelligence, what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad, what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy, what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning, what Tom DeLay is to ethics and what George Bush is to 'Mission Accomplished' and 'Wanted Dead or Alive.' "[/i]
[b]--- Sen John Kerry 9/20/05[/b]

[Guest bengalrick]

kerry talked like that then too... but he would have done much shittier... he would still be taking polls to figure out his position...

i also thought that the katrina speech was very close to the iraq speeches...

just think, if this was new orleans three weeks ago:
[img]http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/afp/20050921/capt.sge.jzh93.210905173425.photo00.photo.default-270x378.jpg[/img]
then we wouldn't have all these problems going on... thanks mayor nagan and governor blanco [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/37.gif[/img]

this is what a true governor does...