They Were For Open Bids Before They Were For No Bids

It is simply amazing how many times this administration says it will do one thing, and then does absolutely nothing, or the complete opposite of what they say they will do. Like the resigning bonuses for military personnel, which after they got you to reenlist, they tell you they cannot give you. Now it's the opening up for rebidding of hurricane rebuilding contracts that FEMA said it would undertake. A month after so stating, absolutely zero contracts have been reopened for bidding. In fact, the government now says they won't be up for bids until the current ones run out, sometime next year.

Isn't that special?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite a month-old pledge, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has yet to reopen four of its biggest no-bid contracts for Hurricane Katrina work and won't do so until the contracts are virtually complete. A promise to hire more minority-owned firms also is largely unfulfilled.

The no-bid contracts for temporary housing, worth up to $100 million each, were given to Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Corp., CH2M Hill Inc. and Fluor Corp. right after Katrina struck. Charges of favoritism helped prompt last month's pledge by FEMA acting director R. David Paulison, but now officials with the Homeland Security Department, which oversees FEMA, say the contracts won't be awarded again until February.

The disclosure dismayed some lawmakers and business groups that believe the Bush administration has not done enough to ensure Katrina contracts are spread around. In particular, they say small and minority-owned businesses in the Gulf Coast have been shortchanged.

FEMA promised to boost the number of contracts given to minority-owned businesses but in the last month the percentage has increased only slightly, from 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent of the $3.1 billion awarded. That's still well below the 5 percent of federal contracts normally set aside for minority-owned firms.

Fucking liars. Fucking cheats. Fucking thiefs.