Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate CrimeReporter, http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com. Robert
Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor,
http://www.multinationalmonitor.org, and on the steering committee of
the Center for Corporate Policy. Mokhiber and Weissman are co-authors
of On the Rampage: Corporate Predators and the Destruction of Democracy
(Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press).


As
you read this article, bear in mind that the bird-brain in charge has
issued a suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act, effectively allowing these
corporate scavengers to increase their profits at the expense of the
workers, once again. Oh yeah, let’s not forget the fact that FEMA wants
to reimburse faith-based organizations for their “charitable
contributions” in assisting both the victims of Katrina and Rita. Gee,
I wonder how much they’ll be profiting from God’s wrath. But hey, it’s
all good right? Just don’t let those lowly workers take unfair
advantage of the government by reaping the fruits of their labor,
unless the fruit is rotten of course… I mean, so what if many of
those workers are also victims of the hurricanes and will need to find
some means of rebuilding their livelihood? After all, they’ve already
lost everything they’ve ever owned, so what the heck, what’s a few more
dollars an hour, right? They should be getting used to it by now, don’t
you think?



There's no question that post-hurricane relief and reconstruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are going to pose many genuinely difficult challenges.



But some things seem pretty simple.



For example, it's a dumb idea to have cruise ships house evacuees and then pay the cruise lines as four times what they would charge vacationers.



As it happens, however, that's exactly what the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is doing. An investigation by Senators Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, and Barack Obama, D-Illinois, found that what should

have been a short-term FEMA emergency deal is turning into a six-month boondoggle. FEMA has contracted with Carnival Cruise Lines, to the tune of $192 million, to house hurricane evacuees on three cruise ships.



The result, according to the senators: “Taxpayers are paying, per evacuee, four times the amount a vacation cruise passenger would have to pay. Three Carnival ships are only half full and mostly occupied by relief workers. Carnival's overhead costs in the FEMA operation are far

lower than during normal cruises. The Carnival ships are docked. No fuel is being used and no entertainment is being provided to the relief workers. Yet, taxpayers are paying $2,550 per guest per week, which is four times the cost of a $599 per person '7 Day Western Caribbean' Cruise from Galveston, Texas.”


Another thing that seems straightforward: the government should not be contracting with companies that have made a habit of ripping it off, or engaging in illegal and irresponsible activities. (That happens to be existing U.S. law, which stipulates that the government should contractonly with “responsible prospective contractors.”)



There are many companies that one might reasonably argue fail this test, but it would be hard to identify a corporation that fails it more miserably than Halliburton.



Noting this, 19 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus last week wrote to President Bush, urging that Halliburton be “suspended from any hurricane damage assessment and reconstruction contracts until the many ongoing investigations into the company are completed.”



The abridged version of Halliburton's wrongdoing cited in the

Progressive Caucus letter includes:



* Bribery. Halliburton has admitted that its KBR subsidiary “may” have bribed the government of Nigeria for the purpose of winning a multi-billion dollar construction contract.



* Bid-rigging on foreign projects. The Justice Department has initiated a criminal inquiry into Halliburton for bid-rigging in connection with the company's work on foreign construction projects.



* An epidemic of fraud and waste in Iraq: The company has allegedly charged taxpayers $45 for a pack of soda. The inspector general for the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority found Halliburton charged the government $2.85 million for hotel costs in Kuwait even though cheaper housing arrangements were available. A defense audit agency says the company overcharged for fuel by more than $200 million, and jacked up the price of meals served to troops. (Is it really the case that the army can't feed itself?)



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