A roofing racket

Via Knight Ridder and the Miami Herald, here is example of the Bush administration's stellar management of taxpayer money:

NEW ORLEANS - Across the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, thousands upon thousands of blue tarps are being nailed to wind-damaged roofs, a visible sign of government assistance.

...

It isn't coming cheaply. Knight Ridder has found that a lack of oversight, generous contracting deals and poor planning mean that government agencies are shelling out as much as 10 times what the temporary fix would normally cost.

The government is paying contractors an average of $2,480 for less than two hours of work to cover each damaged roof -- even though it's also giving them endless supplies of blue sheeting for free.

''It sounds to me like these people are probably making a stinking killing,'' said Mike Lowery, an estimator with Pioneer Roof Systems in Austin.

...

In normal circumstances, Lowery said, his company would charge $300 to tarp a 2,000-square-foot roof in Austin. For that same size job, the government is paying $2,980 to $3,500, or about 10 times as much, plus additional administrative fees that can't be readily calculated.

''It's hard to imagine somebody asking that kind of money,'' Lowery said. ``It sure seems to me like somebody is getting taken advantage [of].''

...

Former government contract officials and private contracting experts charge that the Army Corps neglected to negotiate better rates when it had the chance before the hurricane season began. Once the storm hit and the vast amount of destruction became obvious, they say, the Corps failed to negotiate a lower rate for contractors, who could still make decent profits because of the sheer amount of work to be done.

Taylor of the Army Corps said the Shaw contract was one of many advance deals signed in July after the government was criticized for signing lucrative deals on the fly after hurricanes ravaged Florida last year.

But the advance deal the Corps negotiated with Shaw was for the same $1.75 per square foot rate that it was criticized for last year.

Meanwhile, while the federal government's preferred contractors make a "stinking killing," the city of New Orleans, desperate and needing all the help it can get to get back on its feet, can't afford to pay its staff:

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 4 - The mayor of this embattled city said today that there were not enough funds to meet the municipal payroll and that about half the 6,000 public employees in the workforce would have to be laid off.

...

The mayor said that the city had checked with federal and state sources of funds, local banks and other financial institutions, but that the city was unable to maintain staffing at current levels. He said that the payroll amounted to about $20 million a month, and that the cuts would save about $5 million to $8 million.

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Governor Blanco wants the federal government to help by amending the Stafford Act to allow funds to flow to pay public employees' regular salaries, and not just emergency-related overtime.

What is wrong with this picture?

Comments

[Libertas]

When all the lawyers and contractors met to coordinate the "reconstruction" of New Orleans all they could say was there was plenty of money to be made. Yet more billions for KBR and subcontractors but the poor of New Orleans will now have to choose between getting their houses rebuilt and their benifits cut. Now that's Compasionate Conservatism...or is Latte drinking...I forget, it's so hard to tell the difference.

[x]

KBR and subcontractors

Is Shaw truly a subcontractor under a KBR contract? Cite, else you are just reflexively demonizing KBR.

[Libertas]

I have no knowledge of Shaw subbing for KBR. I only note that where a large pot of money sits, there circles vultures.

KBR never saw a pile of money that it didn't think should be turned into concrete. Politicians sitting on piles of money never met a KBR rep they were too busy to entertain. Remember the $2billion proposed power plant that became the $6billion STNP? I pick on KBR because it has become the government's one stop shop. It ain't Walmart. It's more like Neiman Marcus.