# Bush's Buddies Clean Up After Katrina **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684 "2005-09-08T18:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/1 "2005-09-08T18:37:33Z")
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. But take a wild guess as to who won the [contract to repair Gulf Coast marine and naval facilities?](http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/09/05/daily5.html) Hey, if you though of Halliburton, you’re a winner! But it gets better. Those bodies have to be picked up by someone. [Kenyon International](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/prn/texas/3334982) has mobilized to begin the operation. Kenyon International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Houston-based Service Corporation International . Robert Waltrip, CEO of SCI, used the power of then governor George Bush to quash an investigation into SCI’s operations. [Here is a nice summary of the “Funeralgate” affair.](http://www.bushfiles.com/bushfiles/burying_opposition.html) So Haliburton gets a no-bid contract, as does his old buddy Robert Waltrip. Waltrip and Bush go way back, [he was one of the sources of Governor Bush’s Texas war chest.](http://www.tpj.org/reports/gusher/profiteers.html)[Waltrip also serves as a trustee for former President George Bush’s presidential library and SCI gave more than $100,000 toward the construction of the library.](http://www.populist.com/00.9.dispatches.html) Another disaster, another excuse to line your buddies up to the feeding trough. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/2 "2005-09-08T18:48:06Z")
We’d all better get braced for the following: > [@BobLibDem](#): > > I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. But take a wild guess as to who won the [contract to repair Gulf Coast marine and naval facilities?](http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/09/05/daily5.html) Hey, if you though of Halliburton, you’re a winner! [Mock Republican Reply] Well, is there anyone more qualified for the job? If not, then what’s your beef here? [/MRR] > [@](#): > > But it gets better. Those bodies have to be picked up by someone. [Kenyon International](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/prn/texas/3334982) has mobilized to begin the operation. Kenyon International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Houston-based Service Corporation International . Robert Waltrip, CEO of SCI, used the power of then governor George Bush to quash an investigation into SCI’s operations. [Here is a nice summary of the “Funeralgate” affair.](http://www.bushfiles.com/bushfiles/burying_opposition.html) [Mock Republican Reply] Again, who’s more qualified? And haven’t you been bitching that the administration has been too slow to respond? So now they’re responding immediately by hiring a company they think is best qualified to get started immediately and screw the “red tape” and “bureaucracy” y’all on The Left have been bitching about, and we’re still scum? Can’t win for losing with you guys. [/MRR] I weep. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/3 "2005-09-08T18:50:30Z")
[Fantasy Republican With Balls Reply] Yeah? So? [/FRWBR] ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/4 "2005-09-08T18:55:47Z")
Is it definitely a newly awarded contract? Not something that was arranged or otherwise in the works before Katrina hit? If it’s a decision reached subsequent to the floodwaters washing over the busted levee, then yeah, they simply don’t get it. (Even if there _was_ a preexisting contract with Halliburton, this can’t play terribly well. That name just keeps turning up, doesn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/5 "2005-09-08T19:01:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Is it definitely a newly awarded contract? Not something that was arranged or otherwise in the works before Katrina hit? From the OP’s link: > [@](#): > > The subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc. of Arlington, Va., won the competitive-bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/6 "2005-09-08T19:02:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > So Haliburton gets a no-bid contract, This is a flat out lie, which a simple reading of the _article that you linked to_ demonstrates. From the link that you posted (underline mine): > [@](#): > > The subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc. of Arlington, Va., won the competitive-bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters. And you wonder why nobody except for other Bush-is-the-Antichrist hysterics takes you seriously when you start to foam at the mouth. But hey, don’t let facts get in the way of a good partisan wankfest. Have at it. Oh and by the way, if you’re so upset, why weren’t you bitching about this, say, LAST JULY, when the contracts were awarded? :wally ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/7 "2005-09-08T19:03:31Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > This is a flat out lie, which a simple reading of the _article that you linked to_ demonstrates. From the link that you posted (underline mine): > And you wonder why nobody except for other Bush-is-the-Antichrist hysterics takes you seriously when you start to foam at the mouth. But hey, don’t let facts get in the way of a good partisan wankfest. Have at it. > > Oh and by the way, if you’re so upset, why weren’t you bitching about this, say, LAST JULY, when the contracts were awarded? > > :wally OK you have a point. Now explain Funeralgate. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/8 "2005-09-08T19:07:56Z")
Can someone tell me why we’re bothering to rebuild those facilities, considering we just went through a big to-do over base closures and budget cutbacks? Wouldn’t it be easier to write off the destroyed facilities and then let a few of the planned closures stay open to pick up the pace? ---
**Author:** ![Twin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@Twin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/9 "2005-09-08T19:11:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But it gets better. Those bodies have to be picked up by someone. [Kenyon International](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/prn/texas/3334982) Linky no worky. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/10 "2005-09-08T19:13:49Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But it gets better. Those bodies have to be picked up by someone. [Kenyon International](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/prn/texas/3334982) has mobilized to begin the operation. Kenyon International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Houston-based Service Corporation International . Robert Waltrip, CEO of SCI, used the power of then governor George Bush to quash an investigation into SCI’s operations. [Here is a nice summary of the “Funeralgate” affair.](http://www.bushfiles.com/bushfiles/burying_opposition.html) First link doesn’t work. Second link, the so-called ‘summary’, is either leaving out major facts, or you’ve completely mischaracterized it. You say: “Waltrip, CEO of SCI, used the power of then governor George Bush to quash an investigation into SCI’s operations.” The article states: “On August 3, the T.F.S.C. voted to fine S.C.I. $445,000 for violations of embalming laws.” So, was the investigation quashed, or did it succeed in coming up with enough to convince the board to fine the S.C.I.? As for “using Bush”, please use your reading comprehension skills on the following paragraphs: " month after the surprise inspection of the S.C.I. funeral homes, May found herself in the office of Governor Bush’s chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh. According to May, Waltrip was also there with his Austin lawyer Johnnie B. Rogers Sr. So was McNeil and Senator John Whitmire, the Houston Democrat who had requested the meeting. As May recalls, shortly after she sat down Whitmire began demanding all the details of her investigation into S.C.I.’s operations, while Waltrip sat and listened… Whitmire denies trying to slow or stop the Commission’s investigation, but said he was trying to be a mediator, and called for the meeting “to try to bring all the parties together to try to resolve the issues. It was an opportunity to sit down and work out and to see what the complaints were and to give everyone an opportunity to go forward.” May, however, believes the meeting “was clearly designed to intimidate me and to obtain information about what we were doing. They were unhappy with the fact that I was doing this investigation.”" So, **Democrat** Whitmire demands a meeting and a status of the investigation, **Democrat** Whitmire jumps all over Inspector May, **Democrat** Whitmire had to “[deny] trying to slow or stop the… investigation”… and it’s Bush who is the big boogey-man pulling the strings? Dude. Please actually **read** the fucking articles, then re-read them, before you come a-runnin’ to the SDMB to gleefully shit on Bush. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble, and look less like a partisan hack idiot. And we’ve already got a **rjung**. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/11 "2005-09-08T19:14:21Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > OK you have a point. Now explain Funeralgate. What is to explain? You have a link to something called “bushfiles” which tells a story about a dispute between one funeral company and a Texas regulatory body. It was written from an anti-Bush POV and contains no references, no cites, no attempts at documentation. What do you want me to comment on? It’s a worthless link. It’s an opinion piece. The other link in that paragraph about Katrina specific body handling is broken. What am I supposed to comment on there? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/12 "2005-09-08T19:17:06Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Can someone tell me why we’re bothering to rebuild those facilities, considering we just went through a big to-do over base closures and budget cutbacks? Wouldn’t it be easier to write off the destroyed facilities and then let a few of the planned closures stay open to pick up the pace? I agree that it would be worth taking a second look at that. It may be that logistical and geographical reasons would still require the bases to be repaired, but it wouldn’t hurt to think again. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/13 "2005-09-08T19:18:09Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > First link doesn’t work. > > Second link, the so-called ‘summary’, is either leaving out major facts, or you’ve completely mischaracterized it. Let me go back and see if I can find better and more neutral sources. I’ll admit the OP needed more work before being released. If a mod will kindly close the thread, I will come back with better ammo. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/14 "2005-09-08T19:20:14Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Can someone tell me why we’re bothering to rebuild those facilities, considering we just went through a big to-do over base closures and budget cutbacks? Wouldn’t it be easier to write off the destroyed facilities and then let a few of the planned closures stay open to pick up the pace? Depends on why it was decided to keep them open. If we’re rebuilding New Orleans, and one of the bases was a local base for the Army Corps of Engineers, it’d seem kind of stupid- IMO- to let that base stay destroyed and let the ACoE relocate to, say, Arkansas and just commute or something. Likewise, Navy bases might be more useful in the New Orleans area than in, say, Kansas. (Wasn’t there a submarine base in Kansas at one point? Closed down in 1989 or something?) ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/15 "2005-09-08T19:20:27Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Can someone tell me why we’re bothering to rebuild those facilities, considering we just went through a big to-do over base closures and budget cutbacks? Wouldn’t it be easier to write off the destroyed facilities and then let a few of the planned closures stay open to pick up the pace? One of the bases scheduled to be [rebuilt](http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/09/05/daily5.html) is the Naval Station Pascagoula, also scheduled to be [closed](http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug2005/20050824_2516.html). The contract to rebuild it was awarded before the BRAC decision to close it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/16 "2005-09-08T19:21:24Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Let me go back and see if I can find better and more neutral sources. I’ll admit the OP needed more work before being released. If a mod will kindly close the thread, I will come back with better ammo. When come back, bring… ah, fuck it. Too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/17 "2005-09-08T19:24:06Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > (Wasn’t there a submarine base in Kansas at one point? Closed down in 1989 or something?) My dad was career Navy, and we lived in Olathe, Kansas for a year circa 1960 while he was at some type of school there. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/18 "2005-09-08T19:31:23Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > One of the bases scheduled to be [rebuilt](http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/09/05/daily5.html) is the Naval Station Pascagoula, also scheduled to be [closed](http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug2005/20050824_2516.html). > > The contract to rebuild it was awarded before the BRAC decision to close it. Some clarification, I guess… The contract in question was awarded to “provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters”, not specifically to repair this naval installation, now scheduled to be closed. The payout to KBR is $12 million to perform this work at this facility. Not sure if this is because it won’t actually cease operations for a while, or just so the Navy won’t be adandoning a mess (lots of closed military bases are ceded to the cities where they are located, a closed base in San Antonio is an evacuee shelter for example). ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/19 "2005-09-08T19:46:13Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > When come back, bring… > > ah, fuck it. Too easy. I wonder if Halliburton owns a bakery. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684/20 "2005-09-08T21:08:43Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > (Wasn’t there a submarine base in Kansas at one point? Closed down in 1989 or something?) No. That’s just ridiculous. > [@This Year's Model](#): > > My dad was career Navy, and we lived in Olathe, Kansas for a year circa 1960 while he was at some type of school there. There was a WWII-era Naval Air Station in Olathe, later converted to a Reserve Center which was shut down in 1994. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-buddies-clean-up-after-katrina/320684.md?page=2)