No-bid Katrina contracts given to no-ethics companies

I try to avoid that old saw "Where's the outrage?" But when this sort of story has become so commonplace that it barely raises eyebrows, something is very, very wrong with this country.

Two of the first companies that got emergency no-bid federal contracts for Hurricane Katrina recovery work have faced questions over past business practices, court and government records show.

A division of Fluor, a California firm awarded a housing contract worth up to $100 million, has paid millions of dollars to settle federal government lawsuits — including one that accused it of overbilling for 1989 hurricane cleanup work.

The Shaw Group, a Louisiana firm that won housing and engineering contracts worth up to $200 million, has disclosed that it is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm is also a defendant in federal securities class-action cases.

Don't forget Halliburton and their subsidiaries. Not only have they pocketed hundreds of millions in tax dollars In Iraq, but now they've been given a $500 billion contract for Katrina. This is going to be just one more way corporations to enrich themselves at the expense of honest taxpayers in this country.

And yet, the right-wing-- for all their hatred of taxation-- hasn't made one call for in investigation into war profiteering. They seem to have no problem with the most free-spending administration to come down the pike in ages. Of course, FDR spent more on WWII, but he also held hearings into profiteering. You see, when companies pilfer funds meant to provide Iraqis with water and electricity, that makes Iraqis angry. When they get angry, they join the insurgency. When they join the insurgency, they kill Americans. I care. Why don't Republicans? (Just a rhetorical question there.)