Halliburton hired to do Katrina reconstruction

[PrincessFiona]

The Navy has hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Halliburton subsidiary KBR will also perform damage assessments at other naval installations in New Orleans as soon as it is safe to do so.

KBR was assigned the work under a "construction capabilities" contract awarded in 2004 after a competitive bidding process. The company is not involved in the Army Corps of Engineers' effort to repair New Orleans' levees.

Not a surprise, of course.

Maybe they should just hire them and make them a federal agency? Sure would flush some $$$ into the economy.

[Rapunzel]

Several comments on this:

1) I thought Halliburton was an oil company or something? I am just majorly unclear as to what the company is and is not.

2) If there was, indeed, a competitive bidding process that occurred and Halliburton won then who cares?

3) What does Halliburton having been awarded a contract after a bidding process have to do with George Bush? Should the company go out of business? Is Halliburton not allowed to exist or do business because Dick Cheney once worked for it?

Jennifer

[PrincessFiona]

No-bid contract Instead, they were assigned under a 2004 construction capabilities act.

There's no problem with halliburton getting contracts...but the administration was quicker to award no-bidders to halliburton, bechtel, etc than it was in getting help to the people drowning. Thats the real problem that I have with it all.

All of the companies that got contracts were big GOP contributors...payback for putting money into the political wheel. I just don't like that. I wouldn't be happy of it whether it was the dems or the pubs....is should be based on merit/quality of work and bids.

Hasn't halliburton just been working on settling huge issues with price issues etc on their iraq contracts? Can we trust them to use the 60 billion already donated appropriately or will there be more 10,000 cell phones purchased, etc?

Halliburton Co. did not adequately account for more than $1.8 billion it billed the government for work in Iraq and Kuwait, a published report on the findings of Pentagon auditors said. The results of the audit, reported by The Wall Street Journal, were the latest financial headache for Halliburton subsidiary KBR, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year to resolve pending asbestos claims. The $1.8 billion amounts to 40 percent of the $4.18 billion KBR has billed the Pentagon.

[Rapunzel]

No-bid contract Instead, they were assigned under a 2004 construction capabilities act.

Oh, OK. So there was a bidding process and all of the bids were rejected and then Halliburton was called -is that it?

There's no problem with halliburton getting contracts...but the administration was quicker to award no-bidders to halliburton, bechtel, etc than it was in getting help to the people drowning. Thats the real problem that I have with it all.

Well, the federal government was actually kept out of the mess by the state (LA) government at first. The catastrophe was not a federal one until the state of Louisiana gave its permission for the feds to start helping. That's the state's right, of course. Louisiana really dropped the ball on this one.

All of the companies that got contracts were big GOP contributors...payback for putting money into the political wheel. I just don't like that. I wouldn't be happy of it whether it was the dems or the pubs....is should be based on merit/quality of work and bids.

Well, I see that. It's a part of the political machinery, though, and has been since our nation was founded. Politicians reward their contributors in every political system that has ever existed. Maybe it's just human nature.

Hasn't halliburton just been working on settling huge issues with price issues etc on their iraq contracts? Can we trust them to use the 60 billion already donated appropriately or will there be more 10,000 cell phones purchased, etc?

I didn't know that! They are starting to sound like a government beauracracy!

Jennifer

No - a no bid contract is a contract that they do not have to get bids for, they simply award it to whomever they choose.

[/quote]3) What does Halliburton having been awarded a contract after a bidding process have to do with George Bush? Should the company go out of business? Is Halliburton not allowed to exist or do business because Dick Cheney once worked for it? [/quote]

Dick Cheney did not simply "once work" for it. He was Chairman and CEO and still has a considerable financial interest in Halliburton. This was taken from money.cnn.com TODAY.

The report says that the deferred compensation that Cheney receives from Halliburton as well as the more than 433,000 stock options he possesses "is considered among the 'ties' retained in or 'linkages to former employers' that may 'represent a continuing financial interest' in those employers which makes them potential conflicts of interest."

"As this C.R.S. report shows," Lautenberg said, "The ethics standards for financial disclosure is clear. Vice President Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton."

This is a company that is being investigated for overcharging by as much as 47% to the tune of 212 million $ for work done in Iraq under another NO BID contract. (info taken from defensenews.com) .

It stinks. There's no two ways about it.

[HeartRN]

I know I can't spell it...but Croneyism exists everywhere....Dems, Repubs...even we all do it. How many times have you gotten a great job or a great deal, or great whatever because of your "connections"? I'm definitely guilty.

[Vanquisher]

[quote="HeartRN"] How many times have you gotten a great job or a great deal, or great whatever because of your "connections"? quote]

I definitely know the wrong people.

[Rapunzel]

I know I can't spell it...but Croneyism exists everywhere....Dems, Repubs...even we all do it. How many times have you gotten a great job or a great deal, or great whatever because of your "connections"? I'm definitely guilty.

Oh man, that's the way the way my husband's program works! Nepotism is also rampant among all of the tech start-ups here in Mass. (among which we have many friends).

Jennifer

[Rapunzel]

I don't know that I have a problem with a politician also being an active businessperson. Part of the problem we have today are "career politicians" who don't really have careers outside of politics. I don't see as much of an ethical problem with a politician having gainful employment as I do with a politician being wooed by lobbying groups. It's just not something I see as a big bogeyman in our political world.

Jennifer

I don't know that I have a problem with a politician also being an active businessperson. Part of the problem we have today are "career politicians" who don't really have careers outside of politics. I don't see as much of an ethical problem with a politician having gainful employment as I do with a politician being wooed by lobbying groups. It's just not something I see as a big bogeyman in our political world.

Jennifer

A politician being an active business person is not a problem. A politician being an active business person in a field or company which he or she can direct millions or billions of TAX dollars to and directly effect the stock or value of the company is a HUGE problem.

[Rapunzel]

But, you can direct tax dollars into any business that exists. Which businesses can't you do this with?

I do have a problem with over-billing. It's something we see with every federal agency we have. I think it would do us well to severly cut taxes and cut the budgets of these wasteful, useless beauracracies (such as the Department of Education and the EPA). So, in that way I completely agree with the cringing of where our federal taxes actually go. With the bloating of the federal government outside of its Constitutional responsibilities setting a precent there is more and more possibility to throw around my tax dollars at wasteful companies and government agencies. I'm right with you on that complaint.

So, what exactly is Halliburton as a corporation? What are it's "specialties"?

What exactly is the federal government rebuilding in Louisiana? If it's related to trade and commerce then it's possibly within the fed's Constitutional boundaries to help with. If we're talking rebuilding homes and taking care of utilities then that is actually the state of Louisiana's responsibility.

Jennifer

Halliburton Company provides engineering, construction, and maintenance services to energy, industrial, and government customers worldwide. It operates in six segments: Production Optimization, Fluid Systems, Drilling and Formation Evaluation, Digital and Consulting Solutions, Government and Infrastructure, and Energy and Chemicals. The Production Optimization segment primarily tests, measures, and provides means to manage well production in the energy sector. It also consists of production enhancement services, and completion tools and services. The Fluid Systems segment provides services and technologies to assist in the drilling and construction of oil and gas wells. The Drilling and Formation Evaluation segment primarily engages in drilling and evaluating the formations related to bore-hole construction and initial oil and gas formation evaluation. The Digital and Consulting Solutions segment provides integrated exploration and production software information systems, consulting services, real-time operations, subsea operations, value-added oilfield project management, and other integrated solutions. It also offers Landmark Graphics, which supplies integrated exploration and production software information systems, as well as professional and data management services. The Government and Infrastructure segment operates as government logistics and services contractors with civil infrastructure capabilities. It represents construction, maintenance, and logistics services for government operations, facilities, and installations. Further, this segment includes civil engineering; consulting; project management services for state and local governments and private industries; integrated security solutions; dockyard operation; and maintenance. The Energy and Chemicals segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, technology, and services for the energy and chemicals industries. Halliburton was founded in 1919 and is based in Houston, Texas.

[Rapunzel]

Ahhhh, thank you, Nellie!

Jennifer

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/08/news/ec ... ney_latest

President Bush issued an executive order Thursday allowing federal contractors rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to pay below the prevailing wage.

In a notice to Congress, Bush said the hurricane had caused "a national emergency" that permits him to take such action under the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act in ravaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The Davis-Bacon law requires federal contractors to pay workers at least the prevailing wages in the area where the work is conducted. It applies to federally funded construction projects such as highways and bridges.

Bush's executive order suspends the requirements of the Davis-Bacon law for designated areas hit by the storm.