Hacktacular
Sep 26th, 2005 at 11:51 am by Susie
TIME Magazine points out the BushCo incompetents aren’t limited to FEMA:
The White House makes no apologies for organizing government in a way that makes it easier to carry out Bush’s agenda. Johnson says the centralization is “very intentional, and it starts with the people you pick … They’re there to implement the President’s priorities.” Johnson asserts that appointees are chosen on merit, with political credentials used only as a tie breaker between qualified people. “Everybody knows somebody,” he says. “Were they appointed because they knew somebody? No. What we focused on is: Does the government work, and can it be caused to work better and more responsibly? … We want the programs to work.” But across the government, some experienced civil servants say they are being shut out of the decision making at their agencies. “It depresses people, right down to the level of a clerk-typist,” says Leo Bosner, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) largest union. “The senior to mid-level managers have really been pushed into a corner career-wise.”
Some of the appointments are raising serious concerns in the agencies themselves and on Capitol Hill about the competence and independence of agencies that the country relies on to keep us safe, healthy and secure. Internal e-mail messages obtained by Time show that scientists’ drug-safety decisions at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are being second-guessed by a 33-year-old doctor turned stock picker. At the Office of Management and Budget, an ex-lobbyist with minimal purchasing experience oversaw $300 billion in spending, until his arrest last week. At the Department of Homeland Security, an agency the Administration initially resisted, a well-connected White House aide with minimal experience is poised to take over what many consider the single most crucial post in ensuring that terrorists do not enter the country again. And who is acting as watchdog at every federal agency? A corps of inspectors general who may be increasingly chosen more for their political credentials than their investigative ones.
Reuters: Updated: 7:52 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2005
NEW YORK - More than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to clean up after Hurricane Katrina were awarded without bidding or with limited competition, the New York Times reported Monday.
The first detailed tally of commitments from federal agencies since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast four weeks ago shows more than 15 contracts exceed $100 million, including five of $500 million or more. Most were for clearing trees, homes and cars strewn across the region; purchasing mobile homes; or providing trucks, ships, buses and planes.
““““““““““““““““““““““`I’d like to know how 15 contracts exceeding 100 million, 5 of which are in excess of 500 million, amount to only 1.5 billion. Math and Bush don’t mix.
It will be interesting to see exactly who got this work.
The problem with having a bad, incompetent boss is not so much that they make bad decisions. Its when they know that things are going wrong and they get insecure, then they start drawing all the decision making to themselves and paralyze the organization because no one can take initiative. And they won’t listen or let people help them by fixing things when they are going bad.
Eventually everyone get an “I don’t get paid enough to think” attitude, steps back and lets him fail.