Posted on 09/28/2005 3:39:32 PM PDT by Ol' Dan Tucker
Since you say it IS cronyism, I challenge you to find another company that does what Kenyon does, with its bona fides.
After the medias lies about rapes and murders in the Superdome, I'm suspicous of everything they write.
Let's see.
FEMA blamed for not doing enough, not getting to LA fast enough (even though they were on site before the Hurricane arrived).
FEMA head MIKE BROWN removed and replaced by President Bush.
Geee...... I can't think of any reason there would be delays.
Except that Kenyon would've been charging the government (read: you and me) for the work the local guys were willing to do for free.
In any case, Kenyon's strength is logistics: organizing the effort and coordinating identification. IOW, overall management of the recovery.
Which makes it all the stranger why FEMA didn't simply sign the contract with them, doesn't it?
The NFDA guys were willing to do for free what Kenyon wanted to pay them to do. Except that they wouldn't be able to back-charge the feds if the NFDA worked for free.
The fact that they have all of these so-called 'bona fides' makes it even stranger that FEMA brought them on-scene without a contract.
Since you say it ISN'T cronyism, I challenge you to find another company (besides Halliburton) that the feds bring in for a project of this magnitude without first signing a contract.
Me, too. But that doesn't mean I automatically give the Bush Administration a pass. They've done their share of lying, too.
The official line is that Brown resigned. Don't you remember, Bush is loyal to those around him?
Yep. And FEMA would have gotten exactly what they paid for: shoddy, disorganized, crappy service.
Since you say it ISN'T cronyism, I challenge you to find another company (besides Halliburton) that the feds bring in for a project of this magnitude without first signing a contract.
Since Kenyon had ALWAYS done this kind of work for FEMA in the past, there was no reason to assume they would not be brought in this time.
Now, for the second time, I challenge you to name another company that specializes in doing what Kenyon does. And a gaggle of small-time morticians does not count as a "company."
It's possible I didn't express myself clearly enough.
Kenyon sent a call out to NFDA looking for those NFDA members who would be willing to work the Katrina recovery for 3 weeks for pay. These would be the very same NFDA members that were volunteering to do this work for free.
But, instead of getting this help at no cost to the federal government, Kenyon would now be able to bill the federal government for the cost of bringing in these people.
Since Kenyon probably isn't in the charity business, we can only surmise that they would've padded the bill to cover 'administrative costs'.
So, instead of getting shoddy, disorganized, crappy service for free, the taxpayers are now getting shoddy, disorganized, crappy service at a substantial cost, not to mention a tidy profit for Bush's crony, Robert Waltrip.
Since Kenyon had ALWAYS done this kind of work for FEMA in the past, there was no reason to assume they would not be brought in this time.
But, according to your first post, FEMA didn't hire Kenyon, remember? According to your first post, Louisiana signed the contract with Kenyon.
As we know, this is pure fantasy. FEMA brought Kenyon into Louisiana as I originally wrote, but it did so without a contract. As you also have written, FEMA will still be paying Kenyon's bills, but instead of writing the checks directly to Kenyon, they'll be going through Louisiana, who's acting as the middleman in the deal.
Now, for the second time, I challenge you to name another company that specializes in doing what Kenyon does. And a gaggle of small-time morticians does not count as a "company.
How about DMORT? They have 1,200 trained and capable volunteers. They have mobile morgue operations, can do forensic examinations, DNA acquisition, remains identification, search and recovery, scene documentation, etc.
Let's refer once again to the article to which I linked:
SCI, of Houston, Texas, provides funeral, cremation and cemetery services in North America and Reuters reported Kenyon International Emergency Services spokesman Jay Kirsch said it was sending 50 workers to the area struck by Katrina to help recover the bodies of those killed by the hurricane.
So, Kenyon was going to send 50 people to work the area struck by Katrina. Sounds like a pretty minimal effort to me. I think DMORT could've done this much, don't you?
Reading further:
Kenyon spokesman Bill Berry said he didn't have a cost figure for work in Louisiana, but added that Kenyon has had a FEMA contract since 1997, was activated after 9-11, is working in Louisiana only so far, and isn't recovering bodies.
"We're receiving," Berry said. "We take them to a DMort ... with refrigerated facilities and then go through the morgue process."
Hmmm... Kenyon isn't recovering the bodies. And they aren't providing mortuary services, either. DMORT is.
Would these be the very same workers who you say provide shoddy, disorganized, crappy service. I believe so.
Perhaps you can explain exactly what valuable services Kenyon is providing in Louisiana that no other company in the world can provide.
Sounds like cronyism to me.
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