Mood:
on fireTopic: "MaMa's Little Babies"(3)
The Army Corps of Engineers installed 34 pumps at three major drainage canals in the City of Orleans last year, after Hurricane Katrina, in preparation for future flood surges. Upon completion, one of the Corps of Engineers own inspectors reported that the pumps were defective and would likely fail in a storm. This Wednesday, Mr. Donald Powell, the Bush Administrations' Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Czar said he was never shown the memo, and he had been personally assured that the design and construction under the $26.6 Million contract was working properly. The pumps however, have been plagued by excessive vibration, overheated engines, broken hoses, and blown gaskets.
"Hey, that's close enough for government work, isn't it?." goes the old adage.
Actually, Mr. Frodo discovered a couple of very interesting facts that most people may have missed in this nationally-covered story. It seems that the manufacturer of the pumps on behalf of the Army Corps of Engineers is a private company out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, by the name of Moving Water Industries (MWI). MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. The Justice Department (perhaps one of the 8 US Attorneys recently in the news may have been active here) sued MWI in 2002, accusing the company of fraudulently helping Nigeria (the paragon of business ethics themselves) obtain $74 Million in taxpayer-backed loans for over-priced and unnecessary water-pump equipment. The case has not yet been resolved.
The real item of interest is that MWI is very politically active. Mr. Eller, it seems, has donated about $128,000 since 1996 predominantly to the Republican Party. Mr. Eller, it seems, was a business partner in a venture entitled "Bush-El" with Mr. Jeb Bush, whose function was to market MWI pumps. Want to guess to whom Ole Jeb marketed the dysfunctional pumps?
Well now dear reader, isn't that just enough to warm the cockles of a Mother's heart? First there was her son, Neil, who got caught up in the massive S & L scandal a few years back. Then there was her often tipsy son, George, who is worldly regarded as the most ineffective leader ever. Now, here comes Jeb, the religion-switching afficionado of Terry Schiavo who is involved with a partisan crook.
No wonder the Old Man keeps fainting. Frodo almost feels sorry for George H.W. and Barbara, almost. Frodo has long felt that crappy kids are the result of crappy parents. Touche.
Posted by loveysdaddyga
at 10:38 PM EDT
