Olbermann doing New Orleans no-bid rebuilding deal story

on MSNBC right now

the usual "boondoggle" stuff--feds overpaying.

That may be true, but the real story in NO is Halliburton, et. al, contracting for cheap outside labor, when this stuff could/should be done by people from NO.

see this story in today's Baton Rouge Advocate:

http://2theadvocate.com/stories/100505/pol_carpetbag001.shtml

Rep. Juan LaFonta, D-New Orleans, said a lot of handwringing and lip service has been given to the problem of employing evacuees.

What's missing is a unified effort to put legislative pressure on five major contract holders to hire Louisianans, he said.

"I'm really tired of meeting with different commissions when what we have is a lack of action," LaFonta said following a labor union press conference.

Before many local leaders realized it, officials at the federal level awarded five major no-bid contracts to large companies, only one of which is based in Louisiana, he said.

These corporations have their own set of subcontractors they work with and have largely frozen out native Louisianans as streets are cleaned, electrical wiring is repaired and structures restored, many complain.

Many of the subcontractors favor cheap, outside labor, LaFonta said.

"I was down there. It was like a Latin American country; everybody was speaking Spanish," LaFonta said.

Instead of banding together to confront the issue, individual lawmakers are busy trying to finagle deals that help companies they're friendly with, LaFonta said.

He didn't name names.

shingled roof would cost about the same. :grr: