FEMA > brown > allbaugh > halliburton

[agrenner at artsci.wustl.edu]

September 4, 2005

[FEMA chief] Brown was invited to join the administration by his old Oklahoma 
college roommate Joseph Allbaugh,the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 
2003 to work for the president's re-election campaign.
*****
October 1, 2003

Contact: Press Office, 802-651-3200

Statement from Governor Dean

BURLINGTON—Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean,
M.D., issued the following statement today:

"In the midst of a brewing Washington scandal over reckless leaks and
a debate over whether to spend $87 billion to rescue a failed policy
in Iraq comes word of close Bush associates feeding at the Washington
special interest trough. Joseph Allbaugh--who, with Karl Rove and
Karen Hughes, comprised Bush's `iron triangle' of handlers--has
founded a new firm, New Bridge Strategies, with a number of other
Republican cronies. This firm represents everything that is wrong
with the Bush administration--and why change is so desperately needed
in Washington.

"Joe Allbaugh was the Chief of Staff for then-Governor George W. Bush
and the campaign manager for the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign. Until
recently, he was the Director of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.

"Now he and two of the most prominent Republican lobbyists in
Washington, along with other veterans of the Reagan and Bush years,
have started this firm with the openly stated purpose of using their
close ties to the Bush administration to help companies earn
lucrative contracts in the reconstruction of Iraq.

"The American people have serious questions about the credibility of
this Administration's actions regarding every angle of this war:

"They question why we went to war, when the stated rationales are
apparently false.

"They question the lack of adequate planning for post-war Iraq, as
more soldiers have been killed in the post-major combat phase than in
the actual invasion.

"They question the Vice President's continuing ties to Halliburton,
and why Halliburton is entitled to upwards of $2 billion in no-bid
contracts.

"They question the motives of the "senior administration officials"
who allegedly engaged in criminal wrongdoing by disclosing the
identity of an undercover CIA operative, thereby jeopardizing
national security interests, her career, and possibly putting the
lives of her contacts at risk.

"And now we learn about New Bridge Strategies, a company that
confirms people's worst fears about their government by blatantly
seeking to trade its insider-influence for lucrative contracts. Is
rebuilding Iraq a humanitarian enterprise, or a massive giveaway
program for Republican conglomerates and insiders? Who does this
government belong to--the people or the special interests?