Thursday, March 15, 2007
Crony lawyer defends crony capitalists
William Scherer, a lawyer representing MWI (the Jeb! Bush crony company that makes defective pumps) is-- surprise!-- a
Bush Pioneer. Yesterday, he
responded to unfavorable news reports about MWI's defective pumps in New Orleans.
The MWI pumps in New Orleans definitely would have done their job if needed during last year's hurricane season.
And they will do their job in the coming storm season, if needed.
The pumps were tested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers again just this last weekend and they performed above required capacity.
Hey, Counselor Mensa, quick question: didja know that the defective pumps were already tested last year... in a rainstorm in December?And guess what happened? Our streets flooded. Badly. Here's a
slideshow, go take a look. [Correction: the faulty MWI pumps likely
didn't get tested during the rainstorm, because they were not installed in the interior pumping stations. Thanks to Ray for the notice.] And that storm wasn't even a
hurricane, so don't tell us the pumps "definitely would have done their job" last year. That's horseshit. They would've been overwhelmed in a hurricane-- assuming the Category 3 levees held.
One more thing, Counselor Brightstar. About that "test" you referenced, here's what Mechanical Engineer
Matt McBride has to say:
Those four [tested] pumps were ordered ... after the other 34 pumps started failing last summer. They were part of an order of six extra pumps to MWI (total charge, about $4 million for all six). These four were actually the last pumps installed - they went just a couple of months ago (they weren't fully hooked up as of January 26, 2007)... That is, they were not in the original order of 34. Using these pumps as a demonstration to show that the other 34 are working is pure lying. The Corps is probably going to turn on those pumps again tomorrow for the Mayor. They represent about 800 cubic feet per second of capacity (theoretically). Pre-Katrina, over 10,000 cfs flowed down the 17th Street canal.
The test last Saturday, like the one last night, only went for about an hour. That was not mentioned in the Times-Picayune article. But ALL the floodgate pumps (there are no spares in case one or more fails during a storm) will have to run for 12 or maybe 24 hours during a tropical storm or hurricane. Why isn't the Corps running tests for the media that last that long? Because they know the pumps and their drive units probably can't hold out for that long.
Don't buy what the Corps is selling.
I'd say we shouldn't buy what MWI is selling, either. But I guess we already did. It was part of that 110 billion trillion dollars that was sent to New Orleans after Katrina. But, sadly, it still wasn't enough to pay for luxuries like armored levees, working pumps, or coastal restoration. 110 billion trillion quadzillion dollars only goes so far, I guess.
Matt McBride concludes:
So to make this as clear as possible... Not only did the Corps install pumps they knew wouldn't work, not only did they simply give up throughout the entire year of 2006 on repairing the canal walls, they also recommended doubling the order of the known-to-them-to-be-defective pumps and drive units, assumedly with the same manufacturer - MWI.
And I'll try to make it as politically clear as possible: a year and a half after a devastating Federal Flood, we have Bush crony lawyers defending a Bush
crony company who got a multi-million dollar Katrina contract and made defective pumps for a city struggling to recover from disaster.
This is how the Bushies operate. No matter how high the geo-political stakes are, no matter how important it is to get something right (whether it be a war or the rebuilding of a devastated American city) the Bushies view major crises, first and foremost, as...
business opportunities.
If you think that claim is too harsh, tell me: do you think Jane Taxpayer is getting her dollar's worth in the War in Iraq? Is she getting her dollar's worth in the rebuilding of New Orleans? Seriously, how many cents on the tax dollar are we getting in
real value in our Iraq misadventure? How many cents on the dollar are we getting for our investment in a rebuilt New Orleans? Who is laughing all the way to the bank while our national "investments" in Iraq and New Orleans provide such pitiful returns? Who profits while others assume all the risk?
In an economic sense, Crony Capitalism is a bastard form of Fascism.
Labels: Bush, Cronies
16 Comments:
Great Post Oyster
--scout
Oh great Bivalve! You managed to state my points on this matter without having to sink to the level of this swamp witch's language to get the point across.
I salute you, but I will continue to fight on this matter my way: the gutter, blood, and some ruined reputations.
Reparations for all New Orleanians!
In an economic sense, Crony Capitalism is a bastard form of Fascism.
Well put.
That last line is exactly right.
Fascism is basically a modern form of feudalism but with bigger, slicker posters. The Bush dynasty and its hangers on amount to a feudal order of warlords and those who profit by proximity to the warlords. What a fucking nightmare.
Thanks, brothers and sisters.
In my longer posts I usually manage to get at least one sentence right.
Thank you so much for this. This is the most useful information I've found in a long time. Unfortuantely, my family misses a lot of what is being done in and to the city, and since I am all the way up in D.C., I have to do research for them from a distance. I will visit you everyday, and would love to buy you a beer at Jazz Fest.
Thanks again.
Hi Folks. If anyone reading this can contact Gentilly Girl could you please ask her to drop me a line?
spockosemail at gmail.com
I'd really like her (or others with expertise) to look at the next round of memos that Matt McBride posted. Why?
As you can see, WMI has said that all the pump issues "or allegations" were dismissed in the latter memos.
Here is what they (in the form of William Schere) said
"The allegations in the memo were all dismissed by other inspectors on site, and also by three additional inspectors and five separate independent consultants that were brought in to re-inspect the pumps following the memo.
MWI was chosen in a competitive bid process and because of its world- leading expertise in designing and manufacturing pumps of the size, capacity and durability needed."
Also I'll bet there are some contract bidding experts in the NOLA mailing list maybe they can find out about this competitive bid process and see just how competitive it was.
I love your use of Jeb!. Those that didn't have to travel through Florida during election time can't appreciate it as much, but I thank you for it.
Those "Jeb!" campaign bumper stickers were the most ANNOYING ones ever.
Hey, Counselor Mensa, quick question: didja know that the defective pumps were already tested last year... in a rainstorm in December?
Maybe I'm missing something here, but the defective pumps would only be put into operation if the floodgates at the mouths of the canals were closed, which didn't happen during the December rains.
As always, dear neighbor, you ROCK!
I don't think you're missing something, Ray. I was under the impression some of those MWI pumps were for interior station replacements instead of for floodgate usage. I'll correct the error in the post.
NP, my dear Mr. Rockefeller.
The other aspect to this story, as covered thoroughly by Matt, is that because the ACoE has avoided repairing flood walls on the canals, they have in effect reduced the ability of our Wood screw pumps from doing the job they've done admirably for almost a hundred years. So even if the MWI pumps were to be able to handle the capacity of water that will be pumped towards them by the SWB pumps (which they currently are not even if they don't just blow up), that capacity wouldn't be allowed by the Corps because the canal walls themselves can no longer handle the amount of outgoing water they once did.
It's not so much that this shit is broken, that the flood controls aren't ready and won't work right. I completely understand that they are undertaking a huge, complex task with high stakes and unforgiving deadlines. It's the secrecy that drives me nuts. If shit isn't working, then TELL PEOPLE. Let residents and business leaders and political leaders make decisions based on the facts that are known, rather than based on spin and CYA and wishes and prayers.
oohhhhhhh myyy god my beautiful mind my wonderfull beautiful mind what ever will I do oh wait I know call blanco call ur local news and papers call your representitives and raise holy hell about it thats what Im goin to do
Believe it or not!: A friend of mine who works at MWI just told me that MWI just got a contract to supply 14 more pumps for New Orleans for the same locations. The pumps have to be delivered by June 1st
June 1st of 2008?
