Report asserts Carnival sought Jeb Bush's help (Waxman, D-Calif)

[seafan]

Report asserts Carnival sought Jeb Bush's help (requires registration)

By SEAN REILLY
Washington Bureau

July 8, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Far from offering its services reluctantly, Carnival Cruise Lines sought to enlist President Bush's brother in its quest to win a $236 million deal to place Hurricane Katrina evacuees aboard three of its ships, according to e-mail exchanges cited in a new congressional analysis.
But while Florida Gov. Jeb Bush helped the company make contacts, there is no indication that he acted on some of its key requests, according to the analysis, released this week by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
Late last year, Terry Thornton, vice president of marketing and planning at Carnival, told a congressional panel that "the federal government sought us out" and that more than 120,000 paying passengers had to be bumped to free up the liners.
But two days after Katrina struck Aug. 29, another company representative named Ric Cooper e-mailed Jeb Bush to ask for help getting "in touch with the right people" at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pitch the ships-for-shelter plan.

Bush responded that he would forward the proposal to then-FEMA Director Michael Brown.

Within three hours, Brown told Cooper, "I personally think this is a great idea." the report says.

Two days after that, Carnival was awarded the cruise ship charters for temporary housing.

snip

In response to a mid-September plea from Cooper for relief from tax and immigration laws, Bush replied that that "we are on it." But the report notes that there is no indication in the e-mails that Bush interceded with federal officials on Carnival's behalf.
Cooper himself apparently thought the company had overreached on one front. On Sept. 30, he provided Bush with a "fact sheet" that Carnival was using to justify its rates, according to Waxman's report. In an accompanying e-mail, Cooper wrote that the pursuit of tax breaks was "simply greed" spurred by company lobbyists.
"I begged and pleaded to drop that aspect and told them they would get crucified in the press, and they didn't listen," Cooper wrote. "But (it's) getting done now the way it should be."
It is unclear what Cooper, a politically influential advertising executive who has worked on Carnival's behalf, meant by that last sentence. He did not return a phone message left at his Miami office Friday.

snip

In a Thursday letter, Waxman also queried Michael Chertoff, head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about a media report that the border patrol is considering buying or leasing out-of-service cruise ships to create "detention barges" for alleged immigration violators.
A homeland security representative referred questions to the border patrol's press office. No one answered the phone there Friday.

snip

(Emphasis added)

[donsu]

1. kicking for justice

nt

[intheflow]

2. "...simple greed spurred on by company lobbyists."

Not sure which part of this story disturbs me more: the overcharging to us the cruise ships for people made homeless aftr Katrina, or the idea of using cruise ships as detention centers. I suppose there's really no difference between the two psrts, really. Greed and power is the common theme.

This is a second K&R for justice. :kick:

[saigon68]

3. Greed and Avarice

A deadly combination