Blind man's roulette

"We've re-established 'moral hazard,'"

A person involved in the Lehman talks this weekend offered that breathtaking analysis to the (Murdockal) Wall St. Journal, which repeated it soberly -- a tidbit in its massive coverage of Wall Street in Crisis.

This bloodletting is the cure. The crisis began back in 2000, when Bush/Cheney got elected. Soon after, the regulatory framework - what was left of it -- took a barrelful of buckshot in the face, and people without homes, money, or jobs were buying property and discovering the joys of home equity.

An isolating, maverick, insensate war does not go together with lower taxes and tsunamic mortgage fraud (or, "overtrust" as suggested by someone on the WSJ's "Deal Journal"). The people who re-sent in the clowns in 2004 still do not see this. When Bush & co. bribed middle-class favor by tacitly giving USians freedumb to do anything, say anything, promise anything to one another in the business arena so long as the admin had a blank check to keep shooting people in the Middle East, we as a polity forfeited any claim to "moral hazard."

Should this sort of vision lead not to a dethronement of Bush, but to a sort of sublimation of his lunacy into President Palin, the USian game of "fool me a million times - fool me more fool me more fool me" will have risen to its greatest challenge.

Glimmer.

Antigen needed: slime residue on the slugtrail of Al Neffgen

Al Neffgen

March 3, 2007 - The Bush Administration's drive for privatization may be responsible for the "deplorable" outpatient care for soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, according to a top Democratic Congressman investigating the scandal, which has already led to the resignation of the Secretary of the US Army.

A five-year, $120 million contract awarded to a firm run by a former executive from Halliburton – a multi-national corporation where Vice President Dick Cheney once served as CEO – will be probed at a Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs hearing scheduled for Monday....

"We have learned that in January 2006, Walter Reed awarded a five-year $120 million contract to a company called IAP Worldwide Services for base operations support services, including facilities management," Waxman continues. "IAP is one of the companies that experienced problems delivering ice during the response to Hurricane Katrina."

Waxman notes that IAP "is led by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official who testified before our Committee in July 2004 in defense of Halliburton's exorbitant charges for fuel delivery and troop support in Iraq."




March 2, 2007 A message left at the home number belonging to Al Neffgen was not immediately returned.


2006 "We have learned that in January 2006 WALTER REED awarded a FIVE-YEAR, $120 MILLION contract to a company called IAP WORLDWIDE SERVICES...IAP IS BEST KNOWN FOR THE PROBLEMS IT ENCOUNTERED DELIVERING ICE during the response to Hurricane Katrina. The COMPANY IS LED BY AL NEFFGEN, a FORMER HALLIBURTON OFFICIAL..." [Update: see video here]



2005 - IAP Worldwide Services, which recruited Al Neffgen, has lucrative contracts for Katrina clean-up under a "small business clause." It has "about 5,000 employees working in more than 25 countries."



2003 Looks like the former president and chief executive of J.A. Jones Inc. has landed on his feet with a new job at massive international company Halliburton.


Al Neffgen has been appointed chief operating officer for government operations for the Americas at Kellogg Brown & Root, Halliburton's engineering and construction group. In his new role, Neffgen will oversee all work performed by KBR for the U.S. government.

He's familiar with the inner workings of government-based contracting, a longstanding Jones specialty.

Halliburton recently purchased Neffgen's home at The Peninsula.

The company is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the oil and gas industries and was previously headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Neffgen was at the helm of Charlotte-based Jones from 2000 until last year, when it became clear the general contracting giant would not be able to avoid bankruptcy.


2003 As of 2003, it was Al Neffgen who was responding - or delaying responding to government demands for information related to KBR accounting problems. In this case, "refusing to turn over internal documents that show the company was aware of accounting problems related to an Iraqi fuel contract that allegedly has overcharged U.S. taxpayers so far nearly $100 million". At that time, Al Neffgen was KBR's chief operations officer.link


2001 While J.A. Jones International's current focus is clearly with the Department of State, it also serves all branches of the Department of Defense, USAID, as well as commercial clients, by providing construction and design-build services for a variety of facilities.
[including] Naval Housing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Date uncertain: "I had a great experience and enjoyed more laughter than I had for many years. The hunting was terrific, your hospitality most gracious and the food was excellent. All in all, a wonderful experience." Al Neffgen, S.C.