Bush Administration playing fast with tax dollars

Nope and it ain't Rudy, who remembers the short run of Tommy Thompson ex Governor of Wisconson and former Secretary of Health and Human Services? Well it seems as if the company he is now running Logistics Health of LaCrosse, Wis was just awarded a contract worth over the next five years a possible 790 million dollars. It also happened to hire another Bush Administration insider William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs from 2001 until April, joined Logistics Health Inc. as a director and consultant in June 2007.

The best part of it, they weren't even the low bidder for the contract, numerous other companies had under bid them, in the 50-100 million dollar range. Why did DOD then award the company to a high bidder? Is this the way the Bush Administration is watching our "tax dollars" that President Bush keeps harping about, the Democratic Congress wasting?

I was shocked to read the blatant account on the VA Watchdog tonite, it reads like a who's who of the Bush Administration, other familiar names

Records reviewed by The Times show that the Logistics Health bid also survived a major last-minute change when partner QTC Management abruptly withdrew days before the contract was awarded.

QTC Chairman Anthony J. Principi, another former Bush appointee, was secretary of Veterans Affairs.

The GAO has until early January to act on the protests.

Yes, Secretary Principi was head of the VA from 2001 until he was replaced by the VA Colonel James R Nicholson, the ex head of the RNC, who was rewarded with Principi's job after he tired of living in Rome as the Ambassador to the Holy See from 2001 until the ned of 2004, I guess he wanted a Cabinet Position to round out his official resume, not bad for a Colonel, who couldn't get promoted to General.

For those of you who are not aware Secretary Principi is the CEO of QTC, they have the contract with the Veterans Administration that provides doctors to do all the outsourced Compensation exams for disabled veterans. Another contract worth nearly a billion dollars for the next five years.

Isn't it wonderful how the Republicans keep saving us taxpayers all this money by giving contracts to their friends who are the high bidders?

In other letters of protest filed with the GAO, officials of rival firms also charged that Logistics won the pact despite questions raised about its performance under a previous agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services. That pact, originally awarded in 2001, only applied to the Army, while the new one includes the Navy, Air Force and Marines.

Kenneth Moskowitz, an attorney for the Pennsylvania-based United States Military Dental Corp., said in an Oct. 12 letter that Logistics' prior performance and practices under the Health and Human Services contract "put reservists and National Guardsmen at possible undue risks.

He told the GAO that "no one was assigned to specifically monitor the level of care" received by military personnel and that the company operated with "a built-in incentive to lower provider cost for added profit." The Pennsylvania company was a subcontractor for Comprehensive Health Services of Florida, one of the failed bidders.

Logistics' prior performance and practices under the Health and Human Services contract "put reservists and National Guardsmen at possible undue risk am I reading this right or are they saying a company run by a Republican is possibly putting the troops healthcare under possible undue risk, because of this companies past performances, is this how President Bush and the White House and DOD supports the troops? I am sure this HAS to be a mistake.

On the other hand in some good news for veterans there is this from Senator Harry Reid

The leader of the
nation's largest veterans organization met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today and urge Congressional leadership to quickly pass the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (HR-2642).

"Sen. Reid personally assured me that the MilCon-VA appropriations bill would be passed by Veterans Day," Marty Conatser, national commander of the 2.7 million-member American Legion, said.

Isn't that great news for our nations Veterans and President Bush, he demanded the budgets gets passed and on his desk so he can sign them, well George here comes one for you to "support the troops". Unlike your "friends" who are trying to fleece America's taxpayers and give shoddy healthcare and over price it to boot to "our troops".

President Bush I am sure you are disappointed in the fact they did this to our nation, aren't you? Or is it just the getting caught part that troubles you?

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