About The Shaw Group's No Bid Contract For Hurricane Katrina Work.

I just saw on CNN a story that The Shaw Group got a no bid contract to help in the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. The gist of the story is that the company has close ties to the Bush Administration. It's true that The Shaw Group gave $100,000 to President Bush's inauguration, as this story from The Best of New Orleans says. (See here.)

But here's information about the head of The Shaw Group that CNN left out of their story for some reason.

After the pounding it took in the last round of elections, the Louisiana Democratic Party needed to search for new leadership. That's not a shot at former party chair Mike Skinner, a Lafayette attorney. Rather, it's a reflection of one of the fundamental rules of politics: winning matters.

When the party chose Shaw Group CEO Jim Bernhard as its new chair several weeks ago, it signaled that it was ready for the kind of sea change that many believe the Democratic infrastructure needs at all levels, from the national headquarters down to the parish committees.

And there's more:

Bernhard, 50, didn't start dabbling in politics until recently. He backed former state Attorney General Richard Ieyoub for governor in 2003, then jumped head-long into Kathleen Blanco's runoff effort. They became fast friends. He co-chaired Blanco's transition team, then hired her campaign manager and political protege, attorney Jeff Jenkins, to work for Shaw. Last year, Bernhard toyed with the idea of running for the U.S. Senate, but opted instead to remain at Shaw.

Isn't that interesting? The company is run by the head of the Louisiana Democratic Party and a supporter of Louisiana's Democratic governor. (LDP website here.) That's some pretty scandalous cronyism by the Bush Administration. Giving no-bid contracts to Democrats. Somebody call Sen. Mary Landrieu. There needs to be an immediate independent investigation of this corrupt behavior.

-tdr