Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 5:38 PM by Gene

The federal government gave a no-bid Hurricane Katrina contract for battered Mississippi schools to a subsidiary of a politically linked minority company thousands of miles from the Gulf Coast — in Alaska.

Processed amid mounting questions about dozens of no-bid awards, the $39.5 million contract won approval despite a proposal from a local businessman who contends he could do the job for roughly half the price.

Wait a second -- let me guess....

U.S. Senate records show Nana's business interests in the nation's capital are represented by Blank Rome Government Relations, a lobbying firm whose CEO is David Girard-diCarlo. He was a fundraiser for former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge when Ridge was governor of Pennsylvania.

Blank Rome's website shows that other company lobbyists include Mark Holman, a former deputy presidential assistant at Homeland Security, and Ashley Davis, who served as a Homeland Security assistant to Ridge. Additionally, Nana officials and employees have given more than $5,000 in donations since 2001 to influential Republican members of Alaska's congressional delegation, federal campaign records show.

Among the recipients were Sen. Ted Stevens, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation; Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Rep. Don Young, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

BRIBERY!