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Bush Buddy Benefits in Cutter Controversy
 The Coast Guard’s beleaguered Deep Water project didn’t get that way by itself. As usual, there are some greedy corporate fingers in the pie, including those of an old Bush buddy, Donald “Boysie” Bollinger, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards. Boysie is a Bush Super Ranger who raised more than $300,000 for the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.
According to Congressional Quarterly and Think Progress, Boysie has been an FOW since Poppy Bush first ran for president in 1980. He also served as Bush’s Louisiana campaign chairman in 2000 and 2004.
Bollinger Shipyards is a business partner of the two main contractors at the center of the $24 billion boondoggle – Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Bollinger’s company is the party that dismissed Coast Guard engineers’ concerns over the retrofitting of 110-foot cutters into 123-foot cutters by miscalculating how much stress the retooled boats could safely handle.
“The computer broke for some reason,” said T. R. Hamlin, a senior Bollinger manager. “Whether it was a power surge or something, who knows?”
A power surge? Who knows indeed. It’s difficult to fathom (sorry, had to) how such boobery can masquerade as competence. The only part of this story that makes any sense is that once again, Bush pals profit, and we pay.
~Jack McEnany
Also see: Deep Water, Deep Doo Doo
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