Yet another Republican scam has cost the life of an innocent American. And no, it’s not Iraq this time, but, get this, downtown Boston. Yep, this time it hits close to home, and for the Del Valle family, life will never be the same. Although statistics say that one is more likely to be killed in a traffic accident than in a plane crash, falling slabs of concrete is probably not what these numbers intend to prove. But that is just was has happened. In one of the new tunnels of the Big Dig, a large concrete ceiling panel fell onto the roadway, killing a woman as she and her husband were on route to Logan airport. Now, perhaps you may be thinking, “well, that is a shame, but there are other more pressing concerns to be dealt with at this time.” And in that you may have a point. However, though only one life was lost here (thankfully,) this incident is yet another example of the failure of the neo-conservative model of government.

The company in charge of the Big Dig is Bechtel. This should be a familiar name, as Bechtel is one of if not the largest global construction firm. Some of Bechtel’s past achievements include: Hover Dam, BART, and the Channel Tunnel, just to name a few. One could say that Bechtel is a firm so large that is has its fingers in everyone’s pie. So, it should come as no surprise that when the Big Dig was a fledgling project seeking a management consultant in the mid 1980’s, Bechtel was chosen. The real problem with this choice emerged when it became clear that Bechtel would not only be heading up the design team, but would also be responsible for the construction and safety monitoring of the project. This, which Bechtel claims is common practice, basically positioned the company as final arbiter of all aspects of the project, thereby pushing aside (or buying out) local contractors and government officials. Given that this was all taking place in the Reagan era, when the nascent neo-conservative movement was beginning to take hold, such a massive privatization of public works was not met with sufficient outrage to halt this arrangement.

The Bechtel website claims that its role in the Big Dig was the following: Management consultant responsible for preliminary design, management of the final design process and construction by other consultants and contractors, procurement, oversight of safety programs, and reporting on the project’s overall cost and schedule. Simply put, everything.

Bechtel is the type of organization that is involved in the aggressive search of global profit at any cost. John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, describes his role as a covert, corporate bankrolled, para-governmental agent for companies such as but not limited to Bechtel. In this sense, intelligence operatives are used to manipulate foreign policy in order to bring about lucrative contracts that benefit not only these massive corporations, but also the corporate enablers in government. This is not fiction.

In addition to the aforementioned list of Bechtel’s achievements, two more recent contracts are: Kuwait Oil Field Reconstruction (1991) and Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction (2003 – present) Regarding the Iraq contract, which came in two phases and is currently worth roughly 2 billion dollars (an easily extensible figure,) Bechtel is charged with developing: electric, water, road, rail, public buildings, ports and airports. Though the company claims that its contract was awarded in a transparent and competitive manner, given the heft of these giants (which include Halliburton, KBR, Fluor, etc.) there was certainly a political aspect to the decision. Indeed, Halliburton was originally intended to manage the Iraq reconstruction work, but a significant outcry regarding “vice president” Cheney’s connection with the company quashed the deal. Simply put, Bechtel is now being paid by the US Government (via USAID) to re-build Iraq.

And FYI, Bechtel (along with the others) is involved in Katrina re-construction to the tune of hundreds of millions.

Kuwait > Boston > Iraq > New Orleans – what do these places have in common? Simply, they all are examples of how government collusion with big business equals massive profits. Taxpayer money is going though a corrupt government and ending up in the hands of large, bullish, Republican friendly companies. Although I see no inherent problem in government partnering with private companies, what’s going on now falls into two major categories: war profiteering and passing the buck. In a perverse way, those politicians in favor with such corporations stand only to gain from natural disasters and foreign wars of occupation.

Because the role of government as a protector of social well-being has been so weakened under Republican administrations, we are now being told that we have no choice but to turn to these major corporations for guidance. And since the current administration continues to slash public funding, we can expect only more of the same. I am not a Socialist, but I believe that capitalism must have its limits or democracy as we know it will be finished. Profit is good, and its availability keeps societies competitive and innovative. However, absent regulation, profit will triumph over public good any day. We are living in a 2nd gilded age, and its time for a new progressive era that is both national and global in scope.

Just as the Del Valle family now claims for justice, let us join them.

Sources:

http://katrinacoverage.com/tag/bechtel/
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/big_dig_problems/
http://www.bechtel.com/iraq.htm

p.s. – Bonus Question for 10 points: The new Romanian highway from Brasov > Hungarian border is being built by ______