Disaster profiteering cometh

With Karl Rove overseeing this effort, Knight Ridder tells us what to expect:

WASHINGTON - As the federal government throws tens of billions of dollars into hurricane relief and reconstruction, the system to make sure taxpayers' money is spent properly is a mess.
The federal purchasing system has been plagued with scandal -- its top buyer was arrested Monday. It has too few workers deciding exactly what to buy, and there may not be enough auditors to ensure taxpayers get their money's worth. Even now, rules designed to keep the contracting process fair and honest are being loosened to speed recovery and reconstruction.
Joshua Schwartz, co-director of the George Washington University Law School's government procurement law program, pointed to small staffs, limited budgets and weak oversight.
The number of government purchasing agents and contract managers has been cut in half since 1990, but since Sept. 11, 2001, the contract spending they oversee has more than doubled, Schwartz said.

OK, they don't mention Rove. But waste, fraud, corruption -- it's Iraq revisited.