[techweenie]

Government is a blunt instrument. The bigger the government entity, the blunter.

But still, you should be questioning how the feds came to authorize nearly $1,000 per hour compensation in post-Katrina repair efforts.

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Knight Ridder has found that a lack of oversight, generous contracting deals and poor planning mean that government agencies are paying as much as 10 times what the temporary fix would normally cost. The government is paying contractors an average of $2,480 for less than two hours of work to cover each damaged roof -- even though it's also giving them endless supplies of blue sheeting for free.

Many of the contracts were signed by the Army Corps of Engineers in advance in July after the government was criticized for having signed lucrative deals on the fly after hurricanes ravaged Florida last year. But at least one contract signed in July was for the same amount the Corps was criticized for last year, while two others negotiated after Hurricane Katrina were for less.

Former government contract officials and private contracting experts say the Corps neglected to negotiate better rates when it had the chance before the hurricane season began. Once the storm hit and the vast amount of destruction became obvious, they say, the Corps failed to negotiate a lower rate for contractors, who could still make decent profits because of the sheer amount of work to be done.

Jim Pogue, a press officer for the Army Corps of Engineers, said the agency strictly followed government contracting requirements and did all it could to get the best deal possible for the roofing work, given the magnitude of the task and the need to protect vulnerable homes quickly.

He also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which by statute is in charge of the program, asked the Corps to manage the program because FEMA's resources were spread thin.

Billions to spend

The amount the government is paying to tack down blue tarps, which are designed to last three months, raises major questions about how little taxpayers may be getting for their money as contractors line up at the government trough for billions of dollars in repair and reconstruction contracts.

As many as 300,000 homes in Louisiana alone may need roof repairs, and as the government attempts to cover every salvageable roof by the end of October the bill could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

``This is absolute highway robbery, and it really does show that the agency doesn't have a clue in getting the real value of contracts,'' said Keith Ashdown, vice president for Taxpayers for Common Sense, noting that he recently paid $3,500 for a new permanent roof. ``I've done the math in my head 100 times, and I don't know how they computed this cost.''