No Time for Competition

Initial figures on Katrina contracting, courtesy of the New York Times:

• More than 15 contracts exceed $100 million.
• More than 80 percent of $1.5 billion worth of FEMA contracts were awarded with limited or no competition.
• Largest contract so far: $568 million to AshBritt, a Pompano Beach, Fla., company that was a client of the former lobbying firm of Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

"We are very apprehensive about what we are seeing," Homeland Security IG Richard Skinner told the paper.