Take Crony Capitalism and Then Put a Big Ole Heap of Pay To Play on Top
When Hurricane Maria touched down in Puerto Rico, Whitefish Energy Holding had two full time employees. Today, they have been rewarded a contract for $300 million to restore power to the island.
Now how the hell did that happen? Oh, the usual way – big campaign donations.
Slick Joe
The private equity firm that finances Whitefish is controlled by Joe Colonnetta. Joe and his wife are major, major, big time donors to Donald Trump – donating the limit to both his primary campaign and his general election fund. They tossed more money into PACs for Trump and the RNC.
And that’s not all. The CEO of two-year-old Whitefish is Andy Techmanski.
The Washington Post and the Daily Beast on Tuesday offered more details on the company’s backers. The Post noted that the firm is based in Zinke’s hometown and that its CEO, Andy Techmanski, is friendly with the Interior secretary.
So, a friendship with Zinke and some cash did the trick, and a trick it certaintly is! This is a $300 million dollar government contract going to a two-year-old firm with two employees. That right there isn’t a easy feat to pull off.
But practice does make perfect.
Joe Colonnetta’s relationship with the GOP is not limited to his contributions; he’s a prominent figure in Texas Republican politics. According to HBC’s website, in 2013 then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry appointed Colonnetta as a trustee for the Retirement System of Texas; in 2015, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Colonnetta to serve as chairman of the investment committee also at the Retirement System of Texas; and the same year, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appointed Colonnetta to his policy advisory committee.
Hey, Slick Joe learned from the best.
Thanks to Deb T and Alfredo over at the Dairy Queen for the heads up.
As if Puerto Rico doesn’t have enough trouble with incompetent “assistance.” Those poor folks are so screwed (sorry, Momma).
1It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and how much you contribute to them.
2While Zinke is pals with Dimwit Jr., demonstrating how close the Dotard45 maladministration likes to keep the graft and corruption. Probably some ‘rule’ about keeping the graft within the sphere of their 10-20% clutching Drumpf paws.
Meanwhile absolute silence in the House and Senate… Surely if that little punter from Bang ’em Young was still there… OK, OK, not funny.
3I asked what few friends I have in the investment bidness in Dallas for a reference on Joe Colonnetta. Not a single one had heard of him. That may not be a “be all end all” lack of reference, but still it is quite odd that no one I know owns up to knowing him.
4You just have to understand Trumpspeak. When he promised to “drain the swamp,” what he meant was “drain the treasury.”
5So that was why ‘Hinky’ Zinke was taking all those trips on government planes.
6I’ve been around long enough to have seen this before. Yeah, two “employees”: a couple of names to put on state corporation documents. However, once they hit the ground running they have a boatload of people they can call in as “contractors”. These guys are the ones who get the big salaries and perks. Now, if Elon Musk had gotten that contract . . .
7The Twitterverse has been lit up over this all day and the reaction is 75% outrage. The pathetic snacilbupeR isn’t likely to do a thing about it, of course.
8Whitefish is also the same hometown of Richard Spencer….
They are probably all pals;Stinky, Dick and Slick Joe.
How can Zinke get away with that?
9Annie, Zinke’s background reveals a type of risk taker. In other words, he is not averse. He’s worse. (Sorry. Couldn’t help it.) He does dare a lot and cares not a lot. He has put his ass on a hitlist for using taxpayer money to ride high and private in the air. I’m betting pocket lint that he already has a way out without a mark on his egotistical self planned down to the punctuation marks.(Not that it would ever keep him from having a big money job in the private sector.) That could actually leave his aiders and abetters holding the bag. Would not want to be a friend of his!
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