The Larry Kane Report

Reports from FEMA poured in over the holiday weekend suggesting that overcharges or waste from Katrina contracts could soar past two billion dollars.  All this waste is apparently a product of the government granting contracts worth over 500 million dollars or less with lttle or no bidding.

Now, there is no question that Katrina reconstruction had to be done quickly, but this is another case of gross government incompetence. Everyone knew that Katrina’s cost would include some level of fraud,
but this is just not appropriate.

All of this on top of extraordinary cost overruns on the iraqi reconstruction that the Pentagon knew about, and still paid. KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton Corporation, may have overcharged over a billion dollars. My study of this problem has included some startlng reports. They include work performed on oil rigs that was already done by Iraqi workers. KBR charged for water cleanup that didn’t work. There are many other projects that are questionable.

My sources in Washington expect a Congressional investigation of both the Katrina and Iraq War ripoffs that promises to pass the Enron calamity in scope and final impact.

We are spending eight billion dollars in Iraq. You wouid think that the government would have , at the very least, the capacity to ensure that we are not getting ripped off.

The cost in lives is the number one challenge we face.

People who steal from the government in a war zone or disaster zone, must be held accountable

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In a rare show of unity, the Security Council of the U.N. unanimously imposed sanctions on the terror regime in iran, sanctions that may be intensified over the next year. The primary target of the U.N. solidarity is the people of Iran who are already restless with the saber-rattling, hate-baiting President Ahmadinejad. Iran is a hate-exporting regime, but the country has a horrible economy, and young people, eager for the elements of western culture, are a growing force in the dictatorship.

But watch out! U.N. sanctions have a way of evaporating when nations like France put financial interests above security interests. Despite my disclaimer, rest assured that the sanctions will open up a whole new round of dangerous rhetoric from the genocidal President. Behind the scenes though, Iranian leaders must consider whether advancing a nuclear agenda is more important than survival.

Another hopeful sign: For the first time in eighteen months, Israeli and Palestinian leaders sat down for face to face talks. Even though Hamas runs a piece of the Palestinian government, this meeting was a good step, and promotes Palestinian President Abbas as he wages political war against the Hamas terrorists. Israel’s release of 100-million dollars to the Palestinian Authority is a bold move that will motive further discussions.
Even more encouraging news. Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osman, a top Taliban and terrorist leader, and reportedly a senior aide to Osama Bin Laden, was killed by allied forces in a strike inside Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. I’ve been trying recently to highlight the fact that the Afghan war needs to be a main priority in out military planning. This is a good development.

It has been a year of dismal news in the war against terror.

In the heart of a holiday season, these developments offer a glimmer of hope that there is some progress on several fronts.

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Channel Ten reporter Bill Baldini retires today, ending a 44 year career at the Philadelphia station, one marked by extraordinary endurance and the kind of solid reporting that all stations should envy.

First, a disclaimer. Baldini is a friend. So my remarks are totally biased. He is on of the last of a breed of reporter. And it is hard to believe he’s turning in his reporter’s notebook. But wait a minute!  He also tells me that the station has welcomed him to return, at any time, if he feels the need to get back on the street.

No one owned street reporting in the seventies and eighties like Bill Baldini did. Eventually, Walt Hunter emerged as a powerful force, but when it came to gutsy, truthful reporting with a special appeal to the viewers, Baldini had a lock on the franchise. Unlike many reporters who write well, but talk above the fray, Bill always had the unique ability to converse directly with the viewer. He is who he is - not a pretender, but a real Philadelphian who projected that understanding of the city and the region and the people who live in it .

There was never a question of whether Baldini would leave Philadelphia. He survived the terms of 7 mayors, and 18 governors in our tri state area, never flinching at the aura of power, always persisting with the tough questions. He was as comfortable with a celebrity politician as he was with a man or woman on the sometimes tough streets that were covered. No fire was too small, no personal tragedy was ever treated with insensitivity. The world of news was his territory, and he was , more than most reporters I’ve known, ready for any day’s challeges.

Anchors get a lot of attention. But in some cases, they are void of real intuition and knowledge. For those in the glamour business, there was always people like Baldini to keep them on track.

TV News Directors should be looking for people like Bill, people who have not forgotten that is, in the end, it is about the quality of the information they provide.

Personally, Bill Baldini was a delight to work with. By his nature, he was and is a pleasant person with a great sense of ethics and family values.

We will all miss him on the air. Channel Ten will miss him.

A political note: The Chester County House seat recount lasted longer than the Presidential battle in Florida in 2000. The Democrats won. The Democrats control the Pa. House. It is time for the new minority, the Republicans to get over it.

Programming note: If you like gizmos, gadets and the techno-future, catch my Voice of Reason show Sunday at 9:30 on CN 8, the Comcast Network. Newsweek Senior Editor Steven Levy and web games legend Chris Grant will give you a peek at the future where anything is possible, and everything becomes obsolete. It is a special Christmas Eve edition.

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The real games are about to begin. Street protests and court battles will continue for months over the selection of two waterfront sites for casino slot gaming in Philadelphia. Ironically, the waterfront is the best place to go, but don’t tell that to the residents of South Philly and Fishtown where the casinos will be built.

The Foxwood and SugarHouse companies won the fight, but it is certain that the losers may challenge this in court, along with City Council and the neighborhood organizations. Will casinos be good for Philadelphia? One thing is certain. I have watched for over 40 years as one plan after another for Penns Landing has failed. Maybe the gambling halls will finally bring some life to the waterfront.

But before the games begin, the political games will have to play out.

SPEAKING OF GAMES: Alan Iverson was truly worth the price of admission for the Philadelphia 76-ers, but true greatness is really found in extraordinary team work and a desire to mold together a true force of playing partners. Now, the “answer’, as he is called, will have a chance to prove himself in Denver, which already has a superstar. People rarely change. Iverson is a great star, but can he pull off the big prize by playing less for his own grandeur and more for his team?

Alan Iverson has become a part of the culture of Philadelphia sports. We will miss him. But like Mayors, Presidents, and Television people learn, no one is irreplaceable.

We wish him well. And if the ring fits, let him wear it well.

Finally–good move by Philadelphia Mayoral candidate Michael Nutter. Nutter is calling for weekly mayoral debates. It will never happen, but the more debates the better. People need to hear a vision for the future, not just the same old verbalo barrages, loaded with superlatives, and lacking in specifics.

Political commercials are one thing. Real debates bring the campaign to life.

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There are many messages coming out of Washington these days. Some of them are confusing, and, at times. hard to interpret.

Basically, there are two struggles for foreign policy underway.

The first is an apparent internal struggle between the White House and the Joint Chiefs about an idea being floated in the media to send an additional thirty thousand troops to Iraq to help put down the bloody insurgency that has that nation on the verge of collapse. The Joint Chiefs oppose that move. The President will have the final say. But the chiefs, fearing another military disaster, have been unusually outspoken in their opposition. This air of defiance, accompanied by Colin Powell’s statement that our forces are “broken”, puts an enormous pressure on the President to find other solutions. It appears that confusion is still an ongoing problem in the direction of the iraqi game plan.

The second issue is more complex. With the military strapped in Iraq and Afghanistan, the President may seek a boost in troop strength. There are two problems on this one. The Iraq war has been paid for in supplemental funds, about 8 billion a month. Or hidden deficit is through the roof. Yet it is critical that we have the appropriate manpower to remain a powerful force in the world.

The Iraq war, as you can see, has affected us in many ways. As we plan for its future, wev have to look carefully at other military situations. Our finances have been devastated by it.  The President has said that the situation in Iraq was a threat to our security.

In many ways, he was right. The lack of leadership and wisdom on that war has drained us of our military potential. Now that is a real threat.

So, there are two debates: what to do about Iraq, and how to strengthen our forces, just in case a more powerful threat to America emerges in the next decade.

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