In the THEY HAVE NO SHAME department...

America's most mercenary lawyer-lobbyist firm is, according to this
report, profiteering off the fallout from September 11th, lobbying
for private industry to feed at the trough of Homeland Security...

"PointSource Technologies in California, has hired a premier
Washington lobbying firm _ Akin Gump, Strauss, Heuer & Feld _ to find
out how to get financing."

Full article:

HOMELAND SECURITY

Industry Sees Opportunity in U.S. Quest for Security

By ALISON MITCHELL

ASHINGTON, Nov. 24 _ Tom Ridge, the director of homeland
security, likes to say the home-front battle against
terrorism is not just the business of government but of
business. Business agrees.

Ever since Mr. Ridge stepped into the West Wing of the White
House early last month, corporate executives, start-up
companies and industry trade groups have been clamoring for
his attention. Already he and his aides have huddled with
dozens of corporate representatives.

And after the Pentagon asked entrepreneurs last month to
come forward with proposals to combat terrorism and counter
weapons of mass destruction, thousands of ideas were
submitted.

"We were somewhat surprised by the response," said Maj. Mike
Halbig, a Pentagon spokesman.

Some companies contact Mr. Ridge's office only to find out
that he does not actually award contracts.

One company, PointSource Technologies in California, has
hired a premier Washington lobbying firm _ Akin Gump,
Strauss, Heuer & Feld _ to find out how to get financing.

"We're trying to feel our way right now, where to go, who to
talk to," said Dr. Gregory M. Quist, the company's
president, who thinks his firm's research into detecting
naturally occurring pathogens in water could be modified to
fight bioterrorism.

"It's a confusion," Dr. Quist said. "It's a big maze and
we're a new company."

Mr. Ridge says security "will tap the creative genius and
resources of both the public and private sector." But others
fear that homeland defense could become a special-interest
boondoggle with the potential to grow into an industry akin
to the military- industrial complex spurred by World War II.

"In response to an immediate crisis, this is all an
appropriate unification for the national good," said Gene
Kimmelman, the Washington co-director for Consumers Union,
speaking of the cooperation between government and industry.

"It starts smacking of the military-industrial complex if it
goes on for too long and spreads beyond the immediate
national need in responding to a crisis," Mr. Kimmelman
added.

Already, the troubled airline industry received a $15
billion bailout from Congress after Sept. 11. The insurance
industry is seeking assistance. And in the name of
strengthening the economy, some industries are seeking
special deals in the economic stimulus legislation that is
pending on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Kimmelman said he was concerned about industries using
the crisis to seek overly broad relief from regulation or
antitrust laws and said it was already happening.

He points to a section of a $3.2 billion bioterrorism bill
sponsored by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of
Massachusetts, and Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, that
gives government the power for three years to pre-empt
antitrust laws for companies like drug makers.

The drug companies say they need such protection to allow
them to share information with the federal government and
plot a strategy to produce vaccines against agents of
bioterrorism.

Mr. Ridge says he knows the government must be careful not
to repeat the 1980's, when the Pentagon was pilloried for
the $600 toilet seat. But he is also welcoming to
entrepreneurs who want to help develop high-tech security
measures.

"Look, part of that entrepreneurial spirit is, `Hey, we make
a product; we might make a buck,' " he said in a recent
interview, laughing. "We look to American creativity to help
solve our problems and to help make a profit in the process.
That's what drives them. That's what really drives the
research. That's what pays for the research."

He is even considering hiring "special employees" from the
private sector to work on homeland defense in 60- to 90-day
spurts. Such employees are usually not subject to the same
kind of stringent financial disclosure rules and
postgovernment employment restrictions as full-time White
House officials.

By its very nature, homeland defense requires close
cooperation between government and industry because much of
the nation's vital infrastructure _ from telecommunications
networks to power plants to water supplies _ is in private
hands. And Mr. Ridge likens his drive to spur technological
innovation to the government-industry effort that led to the
national production boom after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

"It will be an American response to a challenge just like we
responded to things in World War II," he said.

Franklin D. Roosevelt brought business leaders into
policy-making positions and set up boards that developed
manpower policy, controlled distribution of resources and
worked with business and labor to bring about an enormous
industrial mobilization.

But two decades later, as he was leaving the White House,
Dwight D. Eisenhower felt the need to warn of the
"acquisition of unwarranted influence" by the arms industry.

Some officials and consumer groups are already expressing
concerns that the partnership between government and
industry could become too close.

Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, who
has tangled with the Bush administration over its refusal to
reveal the names of industry officials who advised a White
House energy task force, raised some concerns about the
potential for abuse in Mr. Ridge's idea for special
employees.

"I would want some kind of Congressional oversight to be
sure the relationships are not getting too mixed up so that
without thinking about it government policy becomes the
policy that is in the interest of the private companies
rather than the public," Mr. Waxman said.

Many industries used to put their lobbying might into
battling against big government. But after Sept. 11, with
security measures likely to mean delays in commerce, many
companies are suddenly seeking a larger government.

William J. Canary, the head of the American Trucking
Associations, has written to Mr. Ridge calling for a "proper
infrastructure" to be developed at the nation's ports of
entry in order to speed truck traffic.

"This included not only bricks and mortar, but more
importantly adequate levels of human resources and
investment in systems and technologies that can ensure the
efficient movement of legitimate cargo across our borders,"
Mr. Canary wrote.

In testimony before the Senate, the chemical industry
recently called for the Department of Justice to get
financing to speed a comprehensive assessment of the
industry's vulnerabilities as well as for "significant
federal funding" to increase the security of rail
transportation.

Frederick L. Webber, the president of the American Chemistry
Council, even said in that testimony that the industry's
security should come under the jurisdiction of Mr. Ridge.

At a White House meeting last month, about a dozen
executives in the pharmaceutical industry offered to send
industry scientists to join the government effort to battle
bioterrorism and to follow government direction, in exchange
for liability and antitrust protections.

Richard J. Markham, the chief executive of Aventis Pharma,
according to participants, told Mr. Ridge that the industry
needed a road map from federal officials about what the
threat is, what vaccines the government was likely to need,
and what antibiotics should be made and by when.

"In very general terms, we were discussing a major research
initiative," said Alan F. Holmer, the president of the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. "We
need to be advised by the government what the threat is and
what the priority is."