Show of Hands?

Is there anyone who is surprised to get this news from the New Orleans Times-Picayune?

In a much anticipated rebidding of contracts to service travel trailers in Louisiana, the Federal Emergency Management Agency appears poised to dole out more than half the work to out-of-state companies, despite federal assurances that the process would favor local firms, FEMA documents show.

In addition, one of the companies listed by the agency as "an apparently successful offeror" is a joint venture from San Diego that includes a subsidiary of Fluor Corp., a major player in post-storm reconstruction that received one of the multimillion dollar trailer deals FEMA and the Bush administration vowed to rebid. And one of the Louisiana companies expected to land a contract does not appear to meet the definition of a local business that FEMA established when it requested proposals in November, records show.

The surprising results have infuriated some small Gulf Coast businesses, the same firms that federal officials and bid guidelines insisted would have an advantage in the contract derby, which was set off after cries of protest about FEMA awarding gargantuan awards to heavy-hitting companies almost before Katrina's last gusts had blown.

Anyone? Bueller?