And the website TalkingPointsMemo is reporting that the former head of FEMA, Joe Allbaugh, may stand to profit from the catastrophe in the Gulf region through his various lobbying efforts. President Bush tapped Allbaugh to head FEMA after he served as Bush’s campaign manager during the 2000 election. He headed FEMA until March 2003 just as the U.S. was launching its invasion of Iraq. Then Allbaugh helped form a lobbying firm called New Bridge Strategies in order to help clients “take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.” New Bridge Strategies was also formed by several top executives from the lobbying firm then known as Barbour Griffith & Rogers. The head of that firm was Haley Barbour who is now the Republican governor of Mississippi. Earlier this year Joe Allbaugh signed on as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary KBR in order to “educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues.” Just last week the federal government announced that Halliburton would be hired to repair the Gulf Coast military bases damaged by Katrina. And now the Washington Post is reporting that Allbaugh is also helping Louisiana “coordinate the private-sector response to the storm.”