The US-Mexico Border Fence

Something's very fishy about the numbers. And it appears Boeing Co is in line to be the next Haliburton.

No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 698-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexican border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built, at least not as advertised, according to Republican lawmakers and immigration experts.

GOP leaders have singled out the fence as one of the primary accomplishments of the recently completed session. Many lawmakers plan to highlight their $1.2 billion down payment on its construction as they campaign in the weeks before the midterm elections.

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President Bush signed the $34.8 billion homeland-security budget bill Wednesday without referring to the barrier. Instead, he highlighted the $1.2 billion that Congress provided for an unspecified blend of fencing, vehicle barriers, lighting and technology such as ground-based radar, cameras and sensors. [emphasis mine]

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That $1.2 billion figure is reported everywhere. But, they've already spent that much.

Sept. 21 [2006] (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. won an order worth an estimated $2.5 billion to install sensors and radar to secure the U.S. border, capturing the Homeland Security Department's second- largest contract.

The work will cover northern and southern borders, starting with a model to be deployed in the southwest in the next eight months, the department said in a statement today. The contract doesn't have a set value. Payments will be announced as parts of the system are ordered, department spokesman Jarrod Agen said.

The order, known as the Secure Border Initiative Net, gives Boeing Chief Executive Officer James McNerney a new avenue for growth. Sales from weapons such as fighter and cargo jets may stall as the war in Iraq winds down, and the border contract may ultimately be valued at as much as $8 billion as the U.S. moves to secure maritime borders as well, Boeing said last month.

It looks a lot like what the bean counters call double dipping. This borders protection work is gonna make more big businesses a fortune, far beyond the "measly" $1.2 billion. Well, at least they acknowledge its only a down payment.

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