AND NOW, SOME VERY SPECIAL INTERESTS

One thing you can say about the Boy King: He dances with them what brung him.

Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) is the biggest federal contractor employing a current elite Bush donor. ACS had $525 million in federal contracts in fiscal 2002, led by contracts with the Department of Education. That agency announced last year that it will pay ACS $2.3 billion over 10 years to process student loans. ACS will subcontract one-fifth of this work to Plano-based EDS, which produced two 2000 Pioneers: EDS President Jeff Heller and ex-Michigan Governor John Engler, whom EDS hired to oversee its state and local government contracts. ACS’s Bush Ranger, Stephen Goldsmith, is the ex-mayor of Indianapolis and was a Pioneer and top advisor in Bush’s 2000 campaign. Right after the campaign, Congress’ General Accounting Office appointed Goldsmith to a panel studying government “outsourcing” and ACS hired Goldsmith as its senior vice president for e-government. Texas’ other major federal contractors run by elite Bush donors include: TXU ($94 million in fiscal 2002 federal contracts); SBC Communications ($61 million); PricewaterhouseCoopers ($39 million); Waste Management ($15 million); and Pilgrim’s Pride ($12 million).

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