First Lady
Michelle Obama’s Princeton classmate is a top executive at the company that earned the contract to build the failed Obamacare website.
Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of ’85, is senior vice president at CGI Federal, which earned the no-bid contract to build the $678 million Obamacare enrollment website at Healthcare.gov. CGI Federal is the U.S. arm of a Canadian company.
Townes-Whitley and her Princeton classmate Michelle Obama are both members of the Association of Black Princeton Alumni.
Toni Townes ’85 is a onetime policy analyst with the General Accounting Office and previously served in the Peace Corps in Gabon, West Africa. Her decision to return to work, as an African-American woman, after six years of raising kids was applauded by a Princeton alumni publication in 1998
George Schindler, the president for U.S. and Canada of the Canadian-based CGI Group, CGI Federal’s parent company, became an Obama 2012 campaign donor after his company gained the Obamacare website contract.
As reported by the Washington Examiner in early October, the Department of Health and Human Services reviewed only CGI’s bid for the Obamacare account. CGI was one of 16 companies qualified under the Bush administration to provide certain tech services to the federal government. A senior vice president for the company testified this week before The House Committee on Energy and Commerce that four companies submitted bids, but did not name those companies or explain why only CGI’s bid was considered.
On the government end, construction of the disastrous Healthcare.gov website was overseen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a division of longtime failed website-builder Kathleen Sebelius’ Department of Health and Human Services.
Update: The Daily Caller repeatedly contacted CGI Federal for comment. After publication of this article, the company responded that there would be “nothing coming out of CGI for the record or otherwise today.” The company did however insist that The Daily Caller include a reference to vice president Cheryl Campbell’s House testimony. This has been included as a courtesy to the company.
“However the discovery of Michelle Obama’s relationship with a top executive at CGI Federal has sparked a social media storm, with Twitter punters accusing the Obama administration of cronyism.
Dan Carpenter wrote: ‘Isn’t this cozy????? “Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of ’85, is senior vice president at CGI.’
Citizenwells wrote: ‘CGI Obamacare website contract Obamas (Barack & Michelle) crony capitalism or poor judgement.’
Radio personality Mark Simone wrote: ‘How did bumbling CGI get a $678 mill no-bid contract to build the website? They were friends with Michelle.’
Meanwhile, Washington Examiner reported CGI has a troubled track record for the delivery of government contracts, highlighting a time when it failed to meet the deadline for a new online medical registry for diabetes patients and treatment providers.
Ontario, Canada, government officials cancelled the $46.2 million contract after 14 months of delay in September 2012. Ontario officials currently refuse to pay any fees to CGI for the failed IT project.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477403/Michelle-Os-Princeton-classmate-exec-company-built-Obamacare-website.html#ixzz2irLA9j9K Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
An American tech company could have developed a working web site for less than a million dollars. Valerie Jarrett’s sister is connected (through marriage) to one of the head honchos of the same company. One wonders how much of a kickback did the emperor and his wife receive…and they’re being retained to fix it. The full job is worth 4 bil. through 2017 – a coincidence since the the obama’s won’t be leaving until 2017. That’s if we even have a country left by then.
Crooks and liars!
UPDATE: The same company in charge of 2 billion in Sandy Hook…
CGI Federal Inc., the mastermind behind healthcare.gov, is assisting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the distribution of $1.7 billion in relief for Hurricane Sandy.
mediachecker 