The Bush administration is responding to charges of cronyism in the bidding process by…expanding the pool of privileged cronies. The government-sponsored racial spoils system will now get a boost from Hurricane Katrina (via Breitbart/AP):

“This administration is reaching out to companies of all sizes, especially minority-owned enterprises, to guarantee that those seeking to join the rebuilding efforts can navigate federal agencies and bid for contracts with ease,” said Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez.

“We’re looking to improve to make participation stronger,” Gutierrez said. He said that would include the setting of numerical targets for minority participation, although a specific number had not yet been set.

I’ve written before on the embrace of federally-funded racial bean-counting programs by the GOP. See, for example, “Racial Profiling for Dollar$” and this 1999 column on W.’s squishiness on the issue. (And here on Asian-Americans and the University of Michigan case.) We expect this from the quota-mongering Left.

Now, we are supposed to swallow unconstitutional “numerical targets” for minority business hurricane contracts from a Republican White House in the name of party unity?

This is what it means to be a conservative?