Again, I am not going to try to defend all of this administration's decisions, because I do not agree with all of them. I am happy to see this administration address the problems and make the tough decisions; instead of trying to sweep the problems under the rug while they wait for the next popular opinion poll to tell them what to do, as the previous administration had done.

 

Sorry - I couldn't help myself.... Hilary's claiming she didn't know her husband was buddy-buddy with the UAE. If that's the case, I'm guessing there may be some marital communication issues....

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11657573/

 

You mean they are really married????

 

Proposed deal faced hostile scrutiny in Congress
Mar. 9, 2006. 02:58 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — A Dubai company said today it is giving up its entire stake in U.S. ports, a move made as congressional leaders warned President George W. Bush that both the House of Representatives and Senate appeared ready to block the takeover.

Legislators who have been trying to block the deal involving DP World said they were studying the company's announcement to see if it adequately addressed their concerns about an Arab government taking over major operations at U.S. ports.

The deal has become an election-year burden for Republicans.

Underscoring how much the issue has veered out of the Bush administration's control, the Senate rejected an effort by its own Republican leaders to thwart Democrats who want a vote on derailing the DP World deal. The Senate voted 51-47 to consider the Democratic legislation, falling 16 short of the 67 votes Republican leaders needed to prevail.

Details of the surprise deal were still being worked out. The company said its decision was "based on an understanding that DP World will have time to affect the transfer in an orderly fashion and that DP World will not suffer economic loss."

DP World finalized its $6.8 billion US purchase earlier Thursday of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the British firm that through a U.S. subsidiary runs important operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. It also plays a lesser role in dockside activities at 16 other American ports.

A leading critic of the ports deal, Representative Peter King (R-N.Y.), applauded the decision. He predicted that if the company's announcement were to represent a total divestiture, then legislators would be appeased.

"It would have to be an American company with no links to DP World, and that would be a tremendous victory and very gratifying," said King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

 

What is the recourse? Higher oil prices maybe?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11741617/

 

Not sure what the fallout will be .... but I for one, feel better now that Dubai has pulled out.

PISTOL

 

Im glad this thread was revisited. That means I get to hear more from HID and truckjunkie. I loved how crazy the lefty's were getting before you guys started posting. It kinda muffled that irritating "Michael Moore" sound I was starting to hear. Keep it up.

Herb you must have a pretty big pair to proudly post that picture next to your name. You must be a real tough guy.

 

??

Can anyone say SORE LOSER??

I'm just proud of my Legislative branch that they finally had the nerve to stand up to their fearless leader. About time! Not a very wise move to throw a mini fit and threaten a veto only to have THIS happen.................
Congress was poised to overide his highness anyway, it's probably better that the UAE pulled out, it is a nice little damage control for the President, that and the singing of the Patriot Act. That should keep some of the attention off of him for a while...................

 

I don't know about this. There is more to this than meets the eye. Somehow I suspect that the American public is being snowed and a shell game is going on. Keep a close eye on Sen. John Warner. I do not think this is the end of the issue and I think that it will come up again but in a different and perhaps more insidious form.

 

So does this mean that all the foreign firms that own the west coast shipping ports have to give them up also?? Democrats never mentioned anything about them.

MikeyB

 

I thought this as soon as I heard the deal, you beat me to it. We will never know the whole story. You ever hear the old saying "pull the wool over your eyes"? I still don't trust them, sorry.

 

As far as recourse is concerned, well there's now a bunch of rumbling that the UAE will cancel it's $9.7 Billion dollar deal for 77 jets with Boeing, as well as either cancel or reduce it's future orders for Apache helicopters. I wonder how many United Aerospace Workers that'll idle... Well at least the Longshoremen will keep their jobs that they had no chance of losing in the first place.

Well maybe those UAW workers can move from SoCal or Seattle to Tennesse where Airbus is building a new plant, because that's who will build the planes if Boeing loses out. Maybe the UAE will make it a contract stipulation that none of the airliners are built in the U.S....

And yes, I agree there was probably some back room negotiating done to get this to fly.

Sigh - I don't see the Legislative branch as standing up for America in this situation; I see a bunch of politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, running scared in an election year over a topic that very few people know anything about other than what they hear on CNN.

And before you start in on me being a W supporter, right or wrong, I'm not. I think he's done a terrible job keeping spending in check, and worse at illegal immigration. I just happen to agree with him on this one, and with this 'agreement' passing, I see us on a slippery slope that could spell trouble in dealing with foreign entities in the future.

The UAE, and other tentative allies in that region of the world, are going to take a long hard look at this. Dubai lost a lot of face in the Arab world over this fiasco, and if I was them I'd be starting to wonder about America's actual committment to them as allies.

Oh yeah - you can probably:
a) kiss our Navy using their ports goodbye
b) forget using their airbases in case we need to mount airstrikes in Iran
c) garner any future terrorism intelligence from a supposed ally - when it's convenient for us to call them that

 

Anyone agree that this deal being so "hush, hush" in the begining stages has to do with our soon to be war with Iran?

I have heard this theroy and it makes sense to a certian extent. We are going to have a tough(er) time getting supplies out that way if the UAE won't cooperate.

I couldn't agree more. BUT my qoute was more geared torwards them putting their foot down with a President that has had it too easy with a republican majority. I know darn well no-one up there cares about the average American. There is billions of dollars in lobby money at stake here, everyone knows when it's time to posture and grandstand!!!!

Time will tell. One thing is for sure, we wouldn't want to be sitting here 8 years from now saying, "Boy, that was a huge mistake letting an Arab county take over control of our East Coast ports!"

These politicians are going to be sitting high on the hog wherever and whenever the general American public gets the shaft, that is for sure.

 

Why should we go to war with Iran? Let the Israelis take care of Iran.

MikeyB

 

never felt a particular need to prove how tough i am when dealing with a bunch of righties.