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  • Ports Deal Doomed

    Republicans: Ports Deal Doomed in Congress

    WASHINGTON - Republican congressional leaders told President Bush Thursday his plan allowing a company owned by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to take control of some U.S. port operations faces certain defeat in Congreess, GOP officials said. Bush, however, insisted again that he would veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.

    The GOP leaders conveyed the news one day after a House comittee voted 62-2to block the deal and Senate Democrats demanded a vote.

  • #2
    Bush and his threat of veto ----- 62-2

    Muhahahahahahah -- what a jerk.


    Oh, and what about Europe? Guess they will have to file Bankruptcy....

    Muhahahahaha


    The worst thing you can ever be is presumptuous
    Last edited by Julie; 09 Mar 06,, 20:08.

    Comment


    • #3
      Bush is unstoppable.

      I am no fan of Bush but this much I have seen - what Bush wants, Bush gets!


      "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

      I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

      HAKUNA MATATA

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Ray
        Bush is unstoppable.

        I am no fan of Bush but this much I have seen - what Bush wants, Bush gets!
        Yeah.....but I think the spoiled brat is about to get the brakes. ;)

        Comment


        • #5
          A man that takes a stand on conviction, although certain to be defeated, is no 'jerk'. Personally, I admire him all the more, and that you don't tells me a lot.

          Presumably, you'd like a return to the day when our 'leaders' stick a wet finger in the air and consult pollsters and test-market ideas and float rumors to editorial pages and commission focus groups in order to know what the Right Thing to do is.

          I like it this way better, and now that the demagogues and the ignorant will get their way for their own political cover (Republican Senators and Congressmen) and/or to capitalize on the chance to 'get to the right' of the President on national security, may we all not suffer too much from this boneheaded rush over a cliff, as we cower in fear behind our own bigotry.

          Bush will be defeated, and the country will suffer the consequences. Enjoy yourselves.

          Comment


          • #6
            It may be a moot point.
            Dubai Port Company to Divest Itself of American Holdings

            By Jonathan Weisman and Daniela Deane
            Washington Post Staff Writers
            Thursday, March 9, 2006; 1:57 PM

            The United Arab Emirates company that was attempting to take over management operations at six U.S. ports announced today that it will divest itself of all American interests.

            The announcement appears to head off a major confrontation that was brewing between Congress and the Bush administration over the controversial deal.

            Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) announced on the Senate floor shortly before 2 p.m. that Dubai Ports World would "transfer fully the operations of U.S. ports to a U.S. entity." Warner, who had been trying to broker a compromise on the issue, said DP World would divest itself of U.S. interests "in an orderly fashion" so as not to suffer "economic loss."

            It was not immediately clear how the divesture would be handled or what U.S. company would take over the operation.

            Warner's announcement came just hours after Republican leaders from the House and Senate met with President Bush to tell him Congress appeared ready to block the deal.

            The GOP leaders gave Bush their assessment of where the deal stood at a private meeting at the White House, according to Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) Although the gathering was a regularly scheduled meeting, according to Call, it was significant because it came only one day after lawmakers took their first formal steps toward killing Dubai Ports World's acquisition of a British-owned company.

            The administration had repeatedly said it would veto any attempts to crush the deal, arguing that port security is in the hands of U.S. agencies and would not be put in jeopardy by the takeover. Americans have reacted viscerally to the deal, lawmakers say, driving Congress towards a confrontation with the White House.

            "We want to protect the American people," said House Speaker Sen. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill). "We've been doing it the last four and a half years. We fought a war in Iraq, fought a war in Afghanistan, stood up to the Homeland Security Department. We will continue to do that. We will maybe have our differences, but we think we're going to continue to" oppose the Dubal deal," he said Thursday morning.

            The House Appropriations Committee Wednesday added a measure to block the deal to a must-pass war-funding bill. The vote on the bill was 62-2. A full House vote on the bill is expected to pass overwhelmingly next week.

            A knowledgeable Senate aide said the GOP leaders told Bush Thursday that they may be able to stave off a vote today in the Senate to kill the ports deal, but they won't be able to hold it back forever.

            Senate Democrats continued to demand a vote on the issue, while Senate Republicans have been hoping they could prevent a vote until the end of a 45-day review of the deal.

            The ports deal has sparked an unusual, election-year Republican mutiny against the Bush administration over an issue the president has tried to make his own -- the war on terrorism.

            The confrontation over the Dubai-owned company's acquisition of management operations at six major ports, including Baltimore, New Orleans and New York, has more than any other issue in recent years been driven by constituents anxious about terrorism, the war in Iraq and illegal immigration and foreign encroachment, lawmakers say.

            Add to that the president's rock-bottom approval ratings and there may have been little the White House could do to beat back the issue.

            White House officials have not backed down in the face of the brewing revolt, however. At the same time the GOP leadership was meeting with Bush, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan repeated Bush's vow to veto any legislation that interferes with the deal. He has made clear the president's position is unchanged.

            Republican lawmakers said yesterday that obstinacy has only fueled the rebellion. And GOP members of all ranks objected to the White House's handling of an issue that has proved to be a gift for Democrats.

            For Democrats, the issue may be a political windfall, even if Republicans side with them in a confrontation with the White House. About 70 percent of Americans oppose the port deal, and that opposition does not change if they are told port managers do not control security at the ports.

            Democracy Corps, a Democratic polling organization, released a memo yesterday saying the Dubai port issue has helped drive down Bush's approval ratings, particularly on national security matters and especially among Republic voters.

            The issue appears headed in one of two directions -- a veto confrontation between the president and Congress or a decision by the company to abandon its takeover plans.
            http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...030901144.html
            "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

            Comment


            • #7
              A man who puts thousands of lives on the line to protect our homeland, then compromises our security, is a jerk.

              And it's unanimous 62-2.......he's wrong. I'm finally glad to see it being put to a vote....that that man is capable of error.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Julie
                ...And it's unanimous 62-2.......he's wrong. I'm finally glad to see it being put to a vote....that that man is capable of error.
                Well naturally the congress is going to oppose this, it's very unpopular with the public. They have nothing to gain by supporting the deal and everything to lose.

                I think Bush's error was in picking the wrong battle to fight. This one was a loser from a PR perspective no matter what, and threatening a veto was dumb. By his own admission he only heard about the deal after the fact, he should have just backed away and supported a review of the deal at the start.
                "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Bluesman
                  A man that takes a stand on conviction, although certain to be defeated, is no 'jerk'. Personally, I admire him all the more, and that you don't tells me a lot.

                  Presumably, you'd like a return to the day when our 'leaders' stick a wet finger in the air and consult pollsters and test-market ideas and float rumors to editorial pages and commission focus groups in order to know what the Right Thing to do is.

                  I like it this way better, and now that the demagogues and the ignorant will get their way for their own political cover (Republican Senators and Congressmen) and/or to capitalize on the chance to 'get to the right' of the President on national security, may we all not suffer too much from this boneheaded rush over a cliff, as we cower in fear behind our own bigotry.

                  Bush will be defeated, and the country will suffer the consequences. Enjoy yourselves.

                  It doesnt strike you as a little odd that the repubs are prepared to vote their own president down 62-2?

                  Dontcha think there is something to that Top?

                  You and shek and the few other defenders of this deal are on the side of a very small minority.

                  Why?

                  I have no idea what you guys are thinking.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by highsea
                    Well naturally the congress is going to oppose this, it's very unpopular with the public. They have nothing to gain by supporting the deal and everything to lose.

                    I think Bush's error was in picking the wrong battle to fight. This one was a loser from a PR perspective no matter what, and threatening a veto was dumb. By his own admission he only heard about the deal after the fact, he should have just backed away and supported a review of the deal at the start.
                    It's things like this that help to convince me that maybe Bush really is just a stubborn moron afterall, and that his 'commitment' to the WOT is actually no more than stubborness.

                    He looks like a bigger asss AMONG HIS OWN PARTY with every passing day and every statement of support for this deal.

                    George, wake the hell up we don't want this deal. What we do want is you to stop spending money like LBJ and utilize that stubborness on securing the friggin' southern border.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Hi Guys,

                      All in all this outcome is probably not that favorable to the United States in the long run.

                      The United States has long been considered a safe place to invest money but between the stink over the DPW deal, inflating deficets and government spending bearing some resemblence to that of a strung out cokehead, people might start to think differently.

                      Afterall, we have already witnessed "Dissapearing Petro Dollars" so we know that the U.S. is not immune to changing patterns of investment behavoir.

                      Quick question: why is it the PRC and the Saudi Arabians get a free pass from the same people that are aghast at the thought of perfidous Dubai?

                      William
                      Pharoh was pimp but now he is dead. What are you going to do today?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Julie
                        A man who puts thousands of lives on the line to protect our homeland, then compromises our security, is a jerk.

                        And it's unanimous 62-2.......he's wrong. I'm finally glad to see it being put to a vote....that that man is capable of error.
                        Julie, you belittle yourself by succumbing willfully to BDS.

                        -dale

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by M21Sniper
                          It's things like this that help to convince me that maybe Bush really is just a stubborn moron afterall, and that his 'commitment' to the WOT is actually no more than stubborness.

                          He looks like a bigger asss AMONG HIS OWN PARTY with every passing day and every statement of support for this deal.

                          George, wake the hell up we don't want this deal. What we do want is you to stop spending money like LBJ and utilize that stubborness on securing the friggin' southern border.
                          We elected the man president - it doesn't make him King, but it also doesn't mean we get to cry like a stuck pig every time he does something we don't like.

                          Geez.

                          -dale

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            It is our inherent right as americans to biitch like stuck pigs.

                            That is the normal state of affairs in this nation. It's when ALL THE PIGS start squealing the same tune that you have to ask yourself, "Why?".

                            It is very rare that all the pigs squeal the same thing at the same time. This certainly appears to be one of those times.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by dalem
                              We elected the man president - it doesn't make him King, but it also doesn't mean we get to cry like a stuck pig every time he does something we don't like.

                              Geez.

                              -dale
                              I didn't vote for the "man." And....I'm tired of getting "stuck."

                              Comment

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