LIVE THREAD: Senate Hearing: Briefing on Ports Deal (11:00 a.m. EST)

C-SPAN ^

[Howlin]

The Senate Armed Services Cmte. conducts an open briefing into the management of six American ports by Dubai Ports World. Sen. John Warner (R-VA) called the briefing to review national security issues raised by the deal, which transfers control from a British firm to one owned by the United Arab Emirates.

[ken5050]

And today's BIG question is: Who briefs the briefers?"

[farmer18th]

Warner has already said that he saw no problem with the deal

Isn't he the one that saw no problem with Liz Taylor when she was yelling at fried microwave chicken to hurry up and finish?

Personally, I've learned to stop worrying about Muslim control of vital U.S. Ports because, heah, this is a deal and someone is going to make some money off of it and if we have to increase the risk of a dirty bomb coming in on a container ship, well, heck, that's the price we pay for free markets. Isn't it boys?

[ken5050]

FYI.over here..

[Dane]

Thank you for starting the live thread, should be interesting hearing all the bloviating especially from hillary.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

I heard this was a 'done deal' in September. Curious that it is just now getting attention.

Dems have yet to get their "cartoon" moment.

[mnehring]

They will have to initiate a new bill and pass a new law/regulation that will negate the deal.

That may not even fly, after all, this is a deal between a company in the UK and a company in the UAE. The US involvement would be to approve the newly merged company's license in the US. Depending on the existing contract between us and P&O, this may be even further out of congressional hands that I even could guess.

Because, technically, Dubai Ports World is owned by financial conglomerates (not the UAE as has been misreported..) that we do have non restricted business agreements with (such as Deutsch Bank and Citigroup), we not only risk having these container facilities shut down during the bloviating, but we also risk our relationships with the institutions that hold most of DPW.

[processing please hold]

But, does congress have the authority to override the deal in the first place?

I think so if they have the 2/3 majority.

This may be more of a Supreme Court issue to validate the legality of the original process and/or any changes congress may pass.

I wonder how long that process would take, the SC aspect of it.

This entire story should have been in the news months ago. I guess the media was too busy trying to impeach Bush and all his ancestors.

[hipaatwo]

Can you put me on the list please :)

[mnehring]

And the Dems, MSM etc have played on the xenophobes and worryworts to the hilt on this issue.

This has been an almost flawless strategy by the left to split our side.. just read the blogs and all the boards here.. Don't doubt for a moment that having Jimmy Carter agree with Bush was part of the strategy to make many on the right puke at the deal.

[confederacy of dunces]

Be right back. Need to fetch my rubber arrows and some snacks.

[areafiftyone]

Ahhh the Bloviation Committee!

[Not A Snowbird]

I heard our esteemed Senator, Patty "Osama Mama" Murray, on the news this morning.

She sounded shocked to discover that Dubai World Ports is managing some of the operations at the port of Vancouver, just 200 miles north of us, and has been for some time.

Nothing's blown up yet.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

And the Dems, MSM etc have played on the xenophobes and worryworts to the hilt on this issue.

Please include me on the xenophobe ping list.

Heck, 80% of Nevada is Federalized. Why not the ports of this country if only for Homeland Security?

[processing please hold]

They will have to initiate a new bill and pass a new law/regulation that will negate the deal.

I think the majority of Americans are against this deal going through. The majority of FR is. As J.D. Hayworth said yesterday, 'this doesn't pass the smell test'.

[Not A Snowbird]

World Ports = Ports World

Where's my coffee?

[traderrob6]

Ignorance reigns supreme.

[Txsleuth]

LOL....okay, I will.

Geesh...I am fascinated to see how over the top these Senators will get..(including the GOP)..

BUT, I am also so sick of hearing their whining I just don't know how much I will be able to stomach...

This is set for 2 hours I believe...and there are an awful lot of them...including Byrd....I don't see how they will get all of their bloviating done in 2 hours.

Do you know who the "panelists" will be??

[txrangerette]

Maybe because Biden isn't on the Armed Services Committee, according to the list that was posted above?

[processing please hold]

With this they should include the Saudis since the Saudis had 15 people participate in 9/11.

Are the Saudis wanting to control our ports?

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

"Mark Dayton (Minnesota)"

Guaranteed entertainment.