March 9, 2006
NOW REPUBLICANS JUST HAVE TO CREATE A NATIONAL SHIPPING COMPANY AND THE COMEDY IS COMPLETE:
Warner Plans Senate Effort to Rescue Dubai Ports Deal (Bloomberg, 3/09/06)
Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner is planning a last-ditch legislative effort to rescue a state-owned Dubai company's embattled bid to take over some operations at six U.S. ports.
Senator Warner just read a letter from P&O on the Senate floor where, in the interests of their strong alliance with the U.S., they agree to transfer control of these operations to an American "entity"--not that one exists....
MORE:
Dubai Port Company to Divest Itself of American Holdings (Jonathan Weisman and Daniela Deane, March 9, 2006, Washington Post)
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.
Halliburton or Bechtel? Posted by Orrin Judd at March 9, 2006 2:04 PM
No, you missed the ultimate punchline in all this--the management is going to be given to Halliburton! It's going to be the funniest political moment ever. Hahahahahahahahahahaha!
Posted by: b at March 9, 2006 2:23 PMOJ,
I told you back two weeks ago that this sort of thing would happen. Again, it's probably that Miami-based Continential Stevedoring & Terminals company that had its rear handed to it in British court.
Posted by: Brad S at March 9, 2006 3:18 PMBrad:
Why would they now assume the burden of a contract that they couldn't previously meet the terms of? If American companies could do this work profitably they would be.
Posted by: oj at March 9, 2006 3:25 PMOJ,
They didn't get a chance to bid previously on a contract. I maintain that this was an attempt for that particular company to obtain more bidness, regardless of bid process.
And they figured, why not use Congress to get a leg up?
Posted by: Brad S at March 9, 2006 3:28 PMAnd I maintain profit/loss won't be that big of an issue on this. Look for further details of bid price for those leases. I also maintain that there may be a federal earmark helping bridge the gap, so to speak.
Posted by: Brad S at March 9, 2006 3:29 PMOr we could give it to the Corps of Engineers.
Posted by: Luciferous at March 9, 2006 3:34 PMBrad:
Quite. All Congress has to do is transfer tax payer dollars to a private corporation and give it a big enough subsidy that it will agree to take on the task. Thus do "conservatives" vindicate their principles...
Posted by: oj at March 9, 2006 3:34 PMWhat American company is going to want a contract that's just going to be used as a political football? If they make the mistake of putting someone named Mohammed or Abdul on their board, who's to say they won't lose the contract too?
Posted by: Timothy at March 9, 2006 3:43 PMOK, then how about the Postal Service. There is an appropriate solution to this peskey problem, if only we work it hard enough.
Posted by: Luciferous at March 9, 2006 3:47 PMTimothy:
& they can't be publicly traded because Arabs might own stock....
Posted by: oj at March 9, 2006 3:53 PMAutarky, then!
Posted by: Luciferous at March 9, 2006 3:55 PMWhat about the boys from Mena? At least they're (South) Americans.
Posted by: ratbert at March 9, 2006 3:59 PMTimothy,
Any company that has politicans giving them financial or business advice on getting a government contract. Keep in mind, the ports are owned by governmental entities.
Those type of contracts can weather any political storm. Do you think any private contractor working Katrina debris removal (including Louisiana-based Shaw Group) is going to back out of the next storm, even after the beating they've taken?
Posted by: Brad S at March 9, 2006 4:00 PMOr Loral.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 9, 2006 4:00 PMWhen a US company takes over the running of the off-loading of the cheap Chinese crap we buy, expect the prices of said cheap crap to go up.
Posted by: AllenS at March 9, 2006 5:18 PMAllenS. The stuff we buy from China is anything but crap. We couldn't match Chinese quality for ten times the price.
Posted by: erp at March 9, 2006 7:08 PMchinese quality ? maybe they are making some top quality goods i am unaware of, but for the most part the stuff i see from china would have to improve considerably before it reached the "crap" level. their dvd players are nice because they will play everything and don't support the media dinosaurs futile last efforts at control (but expect to replace them every 6 months or so).
Posted by: toe at March 10, 2006 9:53 AMtoe, I was referring to Chinese soft goods and wasn't even aware they're into electronics too. They'll learn from their mistakes. Remember the first Japanese and Korean cars?
Posted by: erp at March 10, 2006 4:01 PMNote the difference between Japan/S.Korea and China?
Posted by: oj at March 10, 2006 4:08 PMTrackBack
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House Republican leaders on Tuesday embraced legislation that would block a Dubai-owned company from [Read More]