The Clintons of Dubai

[rtwngAvngr]

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/robertnovak/2006/03/02/188380.html

The Clintons of Dubai -- Robert Novak


WASHINGTON -- While Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was ripping President Bush's handling of American ports management, Bill Clinton was pushing for one of his favorite White House aides to be hired to defend the deal. The former president proposed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) his onetime press secretary, Joe Lockhart, as Washington spokesman for the UAE-owned company, Dubai Ports World.

The Lockhart deal was never consummated. But the spectacle of the two Clintons going in opposite directions on the UAE port-management question exposed a Democratic fault line. Widespread public reaction against outsourcing control of the ports was seen by Sen. Clinton and other prominent Democrats as a chance to outflank the Republicans on homeland security in this year's elections. Behind the scenes, however, Democrats aligned with the Clinton family were lobbying for the UAE.

 

[Nienna]

Makes you go "Hmmmmm."

 

[dilloduck]

Makes you go "Hmmmmm."

Makes me wanna say other things

 

[trobinett]

There you have it then.

If it further divides the Dem`s, it`s GOT to be a good deal.

Full speed ahead, damn the torepedos..... :firing:

 

[rtwngAvngr]

There you have it then.

If it further divides the Dem`s, it`s GOT to be a good deal.

Full speed ahead, damn the torepedos..... :firing:

No. This shows the high level political lobbying going on behind the scenes regarding this deal, making bush's statement he knew nothing even more preposterous. That's really what you should have taken away from it.

 

[dilloduck]

There you have it then.

If it further divides the Dem`s, it`s GOT to be a good deal.

Full speed ahead, damn the torepedos..... :firing:

It's pretty obvious isn't. Bill is for the deal-against the deal but happy to return to Dubai over and over to take their money like the rest of our politicians. This isn't a theocracy folks. It's as moderate as Muslims get.
What a silly thing to sell out to the libs over. What we really need is some defense against Weapons of Mass Hysteria.

 

[trobinett]

It's pretty obvious isn't. Bill is for the deal-against the deal but happy to return to Dubai over and over to take their money like the rest of our politicians. This isn't a theocracy folks. It's as moderate as Muslims get.
What a silly thing to sell out to the libs over. What we really need is some defense against Weapons of Mass Hysteria.

A little tongue in cheek on my part dilloduck.

"Weapons of Mass Hysteria", I love that. :clap1:

Unfortunately, you see on this forum, the results of the use of such weapons, and the need of a defense against them. :usa:

 

[rtwngAvngr]

It's pretty obvious isn't. Bill is for the deal-against the deal but happy to return to Dubai over and over to take their money like the rest of our politicians. This isn't a theocracy folks. It's as moderate as Muslims get.
What a silly thing to sell out to the libs over. What we really need is some defense against Weapons of Mass Hysteria.

You really chose a poor issue to base your gravitas upon. This thing won't go through.

 

[dilloduck]

You really chose a poor issue to base your gravitas upon. This thing won't go through.

Had biscuits and "gravitas" for breakfast. :cof:

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Had biscuits and "gravitas" for breakfast. :cof:

LOL. :teeth:

 

[Nienna]

You really chose a poor issue to base your gravitas upon. This thing won't go through.

Gravitas... great word!

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Gravitas... great word!

Kathianne made it cool!

 

[Annie]

Doles too, I'm waiting for Laura to say she's again UAE.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/23/AR2006022301882.html

Role of Sen. Dole's Husband at Issue

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 24, 2006; A06

The lobbying of former Senate majority leader Robert J. Dole on behalf of the Dubai-owned company set to take over management of terminals at six major U.S. seaports is creating a political problem for his wife, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.).

The chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, Jerry Meek, yesterday called on Sen. Dole to remove herself from "any congressional oversight" of the Dubai port deal. "The fact that Dubai is paying her husband to help pass the deal presents both a financial and ethical conflict of interest for Senator Dole," Meek said.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Dole rejected the criticism as "a partisan attack" and defended the senator's role as a lawmaker and her husband's as a lobbyist.

"Elizabeth Dole knows that her work is separate from Bob Dole," said her spokeswoman, Lindsay Taylor Mabry. "Bob Dole works for a law firm. Elizabeth Dole works for the people of North Carolina."

Former senator Dole (R-Kan.), 82, said in a written statement yesterday that he is not going to lobby his wife or members of Congress. His law firm, Alston & Bird LLP, helped steer the application of Dubai Ports World through the federal bureaucracy over the past few months, and Dole signed on as a lobbyist for the company this week. His spokesman would not say what lobbying, if any, Alston & Bird is now doing in Congress; the firm's spokeswoman did not return telephone messages.

Dubai Ports World beefed up its lobbying efforts, including on Capitol Hill, after lawmakers threatened this week to scuttle the transaction. The lawmakers said they feared that national security might be compromised by letting a Middle Eastern firm manage key U.S. ports.

Dole's statement said he will confine his lobbying to the Bush administration. "I have not nor will I 'lobby' Members of Congress on this issue, not even at home," he wrote. "I have not discussed the port issue with any Senator or member of Congress or anyone working for the Congress, nor will I do so in the months to come."

The controversy confronting the Doles is an increasingly common one in Washington. According to Public Citizen's Congress Watch, at least three dozen members of Congress have relatives who are professional lobbyists.

Congress Watch and other watchdog groups have loudly criticized the growing trend. "What better way to buy access to a lawmaker than to hire the lawmaker's son, daughter or spouse as their lobbyist on a lucrative retainer?" said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Congress Watch.

Some of Congress's most prominent members have relatives on K Street. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has a son, Josh Hastert, who works as a lobbyist for PodestaMattoon. The son of former Senate majority leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Chester Trent Lott Jr., lobbies for the Livingston Group. A son-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is a lobbyist, as are the wives of both Democratic senators from North Dakota -- one for professional baseball, the other for insurance companies.

In addition, sons of two senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), are lobbyists. The father of Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), former senator Birch Bayh (D-Ind.), lobbies, as does the wife of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). Blunt's connection to Altria Group Inc., the tobacco and consumer products company that his wife works for, was an issue in his unsuccessful bid to become majority leader.

Lawmakers defend their connections with lobbyists as just another byproduct of the modern world in which spouses are often professionals, as are their children.

Lawmakers also state that their lobbyist relatives do not lobby them personally.

Blunt's wife does not lobby the House of Representatives, a Blunt spokeswoman said. Hastert's son refrains from lobbying the House Republican leadership. Amid news media scrutiny a few years ago, Reid imposed a prohibition against any lobbying in his office by relatives.

Still, the issue remains sensitive. Various proposals to change lobbying laws amid the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal have included bans on lobbying by relatives of lawmakers.

 

[nosarcasm]

the close look at this deal shows how the whole corrupt
elite cashes in. Where the spotlight goes these roaches
scatter out from under the stone.

 

[Annie]

the close look at this deal shows how the whole corrupt
elite cashes in. Where the spotlight goes these roaches
scatter out from under the stone.

Hey, anything less means you are under the control of the Jews!