CNN to report on Chimp plan allowing foreign control of US airlines

[Jeffersons Ghost]

He's gone madder than Nero!

[Renew Deal]

1. You are kidding right?

Nero is a very astute comparison.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. No it just aired LOL

I'm buying some beer to celebrate! it still on!!

[DanCa]

2. Unfracking believable

I think that they chimp has fallen off his bike one time to many or one time not enough.

[Old and In the Way]

3. I mentioned that this would be next.

Pakistan buying one of our airlines...wonder how that'd be received?

I think the backstory here is that the people who own our paper debt want tangible assets. So Bush and Co. is literally selling out our country. Those who think our government should be run like a business ought to consider the part of business that deals with mergers and acquisitions.

[serryjw]

4. You mean this is NOT a joke??

Can anyone give me a link to this??

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. No joke -- on Lou Dobbs right now.

The DoT is about to implement a rule allowing foreign ownership of US airlines. Norman Mineta, the DoT Secretary, says the rule will go through. WTF? Mineta is a Democrat! Evidently he's been around long enough to have marinated in BushCo's Kool-Aid, or maybe they've kidnapped his children. A bunch of congresscritters (looks like mostly Dems) and ALPA are raising hell to stop it. Probably will be up on the web site later.

[John Barrett]

33. Strange Bedfellows

It is unfortunate we don't have a third party because we need one that truly puts AMERICA FIRST.

[Renew Deal]

7. Airline, airport or security?

What is being bought?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. The airlines themselves. BushCo wants foreign investors to be able to

buy US-owned airlines. Right now foreign investors (individual or corporate) are limited as to the amount of US airline stock they can own. Evidently this is one more asset they want to sell out from under us. Pretty soon we won't own anything.

[Doctor_J]

26. Especially Saudis

of course, that would make it easier for them to fly planes into our buildings, but when there's money to be made, we can't split hairs.

[Marie26]

35. Govmint run like a business

More like auctioning off the remnants of a bankrupt company to the highest bidder. I get this image that Bushco is treating the US the way a CEO treats an unprofitable, debt-ridden business - unload it as fast as possible. The USA has become K-Mart. Is there any sane reason why they'd want to do this?

[liveoaktx]

6. VIDEO- I clipped DeFazio talking about this on the House floor on the 8th

Bush trying to redefine the world "control"

[Coexist]

29. thanks - great clip. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

8. He knows he's toast.

Now, he's trying to fulfill all his promises to his corporate buddies. All at once.

You'd think he might take a breather after the (still unfinished) ports deal.

Think again. He's got a busy agenda to get through.

[madmunchie]

18. He is in a free fall and is grabbing every straw on the way down

They don't care about the next election.....WHY, is the big question.

[IsItJustMe]

11. Lou says: Don't blow smoke up my ass.

You can tell that Lou is a pretty straight forward reporter and commentator. He asks the questions that you would ask and when people try to spin, he calls them on it. I wish all Repukes were like him. Logic is good thing. He calls it as he sees it.

[serryjw]

12. VOTE GP....This is important!

thanks

[Disturbed]

13. Shrub is on auto-destruct.

He is daring to be Impeached. He really thinks that he is Omnipotent.

Maybe he is.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

15. His Royal Chimpness is...

Omni-impotent!

but his party keeps on trying

[Harald Ragnarsson]

24. Omchimpotent in his case! n/t

[senseandsensibility]

14. Any more info on this?

Any more links?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Transcript up now.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0603/17/ldt.01.html

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Congress, at least on the House side, is making its opposition known to a plan granting foreign investors control over domestic airlines. In a hearing last month, in a letter at the beginning of March, and again on the floor last week...

REP. PETER DEFAZIO (D), OREGON: The issue is bigger than the UAE takeover of the U.S. port facilities. It's about other foreign takeovers of our assets. The administration is still rushing ahead to allow foreign airlines to control U.S. airlines.

TUCKER: The anger is directed at a rule change by the Department of Transportation which would give foreign investors control of the day-to-day operations of an airline... The DOT thinks the change is being blown out of perspective. Quote, "The Department's proposal would require U.S. citizens to maintain control of all decisions affecting the security, safety and national defense obligations of domestic airlines." But foreign investors could have control over what planes to buy, which routes to fly, who staffs the planes. They could hold the purse strings.

CAPT. DUANE WOERTH, AIR LINE PILOTS ASSN.: This needs to be stopped. Congress should prohibit this.

TUCKER: A spokesman for DOT insists there's no deadline for making a decision or implementing one, but Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta made it clear the rule change will be made. Some in Congress have their own ideas of when it might be implemented.

[senseandsensibility]

19. Thanks

I want to see the Dems make an issue out of this. No more letting the repugs dig themselves deeper. This is our issue for 2006: The US is not for sale! Will our side dilly dally around again and let the repukes claim the issue? I know... dumb question.

[Rainscents]

17. I got an action alert and take action on this this afternoon!

Yes, it is true!!! USA is for SALE!!!

[springhill]

20. I think Thom Hartmann is absolutely right........

In order for us to stay afloat, what with our huge trade deficit, we have to sell off our assets. That is what this adminsitration is trying to do, little by little.

[williesgirl]

21. Fighting them is becoming a full-time job. MSM needs to help!

My fingers are tired from typing all the emails to Senate last night re the Repub 4 Senators efforts to enact a law legalizing what * did with domestic spying. Haven't even gotten to the House emails when I heard about the domestic warrantless searches authorized by our criminal president.

Now this! All this to finance their illegal war and other activities designed to make them all richer.

[JawJaw]

22. To quote Prince Charles:

"Such is the end of Empire"

[Starbucks Anarchist]

23. Here's a link:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060309-1114-airlines-foreignowners.html

[Doctor_J]

25. This is going to piss off Dobbs

I don't think he'll come over to our side, but he might go LP or something.

[Coexist]

27. WHERE IS REID AND PELOSI'S PRESS CONFERENCE

indicating that until they know more this will BE FOUGHT TOOTH AND NAIL??!\

Sorry for yelling, but if CNN knows, they know.

[texpatriot2004]

28. WTH? nm

[EVDebs]

30. Investigate the Ptech (now GoAgile) FAA access during 9-11

BTW, they still have White House access. Interesting, huh ?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2503075

From airlines to ports to government computers etc. etc., you really can't be protected by BushCo after all. November this year we need a Democratic House AND Senate. Pronto !

[Gregorian]

31. To pay for HIS wars? He is a war "president", he says.

He did the terrorist's work for them. Satan awaits with red hot pokers for this man. That's my only source of happiness in this mess.

[John Barrett]

32. Democrats Must Win In 2006

CNN and Lou Dobbs have been on this stuff like flies on xxxx for years. Yet the Democrat leadership, at least to me, seems (or has been) incapable of taking these things and turning them into political capital. Bush has been displaying outright incompetence, arrogance and lack of leadership but there is no cohesive message on it coming from Democrats which I find very disappointing.

Finally on the ports deal the Democrats have gained some traction and now with Bush's airlines proposal that will throw more fuel on the fire.

But jeez....we have CEOs being paid so much that it is now affecting health, pension, employee compensation, not to mention shareholder value and Democrats never mention it. Their compensation supposedly takes 10% of the aggregate S&P earning and no one mentions it. The situation in the USA is becoming as egricious as the oligarchs in Russia and about the only person I ever hear talk about it is Lou Dobbs.

[otohara]

34. Airline Foreign Control Proposal Draws Mixed Reviews - Article

this is from Avaiation Now - most articles on this subject were on Government sites, which I did not want to post, because of their tendency to lie about everything.


RULES OF INVESTMENT -
As the Transportation Dept. decides what to do about its proposal to liberalize foreign control of U.S. airlines, it faces a mixed reception among airlines, near-unanimous opposition from labor and potential problems in Congress. And time, the leavening agent in attempts at compromise in Washington, is not on its side.

The department set a Jan. 6 deadline for comment when it issued its proposal last fall, and it clearly wants to settle the issue quickly. There is no formal linkage, but U.S. action on the control issue is likely to determine whether the European Union approves the U.S.-EU first-step agreement toward a fully liberalized transatlantic aviation area. The accord was negotiated and the control proposal was issued at about the same time. This is no coincidence: Europe wants the U.S. to relax its ownership and control restrictions, and its transport ministers will consider the outcome of the current rulemaking as they decide whether to approve the agreement.

The department's sentiments and position were clear when it issued the proposal in the first place. The new rules are intended to preserve statutory requirements that a foreign investor's voting power be limited to one-fourth of a U.S. airline's stock, and that its representation on the U.S. airline's board of directors or top management be no more than one-third. But within those limits, the foreign entity would be allowed to take control of virtually any and all purely commercial decisions, reserving only safety, security and national defense--participation in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF)--for U.S. citizens' control.

Political opposition to the proposal developed quickly, as Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), senior Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and a group of mostly Democratic members of Congress argued that such a far-reaching policy change should be a matter for legislation, not administrative action. Several other opponents of the proposal, including participants in a late letter-writing campaign that added dozens of identical comments to the docket, made the same point.

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_awst_story.jsp?id=news/011606p2.xml

[Divernan]

36. What does reserving security to "U.S. citizens' control" mean?

"But within those limits, the foreign entity would be allowed to take control of virtually any and all purely commercial decisions, reserving only safety, security and national defense--participation in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF)--for U.S. citizens' control."

Who the hell would these "citizens" be? Would this mean that the foreign carrier would HIRE U.S. Citizen to be in charge of safety, security & CRAF? If so, these citizens would be dependent for their jobs on the foreign carrier, and therefore compromised. Would these "citizens" be appointed by Bush? Then you know he would get his corrupt corporate buddies whose best interests they have amply demonstrated are their own bank accounts, not the public good. Even if these "citizens" were federal employees of say, the FAA, we have seen how Bush has gutted and compromised every federal agency with his incompetent, corrupt political appointees at the top several layers.

[niallmac]

37. I will support one more war.

Liberals, progressives must pre emptively invade and spread democracy in Canada before we have no place else to go.
What now does America have to offer anymore? My own party won't stand up to this lunatic.
Our jobs and economy are floating off overseas.
If over half of my citizens (some recent poll I read) believe in creationism then how in the hell
is there even going to be a dialogue?
Damn, on Sundays I drink way too much coffee but WTF?