Horton: Failure of oversight by Rockefeller and Feinstein led to independent decision on Panetta

[seafan]

Scott Horton weighs in on Feinstein's and Rockefeller's angst that they weren't consulted by Obama before his nomination of Leon Panetta as head of the CIA:

Yesterday, President-elect Obama announced two key members for his national security team: former Clinton chief-of-staff Leon Panetta to be director at the CIA and Admiral Dennis Blair to be national intelligence director. The Panetta appointment drew some grumbles from incoming intelligence committee chair Diane Feinstein and exiting chair Jay Rockefeller—both quickly suggested they had no prior knowledge of the choice and expressed some reservations.

I think the choices are not merely good, but inspired, and I see the friction with Feinstein and Rockefeller as a plus rather than a minus.

That is also the opinion of Glen Greenwald at Salon:

Spencer Ackerman reports that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is upset with the selection of Panetta, petulantly complaining that she wasn't consulted in advance and that it would be best to have an "intelligence professional" in that position. CQ's Tim Starks reports that Sen. Jay Rockefeller is making very similar noises about this selection. Few things could reflect better on Panetta's selection than the fact that Feinstein and Rockefeller -- two of the most Bush-enabling Senators -- are unhappy with it.

Horton lays it all out:

So why would the Obama team, which has been so careful and thoughtful in approaching the nominations process, have failed even to consult the two Democratic senators who have the most to say about intelligence? I don’t think this was accidental. I read something else into it. The bottom line is that Jay Rockefeller was an abject failure when it came to intelligence oversight. His term as ranking member and then chair of the Senate intelligence committee was one in which Congress generally, and the Senate in particular, failed to live up to their Constitutional mandate. The intelligence community was steered by the Bush Administration into a series of criminal escapades. Effective congressional oversight would have exposed these failings and brought them to heel. But the Rockefeller-Feinstein record was little short of disastrous. I’m delighted that the Obama team didn’t consult them.

And I suspect that Panetta was chosen principally for his managerial skills, but secondarily because Obama wanted someone who would have a more powerful voice in Washington generally, and in Congressional circles in particular, than either Rockefeller or Feinstein.

Panetta’s task will be to put the agency back on firm ground in terms of policy; he will not want to micro-manage. He needs to put an end to the abuse of the agency at the hands of political hacks and ensure that its operatives go about their jobs as professionals, calling the facts as they see them and not telling the White House what it wants to hear. For eight years, while Rockefeller and Feinstein stood by, the agency was pressured by the Cheney shogunate to validate its fairy tales. This did not serve the nation’s security interest. Sober analysis that does not fear political meddling needs to be restored.

And Panetta has one other key trait. When he tells the nation and the world that the torture and mistreatment of prisoners and the program of torture by proxy has ended, people will believe him.

When Feinstein and Rockefeller could have stood up against the Bush/Cheney abuses of power, they chose to aid and abet whatever this rogue administration wanted. Just for the record:

October 25, 2001, 01:54 PM

On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 3162 ) Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USAPatriot Act of 2001)

Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea

September 22, 2004, 05:00 PM

On the Nomination (Confirmation Porter J. Goss, of Florida, To Be Director of Central Intelligence )

Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay

November 8, 2007, 11:04 PM

On the Nomination (Confirmation Michael B. Mukasey of New York, to be Attorney General )

Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay

February 12, 2008, 11:03 AM

On the Amendment (Dodd Amdt. No. 3907 ) To strike the provisions providing immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for certain assistance provided to the Government.

Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay

July 9, 2008, 12:20 PM

On the Amendment (Specter Amdt. No. 5059 ) To limit retroactive immunity for providing assistance to the United States to instances in which a Federal court determines the assistance was provided in connection with an intelligence activity that was constitutional.

Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay

Rockefeller present at secret 2003 briefing re: NSA intercepts on Americans; remained silent




Two sorry excuses for protectors of The People. Obama was wise in bypassing the opinions of these two as he named Panetta.

[blm]

1. Neither would pursue Downing Street Memos in their oversight role when Kerry requested it in 2005.

Obama knows now that the Intel Committee was serving Bush more than the people or the Democrats in senate who relied on their HONEST assessments and insight.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. No shit. Answer: Feinstein & Rockefeller

Question: Name two senators whose opinions you consider irrelevant and beneath your notice.

[defendandprotect]

38. Right, they're there to "keep the lid on" . . . just like the Senate elites . ..

[donco6]

2. Interesting post, thanks.

I like the Panetta idea.

[cascadiance]

3. I wonder what Jane Harman feels about Panetta? She's in the Feinstein/Rockefeller mold...

... and is on the Homeland Security Committee and was minority leader of the House Intelligence Committee before the Dems took over congress.

I wonder if she has the same opinion, but is more wisely keeping her mouth shut.

Hmm... Looks like she was actually considered by Obama for this position! GLAD he took Panetta instead. Harman would have been a disaster waiting to happen. I wonder if that's who Feinstein was pissed about not getting the job!

http://www.wowowow.com/post/sen-feinstein-hits-back-against-obamas-cia-pick-rep-jane-harman-passed-over-job-167674?promo=news

A senior aide told the LA Times that while Rockefeller "thinks very highly of Panetta … he’s puzzled by the selection. He has concerns because he has always believed that the director of CIA needs to be someone with significant operational intelligence experience and someone outside the political realm."

The word is that Obama’s transition team passed over many other people with actual CIA experience for the job – as well as some Democrats in Congress who would be qualified – because they were somehow too close to the Bush administration anti-terror policies, or, at the very least, they at one point agreed with them.

Take Rep. Jane Harman, D-CA, for example. This intelligence-savvy lady, formerly the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was considered for the job, but, according to The New York Times, "she was ruled out as a candidate in part because of her early support for some Bush administration programs like the domestic eavesdropping program." That would be the surveillance program that tapped the phone conversations between someone outside of this country and someone in; at least one party would have to be a suspected terrorist.

Interesting post elsewhere that wonders why Harman didn't get the slot from some "moderate", who theorizes that Pelosi has a grudge against Harman because she ranks lower on the wealthiest congress people list than Harman! :eyes:

http://moderateinthemiddle.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/harmon-passed-over-for-panetta-aka-revenge-of-pelosithe-botoxed-leading-the-blind/

[youngharry]

26. Feinstein and Rockefeller

What seems to be missing is that Feinstein and Rockefeller are complicit in War Crimes. If this was Japan in 1945, all Military---and Civilians-- responsible and enablers of the iliegal and unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 were tried, convicted and executed as war criminals. Please. someone tell me the difference between Japan's illegal and unprovoked attack on the US in 1941 and Bush's illegal and unprovoked attack on Iraq in 2003.

There is no difference -- BOTH ARE WAR CRIMES

Feinstein and Rockefeller are complicit in these crimes.

[Jackpine Radical]

29. The difference is that we aren't (so far) occupied by the people we attacked.

[disndat]

76. Jay Rockefeller's

has big shares of AT&T and Verizon. That might explain his role in giving Bush a free pass on wiretapping. Rockefeller has a mostly liberal record otherwise.

[NashVegas]

4. Panetta Is One Choice I Think Is Inspired

Most of the Obama cabinet doesn't impress me. I suspect Panetta's going to be there as a temporary measure, to pour over the books.

[RiverStone]

5. Thom Hartmann said yesterday that DiFi and Jay were "complicit" with Shrub

As enablers, they would prefer that light not be shined on the CIA from an outsider. Thom thought Panetta was an excellent choice and I agree!

We need someone 100% disconnected from all the illegal bullshit (Gitmo, water-boarding, wiretapping etc.).

[Individualist]

8. Thom is right.

DiFi and Jay are both DLC members.

[xxqqqzme]

24. Agree. The last thing we need now

is yet another 'intelligence professional'.

[defendandprotect]

37. But . . . have they ever appointed anyone to head CIA who wasn't CIA...????

Panetta is an old Repug ... reborn as Dem ---

[burythehatchet]

6. Credit where credit is due. Feinstein and Rocky are as guilty as the actual perps.

[Jim Lane]

16. Rockefeller is slightly less complicit than Feinstein

The OP reports that he voted against confirming Goss and Mukasey. I didn't realize that. He still has a pretty sorry overall record but at least he, unlike Feinstein, got those votes right.

[FraDon]

72. Didn't he lock away a private letter stating his reservations

to the White House briefings?

[Jim Lane]

80. I don't know, I haven't heard anything about that

It sounds interesting -- if you track it down, please post.

If he had enough reservations to write a letter, but you mean that he never sent the letter, that would certainly reflect badly on him. He couldn't plead ignorance, as some members of the Senate perhaps could (those whose complicity is their failure to inform themselves).

[seafan]

7. Rockefeller, Pelosi, Harman and Daschle have some questions to answer.

Glen Greenwald over at Salon:

It is certainly true that Dick Cheney is not exactly the most scrupulously honest public servant around. In fact, he's almost certainly the opposite. Still, what he said yesterday was merely an expanded and more detailed version of what has previously been publicly reported and, to some degree, confirmed about the knowledge and support of Democratic leaders for the NSA program. Cheney's claims encompasses the following key Democrats:

* Nancy Pelosi (Ranking Member, House Intelligence Committee, House Minority Leader);
*
* Jane Harman (Ranking Member, House Intelligence Committee);
*
* Jay Rockefeller (Ranking Member, Senate Intelligence Committee);
*
* Tom Daschle (Senate Minority Leader).


Unsurprisingly, Pelosi, Harman and Rockefeller all voted last July to legalize warrantless eavesdropping and to immunize telecoms from liability, thereby ensuring an end to the ongoing investigations into these programs. And though he ultimately cast a meaningless vote against final passage, it was Reid's decisions as Majority Leader which played an instrumental role in ensuring passage of that bill.

One would think that these Democratic leaders would, on their own, want to respond to Cheney's claims about them and deny the truth of those claims. After all, Cheney's statement is nothing less than an accusation that they not only enthusiastically approved, but actively insisted upon the continuation and ongoing secrecy, of a blatantly illegal domestic spying program (one that several of them would, once it was made public, pretend to protest). As Armando says, "The Democratic members who participated in this meeting have two choices in my mind - refute Cheney's statements or admit their complicity in the illegal activity perpetrated by the Bush Administration."

I, seafan, am not an attorney.

But, when there is a violation of the rule of law as laid out by the US Constitution, and those with information regarding that violation do not come forward immediately to expose it, there is unmistakable complicity and tacit approval to what has transpired. There is just no way around that conclusion.

Preserving, protecting and defending the US Constitution should take precedence over complicit silence in Bush's crimes, regardless of the proclaimed classified nature. Because of the criminal nature of the illegal wiretapping of Americans by Bush and Cheney, a prompt judicial ruling could have cleared the path for these members of Congress to speak out and to stop the abuses that were occurring.


I hold Nancy Pelosi most responsible for this ongoing abuse of power by George W. Bush, for when she had the power to stop these lawless acts, she abrogated her oath of office and refused to impeach this bastard and his cohort.


We will not forget your role in these ongoing crimes against the people of the United States, Ms. Pelosi.

[ProSense]

20. "Cheney's claims encompasses the following key Democrats:"

So let me get this straight: Obama slighted Feinstein and Rockefeller (I acknowledge that their actions have been extremely questionable) because they were complicit, but appointed Daschle and embraced Pelosi because, according to Cheney, they were complicit?







Edited for clarity.

[RaleighNCDUer]

78. Daschle and Pelosi have no direct bearing on this appointment,

as DiFi and Rockefeller would. It's not about bearing a grudge - it's about direct influence on the choosing of someone to head the CIA.

It might be called "change we can believe in".

[msfiddlestix]

51. The Answr to Why Impeachment was always "Off the Table"

Is because these people would be impeached as well.

period. end of story.

[bjobotts]

55. More guilty on illegal wire tapping...he was bought by the telecoms

[glitch]

9. Excellent post. K & R nt

[EFerrari]

10. K&R

[Duppers]

11. important post

K & R

[MzNov]

12. K&R

Excellent post. Thanks.

[Solly Mack]

13. K&R

[Poll_Blind]

14. DO NOT MISS this supporting video from Rachel Maddow's show: (LINK)

Seriously, this is a great piece. Backs up everything in this OP and very, very entertaining to boot!

PB

[seafan]

19. I had not seen that interview. Great info, thanks. It's all about accountability. Nothing else.

Holding these people accountable for their commissions and omissions is the only path to redemption. Without it, we have no foundation left, as a country.

And the rest of the world is watching what we will do about this lawlessness.

[Cha]

44. Thanks, Pollblind..I read

about that yesterday on DU and here it is.

[Cha]

48. That was so informative...

Rachel really is very good and Bob Baer had an excellent view point, imo.

[youngharry]

56. Senator Feinstein

Everyone should call Feinstein's office and demand that she step down as head of the Senate Intelligence Committee. We cannot trust this woman in anyway regarding Intelligence. 202-224-3121. CALL.

[Skip Intro]

62. There aren't going to be any investigations.

c'mon

[Skip Intro]

63. There aren't going to be any investigations.

c'mon

[merh]

15. I wish more people paid attention to the reasoned writings of Horton.

[spanone]

17. dear entrenched senators, this is what fucking change looks like

[antimatter98]

18. Feinstein, Rockefeller, and OTHERS are fully complicit..

and this is another reason they are nervous.

I'm glad Panetta has been put forward, and delighted in the way
in which it was done---without consulting Feinstein and Rockefeller.

Well done.

[frog92969]

47. Spot on!

"delighted"

[Truth2Tell]

21. K&R

Criminals all.

[leveymg]

22. It's going to be harder to make this "go away" than Iran-Contra/BCCI was under Clinton in '93

I predict that Madam Speaker has a relatively short tenure, and that the Senior Senator from California doesn't serve another term after she completes this one. Harry's days as Majority Leader are also numbered, but he will be happy to remain in the Senate an even more reduced man.

As for Mrs. Harmon, I'm not sure what her ambitions and trajectory will be. She's much harder to read than the others.

[Bette Noir]

42. Feinstein is not well-liked in this corner of California.

[youngharry]

58. Feinstein not liked in my corner of California either.

We know her husband has made millions and millions on the war in Iraq. She is truly a traitor and a war criminal. She needs to be reported to the Hague.

[disndat]

74. Make that $$billions, not

millions, and counting.

[blm]

71. Things would be far different if we had a thriving internet during IranContra, BCCI, S&L,

and CIA drugrunning revelations.

[msfiddlestix]

77. Harman has her eyes set squarely on Heading DHS

She's salivating for that job, I hope Obama shows the same keen sense of urgency to by-pass her entirely. She was a PRIMARY mover for the Patriot Act.. I think she wrote it, if memory serves. She certainly sponsored it.

[rhett o rick]

23. It appears that if we ever are going to prosecute the republican complicit in war

crimes, we must prosecute the Democrats that were complicit in war crimes. Let's start with DiFi.

[truedelphi]

25. Di Fi and Rockefeller are upset now. Does this mean

That the two of them were given input on some of those other abominable Obama choices?

I for one see it as totally explaining why Geithner, Rubin and Summers were pulled into his economic positions.

If Rockefeller has been giving his input, it all begins to make sense.

[Jefferson23]

27. K&R . Thanks for this, excellent!

[Mnemosyne]

30. "failure of oversight" and "an abject failure"; what utter bullshit. They both did the job

they were meant to do, and very well I might add.

I still crack up when I read here, or anywhere for that matter, about what a "failure" and how "incompetent" this admin. has been. :rofl:

[ooglymoogly]

46. yes indeed, and for absolute certainty, they were crack on.

some rude Dr said I had dyslexia. Never believed it for a second

[Mnemosyne]

83. Wish we had people that efficient watching out for us. :( n/t

[ooglymoogly]

84. I hope you know I was being sourcastic....dislexia...crack on...on crack.

I'm guessing you were too.

[Mnemosyne]

85. I knew.

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[RaleighNCDUer]

79. I guess that depends on if you define their jobs as serving the interests of

the people of the nation, or as carrying water for the administration.

[Mnemosyne]

82. True that, and we know to whom most answer. n/t

[peacetalksforall]

31. Compared to what Feinstein and Rockefeller (and others) did, their slight in not being in on the

selection of Panetta is miniscule.

If Cheney goes to the Hague, perhaps they will also be going because of complicity. 'Complicit' is a very important point here. I hope we will someday know why they did it.

It is amazing that we read the remarks, votes, support postions, diversions, hedging, and all the wxf statements they made to the press - and then, finally, we get clues that we were right, even though we (most of us) knew we were right.

Bush rewarded criminals, traitors, and incompetents.

Who knows if Feinstein and Rockefeller are criminals and incompetents. In my book, they are and have been traitors.

Please, don't let Obama reward criminals or traitors or incompetents.

We still have some problem Dem Senators - lots of them.

[Tutonic]

32. Like this post. Sorry excuses.

[MadMaddie]

33. Feinstein & Rockefeller can consider the free ride over

<snip>
But the Rockefeller-Feinstein record was little short of disastrous.
<snip>

Absolute failures!

[bonito]

34. K&R n/t !!!

[Jim Sagle]

35. VERY good appointment.

:thumbsup:

[defendandprotect]

36. Are millionaries ever going to "protect the people" . .. . ????

The CIA has been all elite all the time ---

Panetta is an old Repug . . . isn't he?

And, presumably he was CIA?

[Bette Noir]

43. Panetta was White House, not CIA.

And he's strongly anti-torture. This was a good call on Obama's part.

[defendandprotect]

45. Wait . . .

Isn't that what Bush, Sr. told us . . . that he was never CIA.

Didn't Goss turn out to have been CIA all along?

How many non-CIA directors have there been?

[ooglymoogly]

50. Yes many are....they don't need the money

and want to give back and have been some of our best. Many like DiFi and Roketfual are not.

[Canuckistanian]

39. Did DiFi have this reaction to Porter Goss?

You know, the guy who said he was "not qualified" for the CIA Directorship in 2004?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_J._Goss

Didn't think so.

[Cha]

40. I was delighted too!

"I’m delighted that the Obama team didn’t consult them."

This is killer summary of this feinstein, rockefeller, and Panetta controversary..thanks, seafan.

[deathrind]

65. Deleted

Deleted

[Redneck Socialist]

41. I wouldn't consult DiFi for the time of day if she had the last watch in the world.

Good on Obama.

[lonestarnot]

49. Two more that need their asses on the lawn, they can hold hands with Harry.

[msfiddlestix]

52. Excellent post

thank you and nominated.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

53. Panetta was my Rep for many years when I lived in Santa Cruz.

His integrity will be of great value in running the CIA.

One of the best choices PE Obama has made in his Cabinet selections.

[kiteinthewind]

54. Spot on!!

:kick:

[NBachers]

57. The more I chew over this Panetta appointment, the more I like it

and the fact that DiFi and Roxy have their feathers all ruffled convinces me that I'm right.

[carnie_sf]

59. I'm from Cali

And I say that anything that makes DiFi uncomfortable is a good thing. I only wish we could get rid of her. Unfortunately there's only one Barbara Boxer...

[Lasher]

60. Good on Obama

And good asessment. :thumbsup:

[mmonk]

61. Yes, these picks have been the first signs of a break from the bush Democrats

and therefore are my favorite picks by Obama thus far. I hope having Panetta at the agency wasn't "window dressing" as Biden said in trying to reassure bush Democrats such as Feinstein and Rockefeller.

[mod mom]

64. Jane Harmon needs to be added to the failure.

[nradisic]

66. Bingo!

Obama is giving the Dinos their due. Good. There is a new Sheriff in town and his name is Barack Obama. I feel he is putting every DC insider in their place, one by one...

[lib2DaBone]

67. Dian Feinstein..whose husband is one of the largest war profiters in Iraq.

Ya.. let's consult her...

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/23-feinsteins-conflict-of-interest-in-iraq/

[Jambalaya]

70. With six,you get eggroll

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/china.htm>

Excellent article discussing Feinstein's support of China, and Blum's extensive business interests in China. Cosco (China Ocean Shipping Co.) is in there.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/news/8-1-01/tutor.htm>

Union pension loses big money under Blum's management.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/china/j28.html>

China-Gate's Smoking Gun

"Feinstein's financial ties to the communist Chinese and COSCO include her husband, Richard Blum."

"Blum is reported to be heavily tied to the PRC through his far east investment firm, Newbridge Capitol Corp. Blum's partner at Newbridge, Peter Kwok, also served as a consultant to COSCO, and COSCO Hong Kong Holdings, a company owned by Chinese billionaire Li Ka-Shing. In 1989, Kwok helped CITIC and Li Ka- Shing raise $120 million to buy a HUGHES built communications satellite for a company also part owned by Chinese Generals."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/mm0497.09.html>

""She's a complete fraud," says one longtime congressional staffer. "She has no interest in human rights problems in China."

Feinstein's romance with China dates to the 1970s, when she was mayor of San Francisco and became close friends with Jiang Zemin, then mayor of Beijing and now China's president. In explaining her interest in U.S.-China relations, Feinstein has jokingly said, "In my last life I was Chinese."

It is not possible to confirm this, but her passion for Beijing is more likely tied to the fact that her husband in her current life, merchant banker Richard Blum, has substantial business and real estate interests in China. He manages $750 million in investments for about 70 companies, with a large chunk of that amount tied up in China. Blum is also a director of Shanghai Pacific Partners, a major import-export firm.

In 1994, Feinstein led the effort to renew most-favored-nation trade status for China at a time when her husband was preparing to invest $150 million of his clients' money, along with $2 million to $3 million of his own, in China.

Blum also sits on the board of directors of Northwest Airlines, a company in which he holds a 6 percent share. His interest in the firm may be one reason that China's rulers have been so friendly towards the company. Northwest obtained the first non-stop flights from the United States to China about a year ago. The company also recently formed an "alliance" with Air China, the big government-run airline, which means the two firms will cooperate in areas such as scheduling, marketing and promotions, as well as carrying each others' passengers."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<http://www.wcrp.org/RforP/GBTRUSTEES_CONTENT.html>

"Mr. Richard C. Blum (Co-chairman)

Chairman, Blum Capital Partners

Mr. Blum currently serves as a director on numerous boards, including CB Richard Ellis, Korea First Bank, Northwest Airlines Corporation, Playtex Products Inc. and URS Corporation. He also serves as a director of Glenborough Realty Trust, Inc., and is Co-Chairman of Newbridge Capital. He is a former director of the following public companies: National Education Corporation, Taft Broadcasting Corporation, Advanced Systems, Inc., Triad Systems, Inc., Sumitomo Bank of California, Princeville Development Corporation, and the Shaklee Corporation. Mr. Blum is the founder and Chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation, and is Honorary Consul to Mongolia and the Kingdom of Nepal."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/blumsues.htm>

Blum is suing a union worker for saying that Blum raided the pension fund. Good article

[disndat]

75. Thaks for this excellent

article on DiFi. I thought I knew all about R. Blum, but this cites the depth and breadth of his wealth, mostly from military contracts with the political connection of his Lady MacBeth. BTW, one of her earlier husbands got both of them wealthy with real estate with her connections as Mayor of S.F. That was the start of her wealth and power building. Her sponsorship of Mukasey as A.G., together with Wall St Senator, Charles Schumer, was her crowning act in her long history of corruption. Glen Greenwood's excellent journalism has been her effective nemesis

[Jambalaya]

81. The Fortune Cookie the Bookies?

disndat: You're welcome. Here's another couple of links to Newbridge Capital's investment in Shenzhen Bank. Now Shenzhen Bank has an interesting afilliation with UBS Bank-who had a LOT of insolvency issues of late ,in the worldwide shadow banking meltdown-dark liquidity,indeed.


Bloomberg.com: China Shenzhen Bank to Raise $568 Million in Share Sale (Update3) ... TPG, through unit Newbridge Capital LLC, remains as the largest shareholder in the Chinese ...
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&refer=china&sid=aCxWpJycU7cA - Similar pages


Shenzhen bank plans to issue yuan bonds Shenzhen Development Bank, nearly 18 percent owned by U.S. investment firm Newbridge Capital, also said it plans to issue a hybrid bond with the same ...
paper.sznews.com/szdaily/20070618/ca2695075.htm - 12k - Cached - Similar pages

[DrZeeLit]

68. What I love about this is exactly that for once the Obama team MADE A POINT with Congress eejits.

I wish to hell they would do MORE of this.

Obama has the numbers at the moment and needs to USE this clout to get real change on the road.
He cannot be BOGGED down with these people and their petty bullshit about who gets to "know" and approve ideas/selections first and all that crap.

Can we send a message, beyond the damn votes we already sent, that we are TIRED of this crap and VOTED FOR CHANGE?

I realize Di Fi (geez I cannot believe I did that, but I didn't want to type her name) does not listen to her constituents, but couldn't they at least TRY to rattle her cage? She's only on board at the moment because she's embarrassed about the end-around. She'll be a lot more reticent later having been duped this time. Her state is going down the tubes, and she needs to be a BIG voice for this administration right now, so that Obama can make the changes we need.

While I am happy the Obama Admin forced their hands now, I sincerely hope this bodes will for the future!
It's not just Panetta, although he's clearly an interesting choice, it's the whole agenda that needs to be front and center.
With rumblings that "they" (those eejits again) are going to stall his change/stimulus package, we need him to do the Big Huge Gianormous End Around. Maybe direct to us and we press "them"???

Anyway... I am crossing my fingers here in the great, cold, snowed-in, Northeast.

[Jambalaya]

69. That "Rocky Feller"

Interesting that Rockefeller seems to have been an abject failure as a public servant for his OWN state of West Virginia,too.This state is at the BOTTOM of the list when it comes to income and education-for some time now. Same thing with Arkansas -another state with a high Rockefeller visibility. What gives? Where's the trickle down? Oh,THAT's what you mean by peeing on my leg,and telling me it's raining.THAT trickle down!

[20score]

73. I'm glad California has Boxer, but I'd love to see Feinstein voted out.

Before I read up on Panetta, I knew he had to be a good choice. Feinstein objected.
K&R