The Corporate Handshake
Feb 23rd, 2006 at 6:20 am by Susie
Looking at the “secret agreement” the White House seems to have leaked this afternoon, here’s one point that sort of stands out.
The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.
The failure to require the company to keep business records on US soil sounds like a pretty open invitation to flout US law as near as I can tell. Forget terrorism. This is the sort of innovative business arrangement I would think a number of Bush-affiliated American companies might want to get in on. Perhaps Halliburton could be domiciled in Houston, pay its taxes in Bermuda, do its business in Iraq and keep its business records in Jordan. [...]
Under the deal, the government asked Dubai Ports to operate American seaports with existing U.S. managers “to the extent possible.” It promised to take “all reasonable steps” to assist the Homeland Security Department, and it pledged to continue participating in security programs to stop smuggling and detect illegal shipments of nuclear materials.
How do mesh Bush’s threat of a veto with his assertion that he only found out about it the other day? If the latter is true (which seems plausible, since Bush doesn’t keep tabs on much), how did he decide it was worth threatening a veto? Did some “advisor” tell him to do it? If so, which one?
Sorry, that’s “How do you mesh . . . “
Did some “advisor†tell him to do it? If so, which one?
From dailykos:
“The UAE investors have put up a $6 billion stake in a hedge fund operated by the Carlyle Group, Daddy Bush’s business enterprise, and Neil Bush (of Lincoln S&L bankruptcy fame) has ties to the UAE, as does SecTreas Snow. And then there’s the appointment of an UAE rep as US Maritime Administration head recently, to grease the skids for the deal.”
BTW Halliburton already has a subsidiary in Bermuda, which sells oil-drilling equipment to Iran and doesn’t pay US taxes on the profits.