UH OH! Carlyle Group IS Buying Our Ports! THIS IS BAD!

[elehhhhna]

Carlyle, SSA join forces to stop France's CMA CGM buying P&O's US ports -..
report

LONDON (AFX) - Private equity groups Carlyle and SSA Marine have joined forces to bid for P&O's US port business, in order to prevent French shipping group CMA CGM buying up the strategically sensitive assets, weekly magazine The Business reported.

The Business previously reported that CMA has formed a consortium with Morgan Stanley to bid for the assets, thereby breaking an understanding that US ports can only be acquired by American interests. [e-mail] abr
http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=37230924579836

The Emir of Dubai owns a large position in Carlyle Group:

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is a major investor in The Carlyle Group, the private equity investment firm where President Bush's father once served as senior adviser and is a who's who of former high-level government officials. Just last year, Dubai International Capital, a government-backed buyout firm, invested in an $8 billion Carlyle fund.

http://usliberals.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0602/22/ldt.01.html


The predictions made by "Andrew" in "comments", here, have come true, right down to the 'French Prevention" PR campaign...
http://uspolitics.about.com/b/a/207926.htm

[marmar]

1. Unreal.....We're down the rabbit hole, and it's a deep one.

So when it comes to a French company, all of a sudden BushCo gets all protectionist on us? The Carlyle Group is pure evil, the greatest force for instability in the world.

[elehhhhna]

3. The French co is in there to pretend there's competition.

CG has loads of foreign owners -- Dubai, the BinLaden Group (who claimes to have divested after 9/11 -- so prove it. Oops, not possible. GC's a private entity).

CG also owns the company to which the US Office of Personnel management;' sfunctions were outsourced in the 90's.

Plus it's one of the planet's largest war profiteers.

Plus it's top members are evidently running our Executive Branch now. (Poppy, Baker, etc.)

The US of A is owned and run by The Carlyle Group.

[shance]

25. He who owns the ports controls the country.

n/t

[elehhhhna]

50. He who owns US ports, roads, media, doughnut shops, etc. REALLY

owns the world! Or the US, anyway.

[itsmesgd]

2. why haven't we heard about this....oh yes, I remember

It's because they are in the process of buying all of our media.

I guess I should loosen my tin foil hat a bit because it appears that they might be up to no good, or total world domination. (silly me)

[Skidmore]

4. We need to get this to Lou Dobbs and KO. They'll cover it.

[elehhhhna]

6. Rec this thread, please. It will be seen.

[Skidmore]

9. Done. Elehhhhna

can you count on it being checked by personnel from those shows?

[elehhhhna]

10. Yup.

[Imagevision]

42. "Father Knows Best"...

[elehhhhna]

5. The French company recently announced a joint subsidiary with IBM...

whose Chairman Emritus is Lou Gerstner. Lou is, btw, the current Chairman of the Carlyle Group.

SMALL WORLD!

[BelgianMadCow]

7. As bad as it is, they are ATTEMPTING to buy, right

Your headline makes it sound like a done deal.

Still, thanks a lot for the update on this major story. This should be tracked by all media.

[elehhhhna]

8. It has been announced that the deal will close before year end.

Lou's show's been emailed, btw.

edit; if you read the links, especially the comments in the last one, the story really starts to stink.

BTW, don't forget the quatrillion-dollar port security bill Georgie just signed.

The big question: Just how much Bush Family self-dealing are we going to put up with?

[The Count]

11. But I thought we won - nothing bad can happen. We can draft for fun now

forego impeachment - because we won! Right? Right?

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. They're just bidding, right?

Doesn't Congress have a say in this?

[elehhhhna]

13. Which Congress would that be? The deal's supposed to close THIS YEAR

...do Karl's "the math".

[helderheid]

14. rec'd

[OregonBlue]

15. Trans Texas Corridor and the ports? It's all Texans all the time.

The whole point of the Trans Texas Corridor is to bring cheap Asian good into Mexico, put it on Mexican trucks, driven by Mexican truck drivers. Those trucks will not stop at the border, they will go directly to Kansas City where they will clear Mexican Customs (in a facility currently being built with U.S. taxpayer dollars) run by Mexican and Canadian Customs agents. They will then proceed to Canada and to Louisiana, Nebraska, etc. This is a for profit public/private partnership but the company that will be managing it and collecting the tolls has already been given a 50 year minimum lock on collection of all fees.

What will this do to West Coast Ports? What will it do to the Longshoremen and Truckers unions?

I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist but, this really does look like a long-range plan to take over foreign trade and our ports by Texas interests.

Or am I just being paranoid?

[elehhhhna]

16. No, but it's more broad than Texas...

CG's owners are International movers & shakers--though many are deep into the oil biz.


btw,
"Carlyle in bid to buy IN Toll Road, PA Utility, Midway Airport, NJ Turnpike..." more here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2660701

[OregonBlue]

20. Agreed that it's more broad but you'll notice how many of these

horrible frauds are cooked up either in Texas or by Texans. Texas, Florida, now the real power behind the throne.

[jazzjunkysue]

17. The dems have got to stop selling our assets: Ports, workers, oil

We should follow canada's lead and keep the profits from oil in the state coffers.

[elehhhhna]

18. No joke. The President's self-dealing and it needs to be stopped, and REVERSED.

Turns out outsourcing was just a way to steal our infrastructure and DOD money at firesale prices.

[elehhhhna]

19. Carlyle, 11 Others Accused of Rigging Buyouts --Lawsuit filed 11/15:

KKR, Carlyle, 11 Others Accused of Rigging Buyouts (Update10)

By David Glovin and Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam

Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Carlyle Group and most other major U.S. buyout firms were accused in an investor lawsuit of illegally conspiring to hold down the prices they pay when taking companies private.

The suit was filed today in Manhattan federal court by shareholders who claim they were shortchanged because the firms restrained bidding for leveraged buyouts such as the $33 billion takeover of hospital chain HCA Inc., the largest LBO ever. It alleges the firms broke antitrust laws by forming ``clubs'' to make offers, sharing information and agreeing not to outbid each other.

``Investors in the target company are deprived of the full economic value of their holdings and `squeezed out' at artificially low valuations,'' according to the suit, which seeks class-action, or group status.

Private-equity firms, which have announced a record $425 billion of LBOs this year, are already the target of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into possible antitrust behavior. They've also come under fire in Europe and the U.S. for burying the companies they buy in debt while recouping their costs with dividends. ~ sounds like Enron, or the US Budget, to me! elena~

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aKTQ50WmoW6w&refer=news

[savemefromdumbya]

21. All those in Carlyle should b in jail

[stepnw1f]

22. The Carlyle Group Needs to Be RICOed

or smashed to bits.

[elehhhhna]

23. RICO, it is. WOnder if Fitz can put this on his schedule? Fast-tracked.

[stepnw1f]

36. I Believe It's Time to Take Down These Giants...

just look at the mess we are in because of them.

[blm]

24. Exactly - but look at their protectors - the who's who of the BFEE.

and their Dem coverup pals.

[elehhhhna]

35. Yep. Don't forget the Dem Porta-Pals. Slogan:

We go wherever the money is!

[Efilroft Sul]

26. Good work, elehhhna. I'll be looking for this story on KO and Dobbs.

Recommended!

[elehhhhna]

27. The jingo crowd at Dobbs should go batty over this...

Dubai sells out ports (22 of them!)operations to a partnership which includes--wait for it--DUBAI!

You can't make this stuff UP!:rofl:

[OzarkDem]

28. Why not let them?

When Dems take over Congress, we can "nationalize" the ports and place them back under federal or state ownership in the name of "Homeland Security". Of course, we should wait a while to see if Carlyle invests in any capital improvements before "nationalizing" them. There will be no payment, in light of all the tax breaks Carlyle received under the current regime.

We have to learn to play the game the way they do; bring a gun to a knife fight.

[elehhhhna]

31. oooh nice thought, OzarkDem.

Diabolical, yet democratic!

[SoCalDem]

29. Why do our "ports" have to be "owned" by an entity that is NOT our own country?

I know about private enterprise and all that, but especially in a time of "terrah-terrah- terrah", shouldn't those posts be ..like ''nationalized" & stuff...

I would think that in a time of "emergency", vital interests should be secured..

like:

energy production
seaports & airports

[Joanne98]

30. Isn't this a conflict of interest? How do we stop this sale?

[elehhhhna]

32. Confllct? Yes. Self-dealing? Yes. All that and much, much more.

"The Constitution of the United States, Art. III, defines treason against the United States to consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid or comfort."

Do the governments who financed and managed 9/11 count as "enemies"?

[KamaAina]

33. It appears Carlyle may be behind the buyout of Clear Channel, too

Our ports and our largest operator of radio stations all at once. Quite a coup. :puke:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/11/16/nations-largest-radio-st_n_34259.html

Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee are bed with the CARLYLE GROUP. Surprise, Surprise. I guess it would have been too obvious to have the Carlyle name out front owning the primary means of radio telecommunications in the country. Couple this with the news of Bush's attempt to renominate Kenneth Y. Tomlinson as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is the agency that directs U.S. broadcasts overseas, and you have a concerted effort by the established elite to control the vast majority of American radio broadcasts. Wake up!
By: ProfiteerInCheif on November 16, 2006 at 02:26pm

:scared:

[elehhhhna]

34. They may also be bidding for the Tribune Company. HOLY SHITE.

Gannett and Greenberg seen vying for Tribune
Largest U.S. newspaper company tries to take over its rival, while former AIG chairman is working on a bid, reports say.
November 13 2006: 4:54 PM EST


NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper company, is pursuing a bid for rival Tribune Co., while Maurice Greenberg, the former chairman of the insurance giant American International Group, has also expressed interest in the company, according to media reports.
...
One preliminary offer was put in by a private equity group made up of Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, one source familiar with the situation has told Reuters.

Another offer was put in by a group consisting of Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners and Apollo Management, a separate source close to the situation has said.

Private equity group Bain Capital also put in a bid, and the Carlyle Group has looked at Tribune as well, sources have said.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/13/news/companies/tribune.reut/?postversion=2006111316

[Skidmore]

37. Did this make it to Lou Dobbs? I missed the show today.

[Cleita]

38. Call me crazy but shouldn't our ports be owned by either

the city, county or state that they are located in? Since when have we allowed our assets to be owned by foreign countries? We shouldn't even be allowing private ownership of them.

[Gregorian]

44. I don't understand either. It's like selling Florida.

How can this even be possible? I've been watching this and not been able to think about why it bothers me. Then tonight- oh, yeah. How does a port differ from any other piece of America.

And don't get me started on French antiques. What the hell is wrong with America? Short answer- money.

Bueler? Hello?

[Megahurtz]

39. OMG!!!

:wtf: Nooooooo!!!:banghead:

[druidity33]

40. Morgan Stanley too...

they're suspicious to me. Didn't they lose most offices in WTC attack? Put options anyone?

Lotsa inside action i bet...

[Imagevision]

41. Tony Blair to join The Carlyle Group after he leaves office next year/NT

[lukery]

43. great work elehhhhna n/t

[Nikki Stone1]

45. The outsourcing of the government to Carlyle...

K & R

[elehhhhna]

47. The Office of the POTUS has already been outsourced to Carlyle:

Poppy, James Baker III, et. al., are calling the shots --er--suggestions--for GW now.

[Nikki Stone1]

51. It's like being taken over by the mafia

Good lord!

[elehhhhna]

53. Excellent analogy, although Al Capone set up soup kitchens for the poor.

Just saying.

IMO it's WORSE than being taken over by the Mafia.

[upi402]

46. k/r n/t

[elehhhhna]

48. PRIVATE EQUITY AS GLOBAL PIRACY --

CAPITALISM'S NEW KINGS: PRIVATE EQUITY AS GLOBAL PIRACY
Carlyle Group and its peers are the wave of the future, and if unchecked will remold capitalism into a fiercer and even more dominating model. 4th in the series, "Is It Too Late?"

PRIVATE EQUITY AS GLOBAL PIRACY

By Jerome G. Manis
http://www.cosmiciguana.com/2006/11/capitalisms_new_kings_private.html

[elehhhhna]

49. Electric Deregulation & Carlyle's Money Machine:

...Indeed, the biggest beneficiaries of energy deregulation seem to be big investment firms, like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the Carlyle Group, that, with their partners, have been able to flip the power plants — meaning that in short order, they sold them at a much higher price than they bought them.

Much more here: http://capitolannex.com/2006/11/20/electric-deregulation-produces-no-worthwhile-results-for-consumers/

[OzarkDem]

52. Utility deregulation never should have happened

and should be reversed. Imagine how much this profiteering hurts our economy and job growth, not to mention the high cost of utilities to consumers.

Another mistake that needs to be fixed by a Dem congress, if possible. They have a lot on their plate.

[elehhhhna]

54. Frankly, TX's was done fairly well--CA is another story...

read this--Lynne is an acquaintance of mine & she's THE expert on energy dereg:

Policy Study No. 280
February 2001

Powering Up California: Policy Alternatives for the California Energy Crisis by Adrian T. Moore and Lynne Kiesling


Executive Summary

Many view California’s electricity crisis as proof that electricity deregulation and indeed deregulation in general does not work. This is wrong. California did not deregulate its electricity market, but rather “restructured” it, requiring far more state intervention in electricity transactions than existed before. In doing so, the law created a micromanaged pseudo-market where suppliers of electricity have the ability and incentive to manipulate prices to their advantage, and utilities are forbidden to shop for better prices. Now, with the centrally-planned and managed market that restructuring’s architects created falling down like a house of cards, state leaders labor under the anxious eyes of state residents, and the curious eyes of the nation. They must contend with burning short-term issues as the state’s utilities approach bankruptcy and the state grid flirts with blackouts. They also must develop a long-run vision and goals for the state’s electricity market and formulate policies to get us there. We argue that the vision ought to be a competitive electricity market and the goals ought to be addressing immediate crises and long-term structural changes to move electricity generation in the state toward competition.
Unfortunately, state leaders are working in an environment of widespread misunderstanding, such as many mistaking the state’s restructuring for deregulation. Clear and effective policies, and public support for them, depend on an accurate analysis of the issues at hand and alternatives available. To that end, this study examines California’s electricity crisis from three directions, analyzing:

The most important aspects of what went wrong with the restructuring;
How deregulation of electricity has worked in other states, and even other nations; and Gov. Gray Davis’ action plan, point by point.
All three approaches shed distinct light on the policy options available to state leaders and what their likely outcomes might be, and all three lead us to make similar recommendations. Specifically, we recommend that state leaders:
...

http://www.rppi.org/ps280central.html