Adventures in Crony Capitalism

[lil mike]

Lightsquared.  Heard of it?

First, the White House pressured a 4 star General to change his testimony to favor a satellite internet  provider that the Pentagon is worried could interfere with GPS.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/15/lightsquared-did-white-house-pressure-general-shelton-to-help-donor.html

Why was this company so important to the White House?  The largest investor in the company is a fund ran by a Democratic contributor,  Philip Falcone.  Among other well connected Democrats, even Obama was an early investor in the company.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-center-for-public-integrity/politically-connected-lig_b_902421.html

And the Pentagon was right.  A test showed the satellite system did result in a 75% disruption of GPS.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-09/falcone-s-lightsquared-said-to-disrupt-75-of-gps-in-tests.html

Business as usual...

[Howey]

Lightsquared.  Heard of it?

First, the White House pressured a 4 star General to change his testimony to favor a satellite internet  provider that the Pentagon is worried could interfere with GPS.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/15/lightsquared-did-white-house-pressure-general-shelton-to-help-donor.html

Why was this company so important to the White House?  The largest investor in the company is a fund ran by a Democratic contributor,  Philip Falcone.  Among other well connected Democrats, even Obama was an early investor in the company.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-center-for-public-integrity/politically-connected-lig_b_902421.html

And the Pentagon was right.  A test showed the satellite system did result in a 75% disruption of GPS.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-09/falcone-s-lightsquared-said-to-disrupt-75-of-gps-in-tests.html

Business as usual...

hmmmm....

“the size and scope of LightSquared’s network, including the number of towers it would be allowed to construct and the allowable power levels, were approved back on February 25, 2005 – under the Bush Administration.”

Double hmmmm....

The Federal Election Commission has no record of Phil Falcone, a registered Republican, nor LightSquared Chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja of having ever contributed to President Obama’s political campaigns.

Triple hmmmm....
 

Among the issues being raised is if political contributors received favorable treatment by the Obama administration. Since 2007, a key investor in LightSquared, Philip Falcone, has donated $85,500 to Republicans and $50,500 to Democrats.

Quadruple hmmm....

Multiple media sources have reported that an Air Force General claimed that he had received political pressure to change his testimony regarding the negative effects of LightSquared technology. However, the General's spokesperson has denied there was any improper influence and has refuted those media reports by stating that the General's testimony was reviewed appropriately by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other executive agencies via the established OMB (Office of Management and Budget) process.

Conclusion:

Hmmm...you guys are really pissed Solyndra didn't "stick", aren't ya?

[ekg]

LOL

I liked one of the 1st replies on huff-po

Is there a factual study of the implications to GPS and air control, as thePentagon claims? Or is the Pentagon just trying to steer development to more favored contractors like KBR (Haliburton) and Xe (Blackwater)

[Howey]

LOL

I liked one of the 1st replies on huff-po

Is there a factual study of the implications to GPS and air control, as thePentagon claims? Or is the Pentagon just trying to steer development to more favored contractors like KBR (Haliburton) and Xe (Blackwater)

I read that!

[lil mike]

hmmmm....



Double hmmmm....

Triple hmmmm....
  

Quadruple hmmm....

Conclusion:

Hmmm...you guys are really pissed Solyndra didn't "stick", aren't ya?

Why would you try to have an authoritative rebuttal totally unsourced?  I’ve noticed that you do that a lot.  Is it because you are too embarrassed to acknowledge you’re just cribbing from Wikipedia?
I see your research skills are equal to what they were when you posted on the muche.  Quoting Wikipedia  doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.  However, when you are going to lean on the text of a Wikipedia article, it wouldn’t hurt to check their sources!  I of course did and got quite a different story than your Wiki version.

the size and scope of LightSquared’s network, including the number of towers it would be allowed to construct and the allowable power levels, were approved back on February 25, 2005 – under the Bush Administration.

I’m open to listen to any Bush administration crony capitalism charges.  But you didn’t provide any!  Aww….

“The Federal Election Commission has no record of Phil Falcone, a registered Republican, nor LightSquared Chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja of having ever contributed to President Obama’s political campaigns.”

http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/07/19/5253/politically-connected-lightsquared-pushes-wireless-internet-plan-despite-gps

•   Obama installed one of his biggest fundraisers, Julius Genachowski, a campaign “bundler” and broadband cheerleader, as chairman of the FCC, whose staff granted LightSquared a special waiver to operate.

•   LightSquared’s current majority owner, hedge fund manager Philip Falcone, made large donations to the Democratic Party while his broadband request was pending before the FCC. He and LightSquared executives met with White House officials. Neither Falcone nor the White House would comment on what was discussed.

•   LightSquared employs lobbying firms that wield formidable Democratic firepower: Ed Rendell, former governor of Pennsylvania and onetime chair of the Democratic National Committee, as well as the firm of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt.

•   Jeffrey J. Carlisle, the company’s vice president for regulatory affairs, served with Genachowski and Gips on Obama’s transition team.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/the-circuit-lightsquared-campaign-contributions-kids-privacy-eu-officials-meet-with-advertisers/2011/09/15/gIQAP9NPUK_blog.html

The Center for Public Integrity reported that senior White House officials took meetings with LightSquared officials on the same day that company CEO Sanjiv Ahuja gave $30,400 in campaign donations to the Democratic Party, according to e-mails obtained by the organization.

http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Falcone&fname=Philip

In 2010 Falcone gave 2400 to the Dems and zero to the Republicans

“Among the issues being raised is if political contributors received favorable treatment by the Obama administration. Since 2007, a key investor in LightSquared, Philip Falcone, has donated $85,500 to Republicans and $50,500 to Democrats.”

Noted, but the Republicans have not been in power and were not in a position to do anything for Lightsquared.

“Multiple media sources have reported that an Air Force General claimed that he had received political pressure to change his testimony regarding the negative effects of LightSquared technology. However, the General's spokesperson has denied there was any improper influence and has refuted those media reports by stating that the General's testimony was reviewed appropriately by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other executive agencies via the established OMB (Office of Management and Budget) process.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8769543/Obama-administration-pressured-Air-Force-general-to-change-testimony.html

There is no indication the General altered his testimony (and I never said that), only that the White House tried to get him to alter it.

“According to Republicans on Capitol Hill, General William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, told them in a closed session the White House urged him to alter his testimony about the Pentagon's concerns about a new wireless project by a satellite broadband company.
According to officials who spoke to the "Daily Beast" website, Gen Shelton's prepared testimony was leaked in advance to LightSquared. The White House then asked the general to alter it to say that he supported the White House policy to add more broadband for commercial use and that the Pentagon would try to resolve its concerns in tests within 90 days.”

So nice try.  Next time don’t take what Wikipedia says at face value unless you’ve checked out the sources they are linking to.  I mean, it IS Wikipedia after all.

Now for the breaking news:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/09/us-hedgefunds-falcone-idUSTRE7B81D920111209

the investor, who has since bet much of his Harbinger Capital Partners money on a cash-strapped wireless telecom company, said on Thursday that U.S. securities regulators are considering filing civil fraud charges against him and what is left of his once $26 billion hedge fund empire.
Falcone and two top lieutenants, including his general counsel Robin Roger, have received Wells Notices from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said Harbinger Capital parent Harbinger Group Inc.
This means the regulators are considering bringing an enforcement action against them over a number of potential violations, including alleged manipulative trading in debt securities during the period from 2006 to 2008

So I guess that puts you firmly on the side of the 1% Wall Street barons.

But you are right about one thing.  Solyndra didn’t stick and this one won’t either.  The MSM just won’t cover these kind of stories when they are still trying to get Obama re-elected.  But I know the administration is crooked.  You of course, don’t care.

[Howey]

But you are right about one thing.  Solyndra didn’t stick and this one won’t either.

Yup!

But don't worry. We understand you're really, really, really, not trying to make Obama look bad!

tee hee!

[lil mike]

Yup!

But don't worry. We understand you're really, really, really, not trying to make Obama look bad!

tee hee!

No rebuttal.

Excellent!

[FooFa]

http://pubrecord.org/nation/8622/pentagon-papers-wall-street/

[lil mike]

More Adventures...

http://news.investors.com/Article/594703/201112131858/navy-biofuel-gate-latest-obama-green-scam.htm

Jet Fuel-Gate Is Obama's New Solyndra

SolyndraGate was no isolated case of corrupt government misspending. The U.S. Navy was just forced to buy 450,000 gallons of biofuels from an Obama-connected firm at an outrageous $16 per gallon.



It's part of the White House's "we can't wait for Congress" strategy as the 2012 election year looms. But JP-5 typically costs less than $4 a gallon. If a family on a budget started filling up with $16-a-gallon gas, it might want to adopt the motto, "we can't wait to go broke."

A look at the lucky seller of this environmentalist version of the proverbial $600 Pentagon toilet seat indicates that the move is not just wasteful, but ethically suspect.

As J.E. Dyer noted over the weekend on the Hot Air Green Room, "a member of Obama's presidential transition team, T. J. Glauthier, is a 'strategic advisor' at Solazyme, the California company that is selling a portion of the biofuel to the Navy.  Glauthier worked — shock, shock — on the energy-sector portion of the 2009 stimulus bill."

[ekg]

yawn... cough.. haliburton...and "Heck of a job Brownie"

until Mike investigates that, he's got no standing on any Obama issue in this department..

[Howey]

yawn... cough.. haliburton...and "Heck of a job Brownie"

until Mike investigates that, he's got no standing on any Obama issue in this department..

Yeah. Just ask Henry Paulsen!

They're all sooooo pissed Obama's favoritism to the nation of Solyndra didn't catch on.

This is hilarious!

Amidst the wailing and grieving by those many victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita comes the growls of greed from those corporations getting huge contracts from the US government to supply emergency relief, reconstruction services and materials.

From everywhere - the press, citizen groups, lawmakers, federal inspectors general - come the howls and charges of 'profiteering', 'gouging the taxpayers', 'political favoritism', 'Halliburton again' and so forth. Clark Kent Ervin, formerly the inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security, says "when they issue rapid-fire, no-bid contracts, they're basically asking companies to gouge them."

Some of the early disclosures seem to confirm Mr. Ervin's experience. According to Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Barack Obama (D-IL), FEMA has entered a no-bid contract with Carnival Cruise Lines for $192 million to house hurricane evacuees on three cruise ships. Senators Coburn and Obama note the price the taxpayers are paying a company that has polluted offshore waters for years: "$2,550 per guest, per week, which is four times the cost of a $599 per tourist 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise from Galveston, Texas".

Halliburton - flush with so many Iraq war contracts that one cannot keep up with all the Pentagon and Congressional charges of waste, fraud and abuse - has got it hands on $60 million in Katrina contracts. This is the company that charges the Pentagon $100 for each 15 pounds of laundry, gouges the Army on fuel and has charged the Defense Department for undelivered meals for soldiers. (The Army decided it cannot feed itself anymore in the field.)

Hell. They probably came up with the nom "Crony Capitalism" because of Dubya!

Oh. Wait. They did!

Paul Krugman came up with the term during the mad cow scare of 2004 referring to Bush!

[44nutman]

The only way to fix the government is to get rid of lobbyists. I heard that Congressman spend up to 7 months campaigning. There are like 40 lobbyist per every congressperson. Both sides, let me repeat both sides have a shit load of skeletons due to shady shit based on lobbyists. Now they have voted to make insider trading legal.

I don't blame them, it would be hard not to buy some stock in a company you know is getting a favorable governmental ruling. That is the problem though. Each candidate should have a set amount to campaign with and they would have to mobilize a volunteer army to knock on doors. It will never happen, look what happened to the Dodd/Frank bill, the lobbyist got a hold of it and took all the teeth out.

[Howey]

The only way to fix the government is to get rid of lobbyists.

I'm sure that's one of the first things on President Newt The Lobbyist Gingrich's "To Do" list when and if he's elected.


Gotta love the new Teabagger Republican Party!

[ekg]

The only way to fix the government is to get rid of lobbyists. I heard that Congressman spend up to 7 months campaigning. There are like 40 lobbyist per every congressperson. Both sides, let me repeat both sides have a shit load of skeletons due to shady shit based on lobbyists. Now they have voted to make insider trading legal.

I don't blame them, it would be hard not to buy some stock in a company you know is getting a favorable governmental ruling. That is the problem though. Each candidate should have a set amount to campaign with and they would have to mobilize a volunteer army to knock on doors. It will never happen, look what happened to the Dodd/Frank bill, the lobbyist got a hold of it and took all the teeth out.

I know..it's just funny that the same people who are now hell-bent on finding anything to attach to Obama.. were the same ones telling me there was 'nothing see here' when it came to Halliburton and war contracts..

[lil mike]

And the Lightspeed saga continues...

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2011/12/22/Obama-Betting-Another-Iffy-Company.aspx#page1

hat happens when crony capitalism isn’t enough? LightSquared had almost every advantage in their audacious plan to exploit the Obama administration’s goal of expanded broadband delivery -- key political connections in the White House, a curiously incurious FCC, and a hotshot hedge-fund wizard as its main financial backer. The only thing LightSquared lacked was a system that didn’t create havoc on the airwaves, but the company won’t let that stand in the way of their ambitions.

LightSquared’s CEO, Sanjiv Ahuja sent the Federal Communications Commission a petition this week demanding that the FCC grant approval for a waiver  that will allow a rollout of a terrestrial-based 4G network on frequencies allocated only for low-power satellite communications -- an action that would put lumps of coal into the stockings of millions of users of GPS technology this Christmas season.

however someone is buying some time...

In case that doesn’t prevent the FCC from succumbing to political pressure, Rep. Michael Turner inserted language into the National Defense Authorization Act (section 913) that requires the Secretary of Defense to ensure that no commercial services are presenting “widespread harmful interference” – and certify that every 90 days for the next two years. It furthermore requires that the FCC “ensure that the signals of Global Positioning System satellites can be received without interruption or interference.” President Obama will sign the NDAA in the next few days (a bill that has other controversial provisions in it), which will give this language the force of law.

Once Obama signs the bill, the FCC has no choice but to deny LightSquared’s petition for a declaratory ruling in their favor and refuse to allow them to proceed for another two years. That’s good news for consumers, travelers, and the military – but bad news for the company that tried to get a cell-phone frequency allocation on the cheap at the expense of everyone else.