Ports Deal Will Happen

It appears lawmakers have given up hope of stopping UAE from taking over management of several major US ports on Thursday.

They conceded, however, that they are powerless to prevent the sale from going forward, and placed their hope in an 11th-hour intervention by US President George W. Bush.

Fat chance. Bush has said all along he will veto any bill designed to stop the deal. And now there's no time to draft and pass such a bill anyway.

"While the administration has agreed to a 45-day review of the transaction, it appears that once the sale closes on March 2, the administration may lose its legal authority to block it," Senator Hillary Clinton's office said on her website

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So what was the point of the 45-day review? Sounds pretty moot to me.

But not to worry. It seems lawmakers are closing the barn door. Won't be any more horses getting out.

Representative Sherrod Brown said lawmakers at this point were looking ahead.

"We want to make sure that these kinds of mistakes don't happen again," he said, touting legislation he has sponsored requiring a systematic homeland security review of future major trade agreements.

Lawmakers in both parties and in both chambers of Congress have introduced, or planned to introduce, a variety of measures to ensure that port sales or management changes from now on are subject to rigorous oversight.

I'm sorry but I don't think in this case better late than never applies. Gawd I hope I'm wrong.

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