Posts
Insider Trader, War Profiteer, Chinese Company Invested Dianne Feinstein
Time for the 79 year old insider trader, China connected traitor,
hawkish Dianne Feinstein who funneled over 1 billion in military
contracts illegally to her husband Richard Blum to resign. She and
her husband with Barbara Boxer's help sold San Diego ports to
Cosco.
Her husband was part of the pressure network which caused
police to bust up Occupy in Oakland and San Francisco.
Many of the older links in this article were compiled by Forest Glen Durland.
The record of insider trader war profiteer
and hawkish traitor Dianne Feinstein.
1 Dianne Feinstein has funneled over 1 billion
in contracts to her husband Richard Blum's URS
... just one of his companies to which she
has funneled money stolen from the people of
America. She has also with our money helped him
profiteer from bankster foreclosures.
http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein/
She was forced to resign from the military construction
appropriations subcommittee because of her
criminal acts but is still head of the intelligence
committee! though she deliberately falsified
intelligence and voted, unlike most Democrats,
to give the unelected Bush authority to rain fire
and death on Iraq.
http://news.aol.com/elections-blog/2007/03/30/senator-feinstein-resigns-from-committee/
2 She was a tool of the Israeli government in claiming falsely in 2002 that Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons.
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5764
3. She opposes assault weapons in the US while
voting for 30 billion dollars a year for assault weapons, fighter jets, and other armsmongering
for the fraudulently installed Netanyahu government. Her husband Richard Blum was involved in Cosco's gun running in San Diego. Her husband's investment in Chinese shipping is one of many factors
in the failure of the US government to inspect
more than 5% of incoming crates. WalMart is the US'
biggest importer of uninspected Chinese goods.
4. As chair of Senate intelligence
committee while Carl Levin is the chair of
the Senate armed services committee how can
she objectively monitor the Mossad infiltrated CIA?
5. She lost 2 mayoral elections and only the murder
of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone by the troubled (or mind controlled) Dan White (who had
frequent contact with the SF police department) and her appointment to office started her career.
http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/hambone/mcveigh.html
6. Her husband's role as past chairman and present member of the Univ of Calif. Board of Overseershas helped make that state the most aggressive denier of the 1st amendment for peaceful protesters against UC vivisection. Blum was active in lobbying for AETA and pressuring for its unconstitutional enforcement.
7. Feinstein has many times violated the sovereign
will of the people of California, ignoring their
overwhelming support for immediate withdrawal
from Iraq and Afghanistan.
8. Several times California fires have burned out of controlwhile the state guard's firefighters have been
requisitioned for Iraq and Afghanistan where they help to cause fires.
9. California bridges are in terrible shape while
money to repair them has instead been spent to
bomb bridges in Baghdad and Afghanistan.
10. California animals are worse off.
After 6000 Chino cows suffocated in mud,
film of their torture was captured as they
were poked with poles in udders, face,
stomach, kicked, beaten, downer cows
forklifted into fences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTZTCNnrUNY
11. Her husband Blum has an antilabor record.
He raided the pension fund of
S. Calif. carpenters' union.. of 90 million dollars,
7.8 million in 1997 alone... for 'investment consultant' fees. Newt Gingrich rivals him in fleecing
others.
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/news/8-1-01/tutor.htmUnion
12. [b]Members Lost 90 Million as Richard Blum Managed Pension Fund [/b]
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/blumsues.htm
13. The government's investigations of the Feinstein/Blum corrupt connections to Chinese
money have only partially been investigated.
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/china.htm Like those of Mitt Romney, Henry Kissinger, Henry Paulson, Warren
Buffett and Rupert Murdoch, Feinstein's Chinese
money connections are in conflict with the interests of
the people of the US and in conflict with the role of an intelligence chairman.
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/china.htm
14. In 1994, Feinstein ignored human rights issues
in China and 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.
15. Feinstein has been silent about the 911
Israeli govt's role in the WTC plot.
16. Feinstein pushed for the leasing of a S
California naval base to a Chinese company Cosco
with which her husband has financial ties.
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/13/us/senators-ask-for-inquiry-on-leasing-of-california-base-to-chinese.html
*********************
The next article is by Peter Byrne.
Richard C. Blum is an investment banker and the husband of Dianne Feinstein. He is the Chairman and President of Blum Capital, an equity investment management firm . Blum is also chair of the University of California Board of Regents and a Director of several companies, including CB Richard Ellis.
Blum founded Blum Capital in 1975 and pioneered the firm’s hybrid Strategic Block/Private Equity investment strategy. Mr. Blum currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors of CB Richard Ellis and is a director on the boards of directors of three other portfolio companies: Fairmont Raffles Holdings International Ltd., Current Media, L.L.C. and Myer Pty Ltd. in Australia. Mr. Blum co-founded Newbridge Capital in the early 1990s and is Co-Chairman of TPG Asia V, L.P. (the successor fund to the Newbridge franchise that has been incorporated into Texas Pacific Group). In the past, Mr. Blum has served on the boards of many prominent companies, including Northwest Airlines Corporation, Glenborough Realty Trust, Inc., Korea First Bank, URS Corporation and National Education Corporation. Blum is the founder and chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation and Honorary Consul to Mongolia and Nepal. Blum also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.
Prior to founding Blum Capital, he was with Sutro & Co. for seventeen years, holding various positions including director, major stockholder and member of the executive committee.[/i]
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/03.21.07/dianne-feinstein-resigns-0712.html
http://www.uhuh.com/1calfraud/stacks/feinblum.htm
OPIC - U.S. government sponsored Overseas Private Investment Corporation
NW Airlines, Alliance With Air China
Taiwan Reports on Chinagate
Blum, Wilderness Society - Blum is/was a director of some sort.
Charles Hurwitz, Corporate Raider
Cox Report that blows the whistle on Chinagate
http://www.alamanceind.com/newfol~2/nation_44.html
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 90 million under Blum's management.
He took 7.8 million in 1997 in 'investment consultant'
fees.
http://www.virtualpet.com/bright/miscnews/navalb.htm
Feinstein and fellow California Senator Barbara Boxer support the Chinese company Cosco's tentales into ports of San Diego.
http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/china/j28.html
Dianne Feinstein's husband "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://aztlan.net/ucregents.htm
"Richard C. Blum and his wife, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, work as a team and have made millions through varied schemes that include some questionable deals with China. Richard Blum gave former president Bill Clinton a lot of money in return for very lucrative business favors through the [B]U.S. government sponsored Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)[/B]
http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/mm0497.09.html
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."
"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."
Blum is suing a union worker for saying that Blum raided the pension fund. Good article.
Another good Chinagate article from Taiwan.
New Witness To The Teamster Cash-Swap Plan.
Blum involved in payola with Teamsters.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/hongkong9/pla_china2.html
Blum has money in Cosco.
http://www.rtis.com/reg/bcs/pol/touchstone/april97/stcl.html
"On December 15 1995 two corporate executives who sit on the board of the Wilderness Society sipped coffee with Clinton. One of them was real estate baron Richard Blum--husband of Dianne Feinstein--who is also a long-time friend and sometime business partner of Charles Hurwitz, the corporate raider from Houston who wanted the government to purchase from him at an exorbitant price the Headwaters Redwood Forest in northern California."
OK, Folks, there you have it. For good reasons I have offered no conclusions. That is left to you. Ample references are provided to get you started. Go figure. Take it and run with it.
Keywords: Calfraud, Feinstein Trail, Blum Trail
Go to the Feinstein Trail
Much of this page was compiled by Forest Glen Durland.
This web page may NOT be altered or sold, but may be copied intact with credit to Durland for reasonable distribution .
This web page, CalFraud, DavisTrail, Goldgate, Goldscam, BridTrail, BridgeTrail, SwapGame, LandSwapGame and Land Swap Scam, in upper and lower case, Forest Glen Durland.
feinblum.htm. Revised 2-9-06. Calfraud is non-profit.
*
Feinstein Resigns
Senator exits MILCON following Metro exposé, vet-care scandal
By Peter Byrne
SEN. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in these pages, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum's ownership of two major defense contractors, who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein.
As MILCON leader, Feinstein relished the details of military construction, even micromanaging one project at the level of its sewer design. She regularly took junkets to military bases around the world to inspect construction projects, some of which were contracted to her husband's companies, Perini Corp. and URS Corp.
Perhaps she resigned from MILCON because she could not take the heat generated by Metro's expose of her ethics (which was partially funded by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute). Or was her work on the subcommittee finished because Blum divested ownership of his military construction and advanced weapons manufacturing firms in late 2005?
The MILCON subcommittee is not only in charge of supervising military construction, it also oversees "quality of life" issues for veterans, which includes building housing for military families and operating hospitals and clinics for wounded soldiers. Perhaps Feinstein is trying to disassociate herself from MILCON's incredible failure to provide decent medical care for wounded soldiers.
Two years ago, before the Washington Post became belatedly involved, the online magazine Salon.com exposed the horrors of deficient medical care for Iraq war veterans. While leading MILCON, Feinstein had ample warning of the medical-care meltdown. But she was not proactive on veteran's affairs.
Feinstein abandoned MILCON as her ethical problems were surfacing in the media, and as it was becoming clear that her subcommittee left grievously wounded veterans to rot while her family was profiting from the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It turns out that Blum also holds large investments in companies that were selling medical equipment and supplies and real estate leases—often without the benefit of competitive bidding—to the Department of Veterans Affairs, even as the system of medical care for veterans collapsed on his wife's watch.
As of December 2006, according to SEC filings and http://www.fedspending.org three corporations in which Blum's financial entities own a total of $1 billion in stock won considerable favor from the budgets of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Boston Scientific Corporation: $17.8 million for medical equipment and supplies; 85 percent of contracts awarded without benefit of competition.
Kinetic Concepts Inc.: $12 million, medical equipment and supplies; 28 percent noncompetitively awarded.
CB Richard Ellis: The Blum-controlled international real estate firm holds congressionally funded contracts to lease office space to the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also is involved in redeveloping military bases turned over to the private sector.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2011/12/412720.shtml
Governor Jerry Brown may challenge Obama in the
Democratic primary...
May many challenge Feinstein in the primary if the
79 year old hawk tries to cling to her illegitimate
post.
and hawkish traitor Dianne Feinstein.
1 Dianne Feinstein has funneled over 1 billion
in contracts to her husband Richard Blum's URS
... just one of his companies to which she
has funneled money stolen from the people of
America. She has also with our money helped him
profiteer from bankster foreclosures.
http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein/
She was forced to resign from the military construction
appropriations subcommittee because of her
criminal acts but is still head of the intelligence
committee! though she deliberately falsified
intelligence and voted, unlike most Democrats,
to give the unelected Bush authority to rain fire
and death on Iraq.
http://news.aol.com/elections-blog/2007/03/30/senator-feinstein-resigns-from-committee/
2 She was a tool of the Israeli government in claiming falsely in 2002 that Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons.
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5764
3. She opposes assault weapons in the US while
voting for 30 billion dollars a year for assault weapons, fighter jets, and other armsmongering
for the fraudulently installed Netanyahu government. Her husband Richard Blum was involved in Cosco's gun running in San Diego. Her husband's investment in Chinese shipping is one of many factors
in the failure of the US government to inspect
more than 5% of incoming crates. WalMart is the US'
biggest importer of uninspected Chinese goods.
4. As chair of Senate intelligence
committee while Carl Levin is the chair of
the Senate armed services committee how can
she objectively monitor the Mossad infiltrated CIA?
5. She lost 2 mayoral elections and only the murder
of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone by the troubled (or mind controlled) Dan White (who had
frequent contact with the SF police department) and her appointment to office started her career.
http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/hambone/mcveigh.html
6. Her husband's role as past chairman and present member of the Univ of Calif. Board of Overseershas helped make that state the most aggressive denier of the 1st amendment for peaceful protesters against UC vivisection. Blum was active in lobbying for AETA and pressuring for its unconstitutional enforcement.
7. Feinstein has many times violated the sovereign
will of the people of California, ignoring their
overwhelming support for immediate withdrawal
from Iraq and Afghanistan.
8. Several times California fires have burned out of controlwhile the state guard's firefighters have been
requisitioned for Iraq and Afghanistan where they help to cause fires.
9. California bridges are in terrible shape while
money to repair them has instead been spent to
bomb bridges in Baghdad and Afghanistan.
10. California animals are worse off.
After 6000 Chino cows suffocated in mud,
film of their torture was captured as they
were poked with poles in udders, face,
stomach, kicked, beaten, downer cows
forklifted into fences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTZTCNnrUNY
11. Her husband Blum has an antilabor record.
He raided the pension fund of
S. Calif. carpenters' union.. of 90 million dollars,
7.8 million in 1997 alone... for 'investment consultant' fees. Newt Gingrich rivals him in fleecing
others.
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/news/8-1-01/tutor.htmUnion
12. [b]Members Lost 90 Million as Richard Blum Managed Pension Fund [/b]
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/blumsues.htm
13. The government's investigations of the Feinstein/Blum corrupt connections to Chinese
money have only partially been investigated.
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/china.htm Like those of Mitt Romney, Henry Kissinger, Henry Paulson, Warren
Buffett and Rupert Murdoch, Feinstein's Chinese
money connections are in conflict with the interests of
the people of the US and in conflict with the role of an intelligence chairman.
http://members.tripod.com/unionplainfacts/documents/archivespage/china.htm
14. In 1994, Feinstein ignored human rights issues
in China and 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.
15. Feinstein has been silent about the 911
Israeli govt's role in the WTC plot.
16. Feinstein pushed for the leasing of a S
California naval base to a Chinese company Cosco
with which her husband has financial ties.
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/13/us/senators-ask-for-inquiry-on-leasing-of-california-base-to-chinese.html
*********************
The next article is by Peter Byrne.
Richard C. Blum is an investment banker and the husband of Dianne Feinstein. He is the Chairman and President of Blum Capital, an equity investment management firm . Blum is also chair of the University of California Board of Regents and a Director of several companies, including CB Richard Ellis.
Blum founded Blum Capital in 1975 and pioneered the firm’s hybrid Strategic Block/Private Equity investment strategy. Mr. Blum currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors of CB Richard Ellis and is a director on the boards of directors of three other portfolio companies: Fairmont Raffles Holdings International Ltd., Current Media, L.L.C. and Myer Pty Ltd. in Australia. Mr. Blum co-founded Newbridge Capital in the early 1990s and is Co-Chairman of TPG Asia V, L.P. (the successor fund to the Newbridge franchise that has been incorporated into Texas Pacific Group). In the past, Mr. Blum has served on the boards of many prominent companies, including Northwest Airlines Corporation, Glenborough Realty Trust, Inc., Korea First Bank, URS Corporation and National Education Corporation. Blum is the founder and chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation and Honorary Consul to Mongolia and Nepal. Blum also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.
Prior to founding Blum Capital, he was with Sutro & Co. for seventeen years, holding various positions including director, major stockholder and member of the executive committee.[/i]
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/03.21.07/dianne-feinstein-resigns-0712.html
http://www.uhuh.com/1calfraud/stacks/feinblum.htm
OPIC - U.S. government sponsored Overseas Private Investment Corporation
NW Airlines, Alliance With Air China
Taiwan Reports on Chinagate
Blum, Wilderness Society - Blum is/was a director of some sort.
Charles Hurwitz, Corporate Raider
Cox Report that blows the whistle on Chinagate
http://www.alamanceind.com/newfol~2/nation_44.html
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 90 million under Blum's management.
He took 7.8 million in 1997 in 'investment consultant'
fees.
http://www.virtualpet.com/bright/miscnews/navalb.htm
Feinstein and fellow California Senator Barbara Boxer support the Chinese company Cosco's tentales into ports of San Diego.
http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/china/j28.html
Dianne Feinstein's husband "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://aztlan.net/ucregents.htm
"Richard C. Blum and his wife, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, work as a team and have made millions through varied schemes that include some questionable deals with China. Richard Blum gave former president Bill Clinton a lot of money in return for very lucrative business favors through the [B]U.S. government sponsored Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)[/B]
http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/mm0497.09.html
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."
"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."
Blum is suing a union worker for saying that Blum raided the pension fund. Good article.
Another good Chinagate article from Taiwan.
New Witness To The Teamster Cash-Swap Plan.
Blum involved in payola with Teamsters.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/hongkong9/pla_china2.html
Blum has money in Cosco.
http://www.rtis.com/reg/bcs/pol/touchstone/april97/stcl.html
"On December 15 1995 two corporate executives who sit on the board of the Wilderness Society sipped coffee with Clinton. One of them was real estate baron Richard Blum--husband of Dianne Feinstein--who is also a long-time friend and sometime business partner of Charles Hurwitz, the corporate raider from Houston who wanted the government to purchase from him at an exorbitant price the Headwaters Redwood Forest in northern California."
OK, Folks, there you have it. For good reasons I have offered no conclusions. That is left to you. Ample references are provided to get you started. Go figure. Take it and run with it.
Keywords: Calfraud, Feinstein Trail, Blum Trail
Go to the Feinstein Trail
Much of this page was compiled by Forest Glen Durland.
This web page may NOT be altered or sold, but may be copied intact with credit to Durland for reasonable distribution .
This web page, CalFraud, DavisTrail, Goldgate, Goldscam, BridTrail, BridgeTrail, SwapGame, LandSwapGame and Land Swap Scam, in upper and lower case, Forest Glen Durland.
feinblum.htm. Revised 2-9-06. Calfraud is non-profit.
*
Feinstein Resigns
Senator exits MILCON following Metro exposé, vet-care scandal
By Peter Byrne
SEN. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in these pages, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum's ownership of two major defense contractors, who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein.
As MILCON leader, Feinstein relished the details of military construction, even micromanaging one project at the level of its sewer design. She regularly took junkets to military bases around the world to inspect construction projects, some of which were contracted to her husband's companies, Perini Corp. and URS Corp.
Perhaps she resigned from MILCON because she could not take the heat generated by Metro's expose of her ethics (which was partially funded by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute). Or was her work on the subcommittee finished because Blum divested ownership of his military construction and advanced weapons manufacturing firms in late 2005?
The MILCON subcommittee is not only in charge of supervising military construction, it also oversees "quality of life" issues for veterans, which includes building housing for military families and operating hospitals and clinics for wounded soldiers. Perhaps Feinstein is trying to disassociate herself from MILCON's incredible failure to provide decent medical care for wounded soldiers.
Two years ago, before the Washington Post became belatedly involved, the online magazine Salon.com exposed the horrors of deficient medical care for Iraq war veterans. While leading MILCON, Feinstein had ample warning of the medical-care meltdown. But she was not proactive on veteran's affairs.
Feinstein abandoned MILCON as her ethical problems were surfacing in the media, and as it was becoming clear that her subcommittee left grievously wounded veterans to rot while her family was profiting from the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It turns out that Blum also holds large investments in companies that were selling medical equipment and supplies and real estate leases—often without the benefit of competitive bidding—to the Department of Veterans Affairs, even as the system of medical care for veterans collapsed on his wife's watch.
As of December 2006, according to SEC filings and http://www.fedspending.org three corporations in which Blum's financial entities own a total of $1 billion in stock won considerable favor from the budgets of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Boston Scientific Corporation: $17.8 million for medical equipment and supplies; 85 percent of contracts awarded without benefit of competition.
Kinetic Concepts Inc.: $12 million, medical equipment and supplies; 28 percent noncompetitively awarded.
CB Richard Ellis: The Blum-controlled international real estate firm holds congressionally funded contracts to lease office space to the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also is involved in redeveloping military bases turned over to the private sector.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2011/12/412720.shtml
Governor Jerry Brown may challenge Obama in the
Democratic primary...
May many challenge Feinstein in the primary if the
79 year old hawk tries to cling to her illegitimate
post.
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