Susan Stamper Brown,FloydReports.com
Generally speaking,generals do not tell lies. Nor are generals in the practice of concocting stories before congressional committees. That is why Air Force Space Command General William Shelton’s gutsy and potentially career-ending and provocative testimony to the House Armed Services subcommittee recently should be taken seriously.
General Shelton claims he was pressured to alter prepared congressional testimony,or “say things”he “didn’t agree with”that would,in the end,benefit the communications and satellite company,LightSquared,which is funded by major Democratic Party campaign donor,Philip Falcone.
According to General Shelton,LightSquared’s plan for a 4G network could seriously impede the effectiveness of the military’s GPS receiver systems,and testified he was pressured to say “the interference problems could be mitigated.”The “interference”has been described as participating in a telephone conversation during a rock concert,and precision GPS could be severely degraded or jammed,as a result.
Irrespective of potential national security implications LightSquared was given the green light,in what some describe as a “fast-track approval”by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),currently chaired by President Obama’s long-time basketball buddy Julius Genachowski.
On March 1,2011,Ken Boehm,of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC),reported,“Under extremely unusual circumstances,the FCC recently granted…LightSquared the right to use wireless spectrum to build out a national 4G wireless network. LightSquared will get the spectrum for a song,while its competitors [like AT&T and Verizon] have to spend billions.”
Back in early February,the NLPC had requested an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,alleging favoritism was granted in exchange for campaign contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,after a visit to the White House by hedge fund billionaire Phil Falcone,who runs Harbinger Capital,the owner of LightSquared.
Falcone claims he is a Republican,and at worst,neutral politically,but the fact remains he is among a small percentage of Americans who have had the privilege of paying a personal visit to the White House that appears to have paid off personally.
While it is tempting to blow this off as yet another “Pay for Play”deal,which runs the risk of being normal in politics these days,think again.
You see,the company,LightSquared,used to be called SkyTerra. In 2005,Barack Obama invested more than….
Read more.
Generally speaking,generals do not tell lies. Nor are generals in the practice of concocting stories before congressional committees. That is why Air Force Space Command General William Shelton’s gutsy and potentially career-ending and provocative testimony to the House Armed Services subcommittee recently should be taken seriously.
General Shelton claims he was pressured to alter prepared congressional testimony,or “say things”he “didn’t agree with”that would,in the end,benefit the communications and satellite company,LightSquared,which is funded by major Democratic Party campaign donor,Philip Falcone.
According to General Shelton,LightSquared’s plan for a 4G network could seriously impede the effectiveness of the military’s GPS receiver systems,and testified he was pressured to say “the interference problems could be mitigated.”The “interference”has been described as participating in a telephone conversation during a rock concert,and precision GPS could be severely degraded or jammed,as a result.
Irrespective of potential national security implications LightSquared was given the green light,in what some describe as a “fast-track approval”by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),currently chaired by President Obama’s long-time basketball buddy Julius Genachowski.
On March 1,2011,Ken Boehm,of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC),reported,“Under extremely unusual circumstances,the FCC recently granted…LightSquared the right to use wireless spectrum to build out a national 4G wireless network. LightSquared will get the spectrum for a song,while its competitors [like AT&T and Verizon] have to spend billions.”
Back in early February,the NLPC had requested an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,alleging favoritism was granted in exchange for campaign contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,after a visit to the White House by hedge fund billionaire Phil Falcone,who runs Harbinger Capital,the owner of LightSquared.
Falcone claims he is a Republican,and at worst,neutral politically,but the fact remains he is among a small percentage of Americans who have had the privilege of paying a personal visit to the White House that appears to have paid off personally.
While it is tempting to blow this off as yet another “Pay for Play”deal,which runs the risk of being normal in politics these days,think again.
You see,the company,LightSquared,used to be called SkyTerra. In 2005,Barack Obama invested more than….
Read more.
An election for President and Commander in Chief of the Military must strive to be above reproach. Our public institutions must give the public confidence that a presidential candidate has complied with the election process that is prescribed by our Constitution and laws. It is only after a presidential candidate satisfies the rules of such a process that he/she can expect members of the public, regardless of their party affiliations, to give him/her the respect that the Office of President so much deserves.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.