Daily Archives: July 6, 2005

More on the CNOOC bid for Unocal

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cnooc.jpgThis earlier post addressed the folly of developing a mercantilist governmental policy in response to the China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s hostile takeover bid for Unocal, which had previously accepted Chevron Corporation’s friendly bid for the company. In this OpinionJournal op-ed, CNOOC, Ltd. chairman and CEO Fu Chengyu takes up that line of thinking in arguing that CNOOC’s bid is actually good for American business interests and poses no threat to those those interests or American security.
unocal6.gifIn the meantime, in this post, Brad Stetser, senior economist for the boutique firm Roubini Global Economics, has been thinking about the CNOOC bid in the context of the amount of foreign assets that the Chinese accumulate each month by exporting more than they import. Mr. Stetser estimates that the value of those assets is around $20 billion, which is more than the $18.5 billion that CNOOC is bidding for Unocal. Thus, Mr. Stetser notes that it’s a tad absurd to worry too much about the Chinese buying one second tier oil & gas company when the real issue is that China has become the largest creditor of an increasingly leveraged U.S. economy. Stated simply, it doesn’t make sense to object when Communists want to buy U.S. companies, but sell away when the same Commies offer to buy U.S. debt.

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Benny Hinn and the I.R.S.

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benny2.jpgLast week, televangelist Benny Hinn was not particularly pleased with, might we say, the responsiveness of his Nigerian hosts to his latest African crusade.
Well, this latest news report probably explains why Benny is a tad jumpy these days:

The IRS is questioning televangelist Benny Hinn’s organization about its operations and finances issues that underlie its tax-exempt status as a church.
The inquiry into the flamboyant faith healer’s ministry began a year ago, and the IRS has asked for dozens of detailed answers, according to documents provided to The Dallas Morning News by a watchdog group. . .

Separately, The News found that another watchdog group’s complaint to the IRS that the ministry lacks financial oversight and independent governance may have led the agency to question the operation through what’s called a church tax-inquiry letter.
While detractors argue that Mr. Hinn improperly profits from a ministry that hasn’t met the IRS definition of a church for years, his public-relations contractor dismissed the possibility that the tax exemptions — worth millions a year — could be at risk. [Hinn’s public relations contractor] repeatedly warned The News should “be very careful about what it reports.”

Geez, Hinn’s public relations contractor sounds a bit like Tom Hagen, Don Corleone’s lawyer, don’t you think?
By the way, did you know that Benny asserted at one time that the Trinity was comprised not of three persons, but nine?!

Mistrial declared in Cleveland corruption trial related to Houston criminal investigation

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MayorBrown3.jpgNot only are a couple of former officials in the administration of former Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown admitted crooks (earlier posts here, here and here), they are apparently not very persuasive witnesses, either.
The Chronicle’s Dan Feldstein has been doing a good job of connecting the dots in this developing story, the latest chapter of which has been playing out in a public corruption trial in Cleveland, Ohio. In his latest article, Mr. Feldstein reports that a federal judge in Cleveland declared a mistrial Tuesday after a jury deadlocked on most bribery charges against Cleveland area entreprenuer Nate Gray, who is the person from whom two former Houston officials — former Brown administration chief of staff Oliver Spellman and building services director Monique McGilbra — testified that they took cash and gifts. The retrial of the case will begin on August 8.
During the trial, an F.B.I. agent testified that Justice Department officials in Houston are continuing to pursue an investigation that is related to the Cleveland prosecution. It is not known at this time whether any other former Brown administation officials have been named as targets of that investigation.