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Video Secretary Hillary Clinton on Torture Memos
Secretary of State Clinton responded to questions from Rep. Rohrabacher about information shared with her about torture memos as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In her remarks she also said that she did not view Former Vice President Cheney as "a particularly reliable source of information."
Hillary Clinton I don’t consider Cheney a reliable source on “torture”
Hillary Clinton I don’t consider Cheney a reliable source on “torture”
CB Richard Ellis’ denial on Feinstein allegations to employees
Date: April 22, 2009
To: All U.S. Employees
From: [name redacted by HA]
Subject: FDIC Contract
CC: [names redacted by HA]
A very irresponsible and sensational article about our FDIC contract was published yesterday in a second-tier Washington newspaper with a well-known political agenda. Given today’s viral news environment, the article has subsequently been picked up on certain political Internet sites and has also appeared in more legitimate news outlets. I wanted to discuss the article with you.
The article is an attack piece and attempts to contrive a connection between our FDIC contract and the fact that our Chairman, Dick Blum, is married to Dianne Feinstein, the senior Senator from California. The article makes the inference that Senator Feinstein influenced our involvement in the FDIC program. However, the article never actually draws any connection whatsoever between the Senator and the FDIC contract or Dick Blum, for that matter.
As Chairman of the Board, Dick helps to set the company’s strategic direction, but he does not get involved in day-to-day operational decisions, including client service or contract bidding. Dick had no advance knowledge whatsoever that we were pursuing the FDIC opportunity, and only discovered we were awarded this contract when Brett issued his internal employee announcement on November 26. Equally, Sen. Feinstein had no knowledge of our work for the FDIC, as an article in the San Francisco Chronicle explains. Frankly, given all the challenges Sen. Feinstein is dealing with, she has other more important priorities to focus on than CBRE’s day-to-day operations.
Ironically, the article highlights legislation she introduced (which was subsequently superseded by the President’s stimulus plan) that was designed to help stem property foreclosures. Since CBRE is paid under the FDIC agreement only by handling foreclosed properties, it is unclear just how CBRE would supposedly have benefited from the Senator’s proposed legislation.
The reporter, relying on quotes from some local real estate agents, questions our qualification to handle foreclosure sales and the commission rates and fees under the agreement. The fact is that CBRE was selected for this assignment – along with one other firm – as the result of a highly competitive, multi-faceted bidding process that involved more than 30 firms. We had a team of people working continuously on this opportunity for more than nine months, responding to a written request for proposals, preparing oral presentations and developing pricing schedules based on the FDIC models. Our broad service offering, national office network and specialty services focused on both serving the public sector and restructuring and repositioning failed assets made us ideally suited to assist the FDIC with managing and disposing of its Owned Real Estate portfolio.
Contrary to what’s alleged in the article, we have extensive in-house expertise in working with property foreclosures. Ken Pearson, who heads our FDIC team, is a highly experienced bankruptcy attorney who has represented the Resolution Trust Corporation and other clients in loan restructurings, foreclosures and receiverships. Our subcontractor, Realogy, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company, adds complementary residential expertise.
The article also questions our pricing under the FDIC contract. You should know that the rates we are charging were developed in accordance with the pricing matrix the FDIC provided to all service providers bidding for the work. We accepted the matrix as part of our bid submission. We believe our pricing is at market for a highly complex assignment with significant and frequent reporting requirements, and is consistent with rates the other FDIC service provider is charging.
The revenue opportunity under the FDIC contract is unknown, but under any scenario, the amount of money we will earn will be immaterial (well less than one percent of revenue) for a $5 billion company, and the FDIC will receive significant value for our work.
During the months leading up to the publishing of the article, we provided the reporter all the pertinent facts about the FDIC contract. It is unfortunate that he and his editors would elect to discount these facts and move forward with an article that, objectively, had very little basis for being published.
We are proud to serve our government during this extremely stressful time in our nation’s history, and to play a small role in helping to correct the imbalances that had developed in the marketplace.
Consistent with corporate policy, should anyone from the news media contact you about the FDIC contract, please refer them to Steve Iaco or Bob McGrath in Corporate Communications.
CB Richard Ellis’ denial on Feinstein allegations to employees
To: All U.S. Employees
From: [name redacted by HA]
Subject: FDIC Contract
CC: [names redacted by HA]
A very irresponsible and sensational article about our FDIC contract was published yesterday in a second-tier Washington newspaper with a well-known political agenda. Given today’s viral news environment, the article has subsequently been picked up on certain political Internet sites and has also appeared in more legitimate news outlets. I wanted to discuss the article with you.
The article is an attack piece and attempts to contrive a connection between our FDIC contract and the fact that our Chairman, Dick Blum, is married to Dianne Feinstein, the senior Senator from California. The article makes the inference that Senator Feinstein influenced our involvement in the FDIC program. However, the article never actually draws any connection whatsoever between the Senator and the FDIC contract or Dick Blum, for that matter.
As Chairman of the Board, Dick helps to set the company’s strategic direction, but he does not get involved in day-to-day operational decisions, including client service or contract bidding. Dick had no advance knowledge whatsoever that we were pursuing the FDIC opportunity, and only discovered we were awarded this contract when Brett issued his internal employee announcement on November 26. Equally, Sen. Feinstein had no knowledge of our work for the FDIC, as an article in the San Francisco Chronicle explains. Frankly, given all the challenges Sen. Feinstein is dealing with, she has other more important priorities to focus on than CBRE’s day-to-day operations.
Ironically, the article highlights legislation she introduced (which was subsequently superseded by the President’s stimulus plan) that was designed to help stem property foreclosures. Since CBRE is paid under the FDIC agreement only by handling foreclosed properties, it is unclear just how CBRE would supposedly have benefited from the Senator’s proposed legislation.
The reporter, relying on quotes from some local real estate agents, questions our qualification to handle foreclosure sales and the commission rates and fees under the agreement. The fact is that CBRE was selected for this assignment – along with one other firm – as the result of a highly competitive, multi-faceted bidding process that involved more than 30 firms. We had a team of people working continuously on this opportunity for more than nine months, responding to a written request for proposals, preparing oral presentations and developing pricing schedules based on the FDIC models. Our broad service offering, national office network and specialty services focused on both serving the public sector and restructuring and repositioning failed assets made us ideally suited to assist the FDIC with managing and disposing of its Owned Real Estate portfolio.
Contrary to what’s alleged in the article, we have extensive in-house expertise in working with property foreclosures. Ken Pearson, who heads our FDIC team, is a highly experienced bankruptcy attorney who has represented the Resolution Trust Corporation and other clients in loan restructurings, foreclosures and receiverships. Our subcontractor, Realogy, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company, adds complementary residential expertise.
The article also questions our pricing under the FDIC contract. You should know that the rates we are charging were developed in accordance with the pricing matrix the FDIC provided to all service providers bidding for the work. We accepted the matrix as part of our bid submission. We believe our pricing is at market for a highly complex assignment with significant and frequent reporting requirements, and is consistent with rates the other FDIC service provider is charging.
The revenue opportunity under the FDIC contract is unknown, but under any scenario, the amount of money we will earn will be immaterial (well less than one percent of revenue) for a $5 billion company, and the FDIC will receive significant value for our work.
During the months leading up to the publishing of the article, we provided the reporter all the pertinent facts about the FDIC contract. It is unfortunate that he and his editors would elect to discount these facts and move forward with an article that, objectively, had very little basis for being published.
We are proud to serve our government during this extremely stressful time in our nation’s history, and to play a small role in helping to correct the imbalances that had developed in the marketplace.
Consistent with corporate policy, should anyone from the news media contact you about the FDIC contract, please refer them to Steve Iaco or Bob McGrath in Corporate Communications.
CB Richard Ellis’ denial on Feinstein allegations to employees
Palin hit with new ethics complaint for speaking at pro-life fundraiser
Anchorage resident Sondra Tompkins, child disability advocate and mother of a special needs child, is filing the complaint after observing Governor Palin repeatedly display “a pattern of unethical behavior.” Sondra believes that the tipping point for her was Sarah Palin’s most recent abdication of her role as Governor and apparent conflict-of-interest when she spoke at two outside events in Indiana rather than work with the Alaska Legislature during the most critical time, the end of the session.
Palin hit with new ethics complaint for speaking at pro-life fundraiser
Palin hit with new ethics complaint for speaking at pro-life fundraiser
CHELSEA LATELY KARDASHIANS Parody
CHELSEA LATELY KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS
Have a laugh at Chelsea's version of the Kardashians reality show
Have a laugh at Chelsea's version of the Kardashians reality show
Jaguars New Uniforms Photos
Now we know.
The teal with white pants are the home uniforms. The white jerseys with black pants are the away uniforms.
Here are some pictures capped from the live stream by myself:
MORE HERE
Beyonce on Howard Stern Video Audio
Howard Stern Show - Stern comments on Beyonce's board feed
Howard Stern and crew comment on Beyonce's board feed during one of those morning shows. LOL at her voice. Epic fail.
Howard Stern and crew comment on Beyonce's board feed during one of those morning shows. LOL at her voice. Epic fail.
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