On the other hand -- and I take some fault for this -- at the end of the process when we were fighting through all these filibusters and trying to get it done quickly so that we could pivot and start talking about other issues that were so important to the American people, some of that transparency got lost.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Takes Questions from Senate Democrats

They are fully capable of debating the issues surrounding the U.S. pivot and making their own decisions about how to interact with China and the United States.

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The same companies created a separate joint venture with Sprint in 2005, dubbed Pivot, that offered cellphone service in about 30 markets by the time it stopped marketing late last year amid low demand.

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