Countdown: McCain's Lobbyist Campaign Co-Chair Phil Gramm Creating More Controversy
By Logan Murphy Sunday Jun 01, 2008 9:06pm
Last week we brought you this story about McCain campaign Co-Chair Phil Gramm and his lobbying efforts that put him on the wrong side of the ongoing mortgage foreclosure crisis. Now, it appears Gramm's association with the aging Republican senator's campaign is doing far more harm that previously known. UBS, a bank for which Gramm lobbied, is now under investigation for alleged use of overseas tax havens to hide assets of its wealthy clients from U.S. authorities -- while in office, Gramm also supported these tax havens after 9/11, which hampered the government's ability to track Osama bin Laden's financial network before 9/11.
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In the #3 story on Monday's Countdown, Keith Olbermann talks with The Nation's Chris Hayes about the stench of lobbyists that continuously plagues John McCain's campaign and how this and other devastating scandals completely blows his anti-lobbyist, tough-on-terror campaign theme:
Hayes: "...What this reveals is actually a really profound contradiction at the heart of the Republican coalition, the conservative coalition and McCain's campaign, which is on the one hand, it's home to the most sort of, chest-beating, self righteous moralists about foreign policy - we can't talk to Ahmedenajad because he's an anti-Semite, at the same time it's a party who's agenda is run by global conglomerates that pursue dollar and profit with no regard for any kind of sense of morality..."
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Mislead the People, Mislead the Sheeple
-Wackiavelli
This should be something for the entire nation to share and understand. If McCain were to win the WH, these are the types of people he would have in his cabinet, and heading up federal agencies. I shudder to think who he would nominate for the Supreme Court. He is giving the Democrats and incredible amount of ammunition to bring him down. I do hope they take advantage of it.
The government has NEVER had any trouble tracking down Bin Laden's network.
Afterall, some of the hijackers trained at US military facilities. And they were practically given a escort across numerous borders.
I wonder why?
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Love the subtitles MSMBS put on...
"ISREALITY CHECK"
"FOUR MCMORE YEARS"
I'm pleased Keith has caught on...
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Let's bust all these people and quit letting them run roughshod over the country.
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... and jason6six6 in... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
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If only the McCainstream media would report on Grampa's endless gaffes and scandals. Unfortunately, they are all either too scared of one of his notorious outbursts, or they don't want to give up their invitation to his next barbecue.
there's nothing wrong, we just don't understand that mcLame is a great guy surrounded by unsavory people. this all has nothing to do with the old straight talker. He's ok. damn blackbery politics. you know, sometimes we just need to understand that nothing mcLiar ever does or has ever done could possibly be his own fault. If you go all the way back to the keating five, you'll see that this is just a big misunderstanding. really. I mean, what's wrong with a campaign organization employing 115 lobbyists? I mean, lobbyists are people , too! Right? They gotta put food on their famblies, too.
Jon @ 7:
I read an article about how Johnny McPanerBear BBQ's a heck-of-a-baby-back...
Jon @ 7:
they have no reason to be scared. they are on the same side.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 8:
B R A V O!
There is a reasoned argument against establishing and attending a summit meeting between "A-Mad-in-the-head" and Obama, as McCain stated. That argument was used against "negotiatin' with the terrists" and side deals with Iran and stinger missiles.
Iran is run by an idiot. Much the same that Saddam was a blood-thirsty despot, akin to Idi Amin. A-Mad-in-the-head is trying to undo what democracy actually exists in Iran. His idiotic philosophies and nationalistic bullcrap are providing convenient cover to a dilapidated nation. Providing him a viable external enemy to use to consolidate his power is exactly what will happen if Bush or McCain get their way.
What's happening is the Sunni (aka Saudi) versus Shia (aka Iran) unfolding in proxy battles.
McCain's insane.
These are all the more reasons the Democrats must not be divided. They must stand united regardless of which of the two candidates wins the nomination. Otherwise, McCain is a shoo-in. Do you want 4 more years of the same???
On another note, for your consistent excellence in commentary I've passed along to you the E=Excellence award, which only one blogger can give to another. Thank you for providing this provocative, intelligent, interesting and ever enlightening information. Keep up the excellent work!
You can read about it here:
http://verbena19.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/my-blog-e-excellent/
btw, I'm a subscriber to your daily updates.
cheers,
amd
Dick Cheney says, "gas is $4.19 at the cheaper stations in San Diego and I thank you all. Hope you can still fill up to get you to work."
McCain totally in bed with neocons and k-street.
Wondering the conventional wisdom is it's the older crowd that continues to support McCrazy why is that?? Isn't this the same generation that benefitted from the new deal programs of FDR ( I'm no fan of FDR and some of his programs) Now they vote for those that dismantle the government ( rethugs that say government is to big and wasteful only as far as other people go they see a treasury ripe for the plunder for themselves and their friends) They lived through the depression and the great war can't they see what is going on??
Saw lieberman on the msm trying to drum up support for an energy bill he supports it brings in millions of dollars for the government to spend only thing I like is the raising of the gas tax ( I drive a gas hog truck) if it would be used for RD in other forms of transportation.
Lieberman talked and I muted the lying sack my karma
Funny isn't it that McCain maintains that one cannot engage in diplomacy with Iran because of the wildly anti-Israel rhetoric of Ahmadinejad but one can do business with places like Saudi Arabia, indeed practically everywhere in the middle east except Israel itself, where those views are widely endorsed. Strange.
Phil Gramm is just another drop in McCain's polluted bucket.
For example, check out what Glenn Greenwald wrote today:
Newest McCain official: President has "near dictatorial powers"
Bill Kristol today proudly announces that one of his Weekly
Standard staff members, Michael Goldfarb, was just named the
Deputy Communications Director of the McCain campaign. Last
April, this newest McCain official participated in a conference
call with former Senator George Mitchell, during which Mitchell
advocated a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Afterwards, this
is what Goldfarb wrote about what he thinks are the powers the
President possesses in our country:
Mitchell's less than persuasive answer [to whether withdrawal
timetables "somehow infringe on the president's powers as
commander in chief?"]: "Congress is a coequal branch of
government...the framers did not want to have one branch in
charge of the government."
True enough, but they sought an energetic executive with near
dictatorial power in pursuing foreign policy and war. So no,
the Constitution does not put Congress on an equal footing with
the executive in matters of national security.
(Plenty more follows...)
---These folks have no concept that anything they do is wrong, unethical, or a conflict of interest. All's fair in love and making money.
---Can you imagine the hullabaloo in the media if a Democrat was caught with his tail in a similar crack? It would be all Democratic corruption, all the time.
So wouldn't make Phil Gramm a terrorist?
Joe H. @ 12:
ahmedinejad does not run Iran. to be sure, do a wikipedia or something and realize he's a fugurehead. real government policy comes from the Supreme Leader of Iran, which is NOT ahmedinejad
Peter G @ 17:
meanwhile graham profits from all the chaos and works with america's and Israel's enemies.
harley @ 20:
(snark)
it's always ok if you are a repug.
(/snark)
i truly hope that by november, the american people, especially the clinton supporters, will wake up and realize, that the only purpose of today's republican party, is to see how much they can steal from every man, woman and child in this country
this is the most amoral party in the history of these united states
if it makes them money, they dont care if terrorists kill everyone
the entire lot should be rotting in fucking prison
but instead, our government is going after wesley snipes...like it makes sense to send him to prison, rather than have him make movies and pay back what he owes....asshats...everyone
These lobbyists keep getting better and better.
as a senator this guy was doing a lot of dirty work for the GOP and he got paid well while they were sucking him in deeper.
McIIIrd is McToast...
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/02/mccains-has-senior-moment-on-the-cam...
We ought to take Texas just by flogging the Enron scandal, plenty of angry voters there.
You know, maybe Grandpa is doing us all a favor by running the most losingest campaign ever.
I love war.
Your jobs aren't coming back.
I don't know who the enemy is, but I love war.
All my advisors are getting rich off your back.
My wife is getting rich off your back but don't worry I'll insult her in public for you.
I don't know anything about the economy, but I know how to get in with rich people.
Women are allowed to pop off at my meetings, but I think they need more training. I like trees and want my friends to be able to sell them, so we can make money while saving the environment.
Next year I'm inviting any disaster survivor over for a piece of birthday cake!
I support the troops by funding the war. Did I mention I love war?
I'm older than methusalah but can run like a jackrabbit after a bush fundraiser!
uncle joe hussein mccarthy @ 24:
yes, so sad and true. The only con game better than God is terrorists.
Maybe McCain needs to throw Gramm under the bus.
MacDaKnife @ 2:
Unfortunately, the dems are as inept at campaigning, as the repukes are at governing. Lets hope they start nailing the repukes on their idiocy with some excellent t.v. ads.
well now. So much for the Republican party being strong against terrorism. There it is, right there in black & white. Terrorists profit from right-wing policies.
So where is Bin Laudin these days? In the Hamptons with Giuliani? In the UAE bettin' on horses? Because with all that untouchable money in overseas tax havens, he certainly has a lot with near unfettered access.
Phil Gramm has been on the taxpayer dole his entire life! And then some.
Even before he was born, his mother recieved pre-natal care due to his father being a military man. He was educated on the taxpayer dime, and has worked his entire life in governmnt or education.
Now, he spends all of his time trying to destroy opportunities for his fellow citizens, by stealing taxpayer money and funnelling it to corporate scumball sociopaths. This guy is a real piece of work.
Bush, Cheney, Rove, & Gramm, "the trifecta plus one, of truely evil bastards."
Always must bring up the fact that Phil-o-Gram happened to FAIL grade school not once, not twice, but 3 TIMES. How stoopid can you be to fail grade school? And one failure was as late as when he was in 9th grade. What kind of loser fails this stuff?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE0DF1438F93AA25751C0A...
Very well said, Mr. Hayes
Rebel Patriot @ 3:
Several years ago, long before 9/11, Bin Laden was being credited for the bombing of the embassy in Kenya. At the time I started to let my imagination roam, about him. I had come across his name somewhere before, so I did a search on his bio. I then found out where I had come across his name. He worked for the CIA in Afghanistan. I also learned he was extremely rich and was part of the Saudi upper class. I also noted that he went from a nobody to being credited for almost every Islamic terrorist act around the world. There were many things which did not add up.
The CIA is usually very thorough in vetting their operatives. So, here is a guy who is rich and working for the CIA, and all of a sudden he becomes the biggest terrorist in the world. The intelligence agencies from around the world had been trying for years to infiltrate the the islamic jihad. The odds of Bin Laden being a CIA mole are about as good as him being exactly what he is advertised to be. All of this, of course, is pure speculation. However, the fact that he continues to be a 'will 'o the wisp', completely eluding capture makes one wonder. Heck, even Carlos, the most elusive assassin of our time, was unable to avoid capture for this long. Bin Laden has a 25 million dollar bounty, dead or alive, on his head. I am shocked that no one has tried to collect this.
Not to divert from the subject, but I think it's a mistake for Keith to follow the fox news tactic of cheap partisan smearing by putting up a photoshopped picture of bush's face on mcain's and calling it mcbush.
It's tacky and adds nothing to his argument.
Let fox news do this kind of shit, we'll convince viewers by reporting the truth.
Joe Tseng @ 37:
why should he do his job according to your wishes?
why is Olbermann repeating the now debunked myth about Ahmedinejad wanting to "wipe israel from the map" that is NOT what he said yesterday and he's never said it, what he actually said was the ZIONIST REGIME will dissapear, NOT the country of Israel as a whole.
the truth is he has NEVER said "wipe israel off the map", how about Olbermann do a segemnt on this ?
The AGING Republican senator? That was unworthy of you, Logan.
The "creative class" has thrown out white males and all women. Now you throw out the "aging", long a dependable Democratic constituency?
There won't be many of you left.
Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com
Phil Graham should be investigated for his role in the mortgage debacle and for helping block legislation that would have helped victims of the mortgage crunch here in the U.S He should be imprisoned for treason against his own country for interfering with the govmt's ability to track down Osama bin Laden
Did anyone else notice Neo-Con stooge Lindsey Graham was also in a lot of that footage?
Old Whistlin' Dentures McPain sure knows how to surround himself with class!
After eight horrible years of bush, it is just heartbreaking to hear this broken-down old man advocating the same idiotic policies of the current moronic president. And people listen! mcSame should be booed off the stage every time he appears. Let him talk to soldiers only, like bush does. They can be ordered to cheer!
Don't you know that Mc Same is secretly working undercover so as to get the goods on the lobbyists, so that when he's Preznit, he can pass laws to restore integrity to the political process?
Phil Gramm has a lot to answer for.
ken martin @ 16:
I wonder too, why anyone would support McBush. Especially the folks here that claim that since Hilary won't get the nomination, they will vote for McBush. Huh? Now is not the time to throw childish tantrums because your nominee didn't get chosen. Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face. Sheesh.
Terry Gross actually broke this story months ago. I wonder why no one paid attention. PS Olbermann is an unwatchable gasbag, it's true.
McCain's latest stump speech (from fundraiser in Phoenix):
"If elected, I promise to continue to NOT look for binLaden! If we do stumble on him by accident, like at Tora Bora, I won't order the troops to let him go, oh no! I will personally pin the Congressional Medal of Freedom on binLaden for following our plan for overthrowing the US Constitution so perfectly.
I promise to make sure my constituents, the obscenely wealthy, will never pay any taxes ever again!
I promise to lick the boots of the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia, just as my predecessor has done, and when they kick me in the face, just like they did to Acting-President Bush, I, too, will say, "Thank you, Sir! May I have another?
I promise to continue to force the US population to send 30% of their income to the brutal Saudi regime so that they can continue to fund Osama binLaden because we need to continue the attacks against American interests!
I promise to blame the carefully planned destruction of America by us extremist Republicans on the moderate Republicans, those that we commonly called 'Democrats'!
I promise to continue to implement the policies of our sacred forefathers, the Nazis, namely: kidnapping, torture, mass roundups and mass detentions of American citizens, and the forced deportation of all non-US citizens; policies that are specifically intended to damage the US economy.
I promise to continue eliminating the middle class, and I promise you this: I will not stop until America is a third-world country with we Republicans as dictators-for-life and 95% of the citizens will be our slaves!"
(wild applause)
"the fact that he (Osama bibLaden) continues to be a ‘will ‘o the wisp’, completely eluding capture makes one wonder."
He's in Walter Reed, having received both a new Kidney and a medal for doing his job for the GOP so very well. The GOP could not have brought America so close to totalitarian fascism without his critical assistance.
Don't fool yourselves and don't expect changes in 2009--even the Clintons were corrupted by lobbyists.Media treats McCain and Hillary with kids gloves--because they suck up to AIPAC.America is secondary to them nags.
I've heard about this two places: here and Olbermann's show.
How come this gets less play than Obama's preacher friends?
Don't you love The Nation's Chris Hayes? Such a babyfaced pundit but so wise beyond his years. And so articulate. More, more!!
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