The John McCain Institute of Lobbyists
By John Amato Sunday Jul 27, 2008 11:00amBut he really wants to reform Washington.
As Senator John McCain waited to speak at the annual awards dinner of the International Republican Institute, a democracy-building group he has led for 15 years, lobbyists and business executives dominated the stage at a Washington hotel ballroom.
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The parade of lobbyists and fund-raisers at the dinner is emblematic of Mr. McCain's tenure at the institute, one of a pair of nonprofit groups - taxpayer-financed and each allied with one of the two major political parties - that were created during the Reagan era to promote democracy in closed societies.
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Operating without the sort of limits placed on campaign fund-raising, the institute under Mr. McCain has solicited millions of dollars for its operations from some 560 defense contractors, lobbying firms, oil companies and other corporations, many with issues before Senate committees Mr. McCain was on...read on
There's something not quite right with a man that takes so much money from those that he says are bad for Washington. But, you know---journalists shouldn't cover this story because McCain complained about Obama's trip abroad. Check out this graphic.
(h/t Raj)
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"There’s something not quite right with a man that takes so much money from those that he says are bad for Washington."
"...one Washington lobbyist I spoke with was willing to point out the obvious: that big donors would not be helping out Obama if they didn’t see him as a “player.” The lobbyist added: “What’s the dollar value of a starry-eyed idealist?”
You're goddamn right there is.
Its Obama's fault!
-Your liberal MSM
McCain is surrounded by lobbyists? Say it isn't so! McLame can't get the average Joe to fund his campaign, so he is doing what all Repugs do. Get corporations to fund him. Add the private jet Cindy provides, and he's got a bonafide campaign! Kind of makes you sick, no?
I wonder how we can wrench control of our government back from the Players and Payers in the current farce we currently have in Washington.
The new bankrupcy laws written on Visa/Mastercard stationery should have been a clue, same with the thousands of no-bid contract given to companies with ties to government offices.
No one currently in office, save a few, would vote to prohibit people moving from government positions into paid lobbyists, and even if they did there would be a huge loophole. There is way too much money involved. I, for one, would love to have a freezer full of cash and I would probably sell out a couple thousand faceless Americans to achieve it. There-in lies the problem. How do you make government rewarding in and of itself to make people resistant to the evils of truckloads of cash?
McCain, seemingly improper campaign contributions? Who'da thunk it?
Since its all legal in the eyes of the McCain campaign, why not?
Since torture is legal in the eyes of Bush and the Bush administration, why not?
Since corporate profits will soar if previously unavailable leases are issued, why not?
Does it matter? not to the GOP or the msm.
Stop with the whining already. McCain is just bein' McCain, ya know? He's a maverick. He isn't a slave to any previously held beliefs. He's a maverick! He's flying by the seat of his pants. That's totally maverick. That's so money!
- I'm not a young republican but I have dated enough to know that this is as deep as it goes.
Is that the entire list?
Does Obama have anything like it?
I would love for this to be a smoking gun.
"If McCain's involvement with the IRI does not worry Latin America yet, it certainly will if the policies that have had such a destructive influence in the past are backed by the power of the presidency.
Link
Bad news, folks
if you didn't view this interview with bill moyers and fritz hollings it's very good...he is of course the recently retired senator of many yrs....washington is about the
campaign for money....
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07252008/profile3.html
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 2:
Obama is the new Clinton.
The reich-wing revisionists are going to conveniently forget about the last 8 years and put all blame on Clinton and Obama.
Federal Financing for Partisan Institutes ???
Way to go ..
I knew the ReThugs had ReThug groups all over the world - Nixon used them too.
But these groups are, according to the article, Reagan's creations.
Designed to spread
democracyCorporatism abroad.Who is really responsible for the bombings and loss of life currently happening in Iraq, Turkey, India, etc., conveniently three months before the US election?
History: How the US Government Was Overthrown In Three Easy Steps
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/27/65732/1557/694/557641
Nigeria and Zimbabwe got NOTHING on our advanced systems of bribery and corruption!
Big Red Will @ 4:
The people that would find community leadership and service rewarding have all been purged from politics. To get elected, you have to be willing to play dirty and the type of person you're looking for isn't.
So we're mostly left with the greedy, the power- hungry, and just plain perverted wanting to be in office.
Well they certainly seem to be lobbing a lot of s**t-balls.
"The Media" is no more. That former foundation of American virtues has morphed into a mouthpiece and conduit for the memberships of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. We....The Net Roots must become better organized and replace, completely, the stale and corrupt "Major Media."
MCCAIN: Uh.. uh.. th..the.. uhm th.. the they.. they are not lobbyists
Such a bold use of lobbyists proves what a true maverick and hero he is!
-- McCainstream Media
Lobbyists are a useful addition to the 2008 StraightTalkExpress (Tm). Think of there many uses:
a) Drivers (Davis)
b) Navigators (Gramm & Black)
c) Fuelers (Loeffler et.al)
d) Shotgun Rider's (Scheunemann)
e) Passenger Comfort (Iseman)
f) Road Kill (Numerous)
g) Resurrected Road Kill ( see f.)
Serfs, face it. The boys with the big bucks run international finance and our government - including who will or won't be running for president. The only reasons I can see for electing Obama over McCain are that a) he can speak the language articulately (well, compared to GWB); and, b) he probably won't be so quick to blow up the world.
Though, I'm really still betting that Cheney/Bush are cause another "terrorist" attack and saty in office.
Surging Blue Lensman @ 15:
Notice that only 21 people have commented on this so far. The other issue is obviously apathy. The availability of easy money has RUINED our republic. Our representatives, in both the House and Senate, are literally trampling us in a stampede to suckle at the teat of big business. Virtually everything they do is to enrichen (like embiggen, but with money) themselves or to pander to their base to stay in office. I seriously doubt any member of congress has done 1 thing not immediately connected to the 2 reasons I lister earlier. That's an issue.
Paul Bremer???? Ooh, that's gotta burn..
Call me clueless, but what's with the $2300 figure that comes up so often in the graphic? Why not $2200 or $2400? Can't be coincidental. Some kind of legal thing?
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