John McCain, over the last few months has continually state his dedication to protecting Washington from insiders, and special interest groups. He has said over and over again that lobbyists have no place in deciding policy for the American people. Sarah Palin has been promoted as an agent of change, one set to “shake up” the “‘ole boys club“.
They call themselves “Mavericks” in their own commercials, like some Ronald Regan photo on a horse waving an American flag, but it is all a pack of lies. John McCain and Sarah Palin seem to be depending on what they perceive to be a lack of intelligence, and possible underlying racism of the American people in this election, and that shows how disassociated and dumb they are.
The people elected to run the country should be some of the most dedicated and intelligent people in the country to serve our best interest, but there is no way possible that they could ever be smarter than all 350 million of us together, and it seems some believe they are, and that they can manipulate us to believe what ever rhetoric they throw out in commercials and sound bytes.
This is what one should expect from a party that seems as if it cannot even use the Internet to check facts before opening their mouths. John McCain has been proven to be less than honest and out of touch by most Americans and journalists with a simple Google search. Multiple reputable sources have refuted Mccain’s commercials and accusations, yet he still relies on the possibility that you may not have seen it.
Time and time again they keep insulting us, replaying commercials with proven mis-truths in them. Rehashing statements and talking points at public appearances, that we know are not the facts, and don’t even get me started on Sarah Palin’s continuous ducking of the press on the campaign trail and the only 2 interviews that she does grant, she can’t even answer a direct question without reverting back to the pre written answers that the Republican party has laid out for her.
McCain/Palin wants us to believe that they are now all of a sudden agents of change. Ask any alcoholic and drug addict about recovery, and they will tel you that you cannot change your behavior, and keep on the straight and narrow, if you continue to run with the same crowd, and frequent the same places.
How then is John Mccain supposed clean up the Washington insiders, and protect us from special interest groups that lobby for regulation and deregulation that serve their own self interest, when his entire campaign staff …….the people running John McCain for President….. are those very same people?
Lobbying includes all attempts to influence legislators and officials, whether by other legislators, constituents or organized groups. Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying
While lobbyists’ precise influence over legislative decision-making in the United States can never be fully determined, non-profit organizations such as the Center for Responsive Politics, or Opensecrets, attempt to track money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy. - Wikipedia
Here is a list of the people that John McCain has hired to run his campaign for Presidency, who they work for, and the companies and industries that they have represented in their regulation, or de-regulation lobbying
Unless noted otherwise, lobbyist status and clients (listed in parentheses) were obtained from the Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act database.
For example, Media Matters searched ‘Aldonas, Grant,’ under “Lobbyists”/”lobbyist name”:
• Lobbyist, Grant Aldonas, Economic Policy Adviser, Managing Director, Split Rock International (Mittal Steel USA)
• Lobbyist, Nancy Pfotenhauer, Senior Policy Adviser
Former Washington Director and Lobbyist, Koch Industries
• Lobbyist, Jerry Kilgore, Virginia State Co-Chair
Partner, Williams Mullen (Shell Oil, Alpha Natural Resources)
[State lobbyist]
• Lobbyist, Slade Gorton, Washington State Honorary Chair
Lobbyist, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis (T-Mobile, Air Transport Association of America, Microsoft, Delta Airlines)
• Lobbyist, Joseph Wright, Economic Policy Adviser
Former Chairman, Intelsat (formerly PanAmSat)
•Lobbyist, Richard Zimmer, New Jersey Honorary Vice-Chair
Lobbyist, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (Network Solutions, Business Roundtable, T-Mobile)
• Lobbyist, Don Sundquist, Tennessee State Co-Chair
Co-founder and Lobbyist, Sundquist Anthony (Freddie Mac, The Hartford, Waste Management)
• Lobbyist, William Hilleary, Tennessee State Co-Chair
Senior Advisor, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (Militec, SMS Holding, AmSurg)
• Lobbyist, Aquiles Suarez, Economic Policy Adviser
Vice President for Governmental Affairs, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP)
• Lobbyist, Matt Salmon, Arizona State Co-Chair
President, COMPTEL; Former Lobbyist, Greenberg Traurig (El Paso Pipeline Group, Networld Exchange)
• Lobbyist, Robert Aiken, Fundraiser and Adviser
Vice President and Chief Lobbyist, Pinnacle West Capital Corp.
• Lobbyist, Kirk Blalock, Chairman, Young Professionals for McCain
Partner and Lobbyist, Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock (Mutual of Omaha, Sprint, Time Warner, Coca-Cola)
• Lobbyist, Timothy McKone, Fundraiser and Adviser
Executive Vice President and Lobbyist, AT&T; Former Lobbyist, Davis Manafort Inc. (SBC Telecommunications)
• Lobbyist, Thomas Loeffler, National Finance Committee & Campaign Co-chair
Founder and Chairman, The Loeffler Group (National Association of Broadcasters, Southwest Airlines, Toyota, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America)
-Update: Left campaign May 18, 2008
• Lobbyist, William L. Ball, III, Adviser
Managing Director, The Loeffler Group (EADS North America, Southwest Airlines, Teaching Strategies Inc.)
• Lobbyist, Susan Nelson, National Finance Director
Consultant and Former Lobbyist, The Loeffler Group (AT&T, Toyota, National Association of Broadcasters)
Update: Consulting contract with The Loeffler Group terminated, as reported by Newsweek, May 17, 2008
• Lobbyist, James Courter, National Finance Committee Co-chair
CEO, IDT Corp.; Former Lobbyist, Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand (NBC, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Verizon)
Update: Left campaign July 14, 2008, as reported by the New York Times, July 16, 2008
• Lobbyist, J. Antonio Villamil, Economic Policy Adviser
CEO, The Washington Economics Group, Inc. (PSEG Global Inc.)
• Lobbyist, Christian Ferry, Deputy Campaign Manager
Former Lobbyist, Davis Manafort Inc. (SBC Communications, Verizon Communications)
• Lobbyist, James Rill, Economic Policy Adviser
Partner, Howrey LLP; Former Senior Partner & Lobbyist, Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott (Intel, Sabre Group Inc.)
• Lobbyist, John Green, Congressional Liaison
Co-founder and Managing Director, Ogilvy Government Relations (National Rifle Association, EADS North America, Motorola)
Update: On unpaid leave as of March 31, as reported by Roll Call, May 21, 2008
• Lobbyist, John Timmons, Fundraiser
Founding Partner, The Cormac Group (Time Warner Telecom, US Airways)
• Lobbyist, Brian Ballard, McCain Victory Florida Finance Committee Chair
Managing Partner and Lobbyist, Smith & Ballard (Florida Power & Light, Verizon, Allstate)
[State lobbyist]
• Lobbyist, Carlos Bonilla, Economic Policy Adviser
Senior Vice President and Lobbyist, The Washington Group (Delta Air Lines, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Motorola)
• Lobbyist, Charles Black, Chief Political Adviser
Chairman, BKSH & Associates(AT&T, General Motors, JP Morgan, Philip Morris Management Corp.)
Update: Retired from BKSH in March 2008
• Lobbyist, David Crane, Senior Policy Adviser
Founder and President, Quadripoint Strategies (Bank of America, Allstate)
• Lobbyist, Richard Davis, Campaign Manager
Founder and Managing Partner (on leave), Davis Manafort Inc. (Verizon, SBC Telecommunications)
• Lobbyist, Michael Dennehy, Senior Adviser
Founder and President, The Dennehy Group
[State lobbyist]
• Lobbyist, Wayne Berman, National Finance Co-chair and Senior Advisor
Managing Director, Ogilvy Government Relations (Ameriqual Group, Verizon, Visa)
McCain staffers who have left the campaign due to potential lobbying conflict-of-interest issues but who are not represented in the graphic below include Doug Davenport and Eric Burgeson. Doug Goodyear, whom McCain chose to run the Republican National Convention, also resigned from his post after it was revealed that his firm had lobbied for the military junta in Myanmar.
You can’t make this stuff up people. Where do you think these lobbyist will go if McCain is elected ?
If they go back to their perspective companies, they will have open access to the Presidency and plenty of favors to call in at a moments notice. if they leave their companies to work on the McCain cabinet, then you will have the rats watching the cheese.
It’s a lose-lose situation.  To quote a popular phrase, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but in the end it s still a pig”.
Easily Found Sources:
- Wikipedia
- Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act database.
- Lobbyists.info - The largest, comprehensive database of 22,000 registered lobbyists. Contains searchable profiles of lobbyists and government relations professionals, their clients and issues.
- LobbyWatch - a project of the Center for Public Integrity with reports on lobbyists and lobbying efforts as well as a searchable database
- U.S. Senate Office of Public Records - a searchable database of registered lobbyists
- OpenSecrets.org
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