A 65-page report released today by the Mississippi Democratic Party shows that John McCain’s cozy relationships with lobbyist campaign advisers and fundraisers and the backroom deals he’s been involved with have harmed Americans and cost jobs.
In fact, McCain’s ties to lobbyists have run so deep during his 26 years in Washington that he recently named longtime Washington lobbyist William E. Timmons Sr. as his senior adviser for a possible McCain presidential transition team.
Time magazine even chimed in on that development: “By tapping Timmons, McCain has turned to one of Washington’s steadiest and most senior inside players to guide him in the event of a victory – but also to someone who would represent the antithesis of the kind of outside-of-Washington change he has recently been promising.” [Time, 9/12/08; Senate Office of Public Records].
The Democratic National Committee prepared the 65-page report entitled “No Reformer: McCain Puts Lobbyists First While Americans Struggle.” It outlines what four more years under McCain’s industry-driven policy and insider politics would mean for Americans.
The three-part report opens with an executive summary outlining McCain’s ties to special interests and their disastrous implications for Americans on everything from the economy to foreign policy. A “By the Numbers” section quantifies McCain’s ties to lobbyists (177 lobbyists advising him or fundraising for the campaign), McCain’s lobbyists’ earnings (more than $930 million), and campaign contributions to McCain from his lobbyists’ clients (nearly $12 million).
The second section, “McCain Lobbyists, Inc.,” highlights dishonorable ties and deeds of McCain’s top lobbyist-advisers – Rick Davis, Charlie Black, Phil Gramm, Randy Scheunemann, Nancy Pfotenhauer, Frank Donatelli, John Green and Wayne Berman. The section offers details on these would-be McCain administration members’ clients, ranging from oil and gas industry giants to foreign dictators and despots guilty of murder and egregious human rights violations.
The final section analyzes the impact of Bush’s industry-driven policies over the past eight years and what four more years of an administration that puts lobbyists first will mean for Americans. An appendix lists the lobbyists and clients behind the McCain campaign in full and by industry to expose who’s really driving the “Straight-Talk Express.”
“This analysis makes it crystal clear that despite his campaign’s claims that John McCain ‘doesn’t run with the Washington herd,’ the opposite is true,” said Paul Winfield, treasurer of the Mississippi Democratic Party.
“McCain’s Washington herd is made up of more than 170 lobbyists who run his campaign and who under a McCain Administration would run the White House. As they did under George W. Bush, they would again put what’s good for them ahead of what’s good for America.
“That’s not the change the American people want and deserve. It’s just more of the same lobbyist-led politics that we’ve seen over the last eight years of Republican rule – and that’s a risk Mississippians just can’t afford.”
To download the full report, click the following link:
www.democrats.org/page/-/pdf/noreformer.pdf
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Attached photo cutlines
Photo 1: Paul Winfield of Vicksburg, treasurer of the Mississippi Democratic Party, outlines Republican John McCain’s cozy relationships with his lobbyist campaign advisers and fundraisers. Winfield spoke at a news conference Monday at the Mississippi Capitol; more than 40 people attended the event.
Photo 2: Joel Gill of Pickens (in the 2nd District), the Democratic nominee for the 3rd Congressional District U.S. House seat, explains why John McCain means four more years of failed George W. Bush policies. Gill spoke at a news conference Monday at the Mississippi Capitol; more than 40 people attended the event.
Magnolia Tribune
