McCain Adviser Phil Gramm Shaped McCain’s Economic Policy While Lobbying For Foreign Bank
McCain Adviser Phil Gramm Shaped McCain’s Economic Policy While Lobbying For Foreign Bank
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has repeatedly said he relies on his economic advisers, including former senator Phil Gramm — “McCain’s econ brain” — to make up for his lack of experience on economic issues. “I would rely on the circle that I have developed over many years of people like…Phil Gramm,” he said in February.
But yesterday evening, MSNBC revealed that Gramm worked for the bank UBS “to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain” about economic policies. The revelations come as McCain banned several advisers from advising him on subjects covered by their lobbying work.
While Gramm was advising McCain, he was paid by UBS to lobby the Senate about the mortgage crisis, strongly opposing increased government regulation and several consumer protection bills, which, as Keith Olbermann noted, “might have mitigated the current crisis”:
As recently as December 31 of last year, still working for Swiss bankers, specifically to help kill the Emergency Home Ownership And Mortgage Equity Protection Act and the Helping Families Save Their Homes and Bankruptcy Act, a bill that would have let bankruptcy judges adjust mortgages terms so American families facing foreclosure could repay their loans and keep their homes. [...]
Gramm’s deregulation [as a senator] help set the stage for an explosion of banks slicing up subprime mortgages, bundling them with other mortgage slices, to hide the credit risks, and stelling mortgage stew to other investment firms. That gave lenders powerful incentive to make as many loans as possible, regardless of risk.
Watch it:
Graham registered as a UBS lobbyist in 2004. But as early as October 2006, Gramm was reportedly advising McCain on economic issues. McCain advisers also said Gramm had input on McCain’s March 26 speech on the economy. UBS, however, only deregistered Gramm last month.
Other McCain advisers have direct ties to the mortgage industry. John Green, McCain’s chief congressional liaison, and Wayne Berman, his national finance co-chairman, “billed more than $720,000 in lobbying fees from 2005 through last year to Ameriquest Mortgage through their lobbying firm.” “They would be defined as the most blatant and aggressive predatory lenders out of everybody,” said Bruce Marks of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America.
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Why it brings back memories of Charles Keating and his Lincoln Savings & Loan, which cost taxpayers $2 billion. Yesterday, President Bush visited a company named Silverado. Those were the days my friend…
May 28th, 2008 at 11:34 amMcSame or McWorse? you decide!
May 28th, 2008 at 11:35 amBuckie Boy, have at it, this one’s rich!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, McIIIrd sneaks Bush in to raise some serious dough.
New McCan’t Campaign slogan: ‘Lobbyists ‘R Us’
May 28th, 2008 at 11:35 amMcCain is the Corporate Corruption candidate.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:36 amHurry, hurry, hurry! Not only will McInsane sell you out, he’s already got his staff selling you And your friends out even before he gets the Candidacy! Here he is folks, the living embodiment of the Republican Party, I’ve got mine, to hell with you! (Sound of Abraham Lincoln spinning supersonically in his tomb!).
May 28th, 2008 at 11:37 amImpeach Cheney and Bush and Save the Constitution!
Abu Ben Hussein Leporello.
stateofthedivision Says:
Why it brings back memories of Charles Keating and his Lincoln Savings & Loan, which cost taxpayers $2 billion.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
_______
So what? It’s not as if John McCain had anything to do with that–
Oh, right.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:43 amLooks like McCant’s got some more splaining to do! Let’s see, Foreign Relations (in bed with terrorist lobbyists and neocons). Economics (in bed with corporate/bank lobbyists). Domestic Infastructure (supports gas tax). US Military’s readiness (supports attacking Iran and doesn’t support GI Bill or .5% raise for the troops). Transparency (guards medical records like a dog with a bone). Claims that he doesn’t represent a Bush 3rd term (votes lock-step with the Shrub). Geez my friends, this guy seems like just what the Country needs. As comic relief maybe. As President, not on your effing life!
May 28th, 2008 at 11:44 ama terrorist wants to ruin ones way of life and 9/11 wasn’t it….that was the set up for the real terrorist and this what they do: foreclose on millions of homes, devalue dollar so everything goes up, outsource jobs so you couldn’t find work, move factories the good paying factories, make education unafordable because they don’t like educates folks, healthcare difficult to get and let the insurance companies get away with murder, lisen to telephone calls and monitor emails and use that information to really stick it to them. then i would give myself a big o’l tax cut live in luxary and watch them fight over crumbs. we live in the united states of america, and the people who represent us would never never allow them to get away with this would they………..or would they? STOP BEING SHEEPLES. THE REAL TERRORISTS ARE THE ROTHCHILDS, ISRAELIS AND THE PATSIES THEY STICK IN THE CITIZENS WHITE HOUSE.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:46 amGET ISRAEL OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT
May 28th, 2008 at 11:47 amWhen someone is impeached in government do they still get their pay.? It would seem to me we would be way ahead in so many level’s if we could impeach all these people now, even at this late date…And how about taking Palosi and Reid out with the rest of the trash?….Enabeler’s are just as guilty……Blessings
May 28th, 2008 at 11:50 amShorter McCain: “You guys make me President and you can steal whatever you like.”
May 28th, 2008 at 11:51 amShorter bs: “It’s the Jews! The Jews control the world! They control my teevee! They control all the comedians! The Jews have been sleeping with my wife! They’re in my head! Aieee!”
As if the garbage GOP isn’t incompetent and bad enough ; just like Chimpy , McSame has cronies and pals that aren’t even qualified to run peanut stands that they rely on in important matters such as Gramm and finance ……….It’s akin to having Ronnie Reagan’s ghost giving you pointers/lessons on acting , with the hopes of garnering an Academy Award …….
May 28th, 2008 at 11:52 am“Holy shades of Keating 5, Batman”
May 28th, 2008 at 11:53 amWhenever you hear the name Phil Gramm: hold your nose or the stench will knock you out.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:54 amtony and guidedog Lido
It must be difficult…in the wee hours of the night, for John McCain to look at himself in the mirror. What does he tell himself? What does he see?
Does he see an honorable man? A war hero? A man of principle?
No. He sees a man who has sold his soul to the Devil. He sees a man who has turned his back on his principles, who has quashed his scruples, stifled his ethics and moral values at every turn.
I hope to God that in those wee, dark hours of the night he knows the truth of what he is, and he sees it looking back at him, like the portrait of Dorian Grey. I hope he suffers.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:54 amGee, this kind of harkins back to the smoke W was blowing back in ‘04:
May 28th, 2008 at 11:55 am“We want people owning their own home. Ownership is an
important part of the American experience.
One other thing I’ve done is I’ve called on private sector mortgage banks and banks to be more aggressive about lending money to first-time homebuyers.”
—George W. Bush, Remarks in a Discussion on Homeownership in Phoenix, Arizona, March 26, 2004
I’m requesting a transfer of McCain’s campaign to Russia. SubHuman Resources there can give them an assignment.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:56 amhe is such a maverick he has voted against .5% raise for military and vets. he conveniently missed the vote on the gi bill to attend a swanky dinner in cali but voiced his vote NO because all of this is to generous. that prick doesn’t deserve comp/pen from the military for throwing his fellow mavericks under the bus.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:58 amLeftside Annie, I don’t think mccrazy has any feeling’s….His track record in life has been self serving and instant gratification by a little man….He has no moral compass or thought about anyone but himself..Just like the people he is following..Blessings
May 28th, 2008 at 12:02 pmused to be a time when a politician would at least try to be discreet about his corruption.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:04 pmJohn McCain is no war hero. Recklessly operating an aircraft as if there was a need for speeed, endangering his men and getting himself into deep shit does not make for a war hero. He was a fraternity officer of priviledge and nothing more. He is unqualifed for CinC. He would be unwilling to take sound advice as a result of making sound appointments, unlike Obama. He would constantly sound off on the “I know it all, I served (fraternized) in the military” schtick, and his appointments would be political and mushy. General Betrayus would be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs by the end of a McCain term.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:06 pmspearNmagicHelmet Says:
used to be a time when a politician would at least try to be discreet about his corruption.
That was Pre
May 28th, 2008 at 12:09 pmBizarroBush World.bs, good post’s BTW..Many are not aware of the hold Israel and the Rothchild’s have had on our country for over 50 year’s…Some of us studied about the deeply hidden corruption back in the early 80.’s…Blessings
May 28th, 2008 at 12:09 pm50+ years of public service is 50+ years too long, McCain.
Go lobby yourself. Get mad & tell yourself off. Get off, I don’t care. Just don’t try to pull the wool over the sheeples eyes; it won’t work this time, Johnny Boy.
Oh, & by the way, you sucked as a pilot.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:11 pmAbusive subprime mortgage lender Ameriquest, was headed by HUGE Bush fundrasier Roland Arnall.
Arnall got a plum appointment by Bush to become Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The appointment was roundly protested by many.
A few days after returning stateside after resigning as Ambassador, Arnall died.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:12 pmMcWars Says:
——————————————————————————–
John McCain is no war hero. Recklessly operating an aircraft as if there was a need for speeed, endangering his men and getting himself into deep shit does not make for a war hero. He was a fraternity officer of priviledge and nothing more. He is unqualifed for CinC. He would be unwilling to take sound advice as a result of making sound appointments, unlike Obama. He would constantly sound off on the “I know it all, I served (fraternized) in the military” schtick, and his appointments would be political and mushy. General Betrayus would be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs by the end of a McCain term.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
In the weird dementia of McLobbyistsBestFreind’s and the GOP’s world , I wouldn’t be surprised if Corporal Agarn was made Chairman of the Joint Chiefs during a McStupid presidency………..
May 28th, 2008 at 12:14 pmMcIIIrd should have a warning label tattooed to his forhead:
Warning ! Danger ! If elected, this jackass will continue the ruination of your country! Elect at your own risk! Danger! Warning!
May 28th, 2008 at 12:14 pmCitiDC, you mean there is the possibility of karmic justice??
May 28th, 2008 at 12:15 pm@RUCerious
Possibly. Or he caught the “Ken Lay disease.”
May 28th, 2008 at 12:19 pmRUCerious Says:
McIIIrd should have a warning label tattooed to his forhead:
Warning ! Danger ! If elected, this jackass will continue the ruination of your country! Elect at your own risk! Danger! Warning!
lol. Or, just a 4 letter word…BUSH
May 28th, 2008 at 12:21 pmThe repeal of Glass-Steagall fostered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (snuck into the budget bill in 99, IIRC) will be seen by future histories as the cause of the Greater Depression. Media will ascribe all blame to the coming Obama admin.
Gramm, and his wife, Enron Wendy, should spend a lifetime in orange jumpsuits with “kick me” (or other verbs) signs permanently affixed.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:22 pmSen. John McCain (R-AZ) has repeatedly said he relies on his economic advisers, including former senator Phil Gramm — “McCain’s econ brain” — to make up for his lack of experience on economic issues. “I would rely on the circle that I have developed over many years of people like…Phil Gramm,” he said in February.
McCain’s lack of understanding of economic issues is matched only by his lack of understanding of foreign policy issues. So he ends up relying on crooks and morons to advise him. Sound like someone we already know?
http://progressiveworldreview.com
May 28th, 2008 at 12:24 pmAnd don’t forget this other little factoid: Gramm is a long-time Texas politician (originally as a Dem, then a Repug) and was a close friend of Dubya’s direct sperm donor, HW.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:27 pmLay-Dees an’ Gennemuns, Listen UP!
May 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pmThe fix is in.
it doesn’t matter what crap you can gin up about Bombin’ Johnnie, he’s gonna be # 44.
What ELSE do you think those 90-plus US Attorneys–the ones who DIDN’T get fired for not being partisan enough–have been doing this last 8 years? Playing cards?
The fix is in, the cards are marked and stacked, the dice are shaved and loaded, the wheel’s rigged, the dealer cheats and the boss wants it that way.
Surprise, suprise…………
May 28th, 2008 at 12:38 pmThese guys are as thick as thieves I hope they all rot in @&%*…..
Witch1, I fear you’re correct. Sad, isn’t it?
May 28th, 2008 at 12:40 pmPaul W ~ Yes, someone we know all too well, and have suffered as a nation, at the hands of. Darth Cheney’s dark puppet show.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:45 pmLeftside Annie, Yep! a lot scary also..Let’s hope the election can’t be stolen once again….Blessings
May 28th, 2008 at 12:55 pmthe dealer cheats and the boss wants it that way.
All the more reason to NEVER give up the good fight.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:58 pmThank Phil Gramm for the high gasoline prices we are paying. This clown slid in a provision (in the dead of the night, natch) in a spending bill in 2000 that paved the way for total deregulation of the commodity market. He enabled Enron to get away with all the illegalities that they did.
He is the most disgusting individual I have ever had the chance to meet. Yes, I knew him when I worked in DC and he was obnoxious–huge ego–and greedy and sneaky,too.
When he first arrived in the House of Reps. in the early 80’s–(I’m not kidding) he told the leadership that he was a “world renown” economist and he should be named chairman of Ways and Means or the Budget Committee. If I hadn’t been standing a few feet away, I wouldn’t have believed it. The man is repugnant.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:05 pmUBS tells ex-private banking team members to avoid US
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24849266
They’re afraid of being indicted. That’s the type of people that McSame hangs out with. Think about that every time you hear him say “My friends….”
May 28th, 2008 at 1:16 pmJohnnie Boy sure put together one hell of a campaign team. Gee, one can only imagine how his WH will look. Any different from the Bush WH?
“meet the new boos, same as the old boss”.
May 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pmWell, I guess we can scratch Gramm’s name off the list of potential veeps for McCain.
May 28th, 2008 at 2:19 pmIf Cheney can have closed door sessions with the Oil companies to write the energy policy,
why could you possibly object to foreign lobbyists writting our monetary policy ?
May 28th, 2008 at 4:16 pmThank Gramm for the subprime disaster. He let the bank deregulation that made it possible.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:53 amAnd McCain considers him an advisor.
Phil Gramm, the biggest crook in Texas…after Tom DeLay. Good job, guys!
May 29th, 2008 at 1:04 am