A Spork in the Drawer

Big Surprise

No one could have predicted:

A key provision of the housing bill now awaiting action in the Senate -- and widely touted as offering a lifeline to distressed homeowners -- was initially suggested to Congress by lobbyists for major banks facing their own huge losses from the subprime mortgage crisis, according to congressional staff members and bank officials.

The banks will take a small loss in exchange for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) assuming the risk on bad loans. And when those bad loans turn into outright defaults who pays? Hint: Not the banks. No, the banks won't be on the line for an estimated 1.7 billion-with-a-"B" in losses. Homeowners - so to speak - will see a slight reduction in monthly payments.

And now for a bit of understatement:

Still, critics expressed disappointment that banks were given such a large hand in writing legislation designed to ease a foreclosure problem they helped create.

Disappointment, indeed.

I believe it was the economist Paul Krugman who talked about "socializing the losses and privatizing the profits."

Well, here you go.

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The New Gucci Gulch*

The WaPo takes a look at Straightalk McMaverick's lobbyist problem:

Over the past week, McCain has publicly purged his ranks of several advisers who have lobbied for countries and corporations in an attempt to retain his reputation as a reformer on questions of ethics and influence in Washington. But several former lobbyists, including campaign manager Rick Davis and political strategist Charles R. Black Jr., remain as top advisers.

[...]

On Sunday, the new rules ensnared McCain's top finance chief, former congressman Tom Loeffler (Tex.), who became the fifth adviser to publicly leave the campaign because of ties to lobbying or outside political groups. Former senator Phil Gramm (Tex.), another top McCain adviser, officially delisted himself as a registered lobbyist on April 18 so that he could stay with the campaign, records show.

The policy leaves in place Davis and Black, both of whom have had lucrative careers as lobbyists and campaign operatives. Black said he has retired as a partner at BKSH & Associates, a Washington lobbying firm. A spokeswoman said Davis has taken a complete leave of absence from Davis Manafort, his lobbying firm. Both are "in compliance" with McCain's new policy, the campaign said.

This would be the same Charlie Black who lobbies from the "Straightalk Express" itself. I guess that's "in compliance" with with the new policy.

I spoke too soon:

McCain's policy leaves the door open to lobbyists who serve as volunteers as long as they do not lobby him or his staff. Several who were contacted Monday said they are "in compliance" with the policy, including Bonilla and fundraiser Wayne Berman, a lobbyist with Ogilvy Government Relations.

Of course, all of those lobbyist "volunteers" could end up running parts of the federal government in a McCain administration. That's pretty enticing.

Top aides said the idea is to ensure that McCain is not distracted by controversies surrounding his advisers and fundraisers.

Mission accomplished!

"The most interesting thing in every campaign is the self-inflicted wound. This is a great case," said one GOP fundraiser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss McCain's campaign decisions candidly.

I reckon we'll be seeing many more self-inflicted wounds. Yay!

They noted that "just a few years ago when Barack Obama was beginning his career in politics he was launching it at the home of William Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist who his chief strategist said Senator Obama was certainly friendly with."

That's a really peachy non-sequitor. And it indicates that they don't have a good response.

Hit 'em again, Barack!

*A blast from the past.

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No One Could Have Imagined

St. John of MarverickStraightTalk a liar?

Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters in 1999 to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station.

Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, likely attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday. "The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."

The recollection of the now-retired Paxson conflicted with the account provided by the McCain campaign about the two letters at the center of a controversy about the senator's ties to Iseman, a partner at the lobbying firm of Alcalde & Fay.

St. John of MaverickStraightTalk is ethically challenged?

But when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways.

[...]

But even as Black provides a private voice and a public face for McCain, he also leads his lobbying firm, which offers corporate interests and foreign governments the promise of access to the most powerful lawmakers. Some of those companies have interests before the Senate and, in particular, the Commerce Committee, of which McCain is a member.

Black said he does a lot of his work by telephone from McCain's Straight Talk Express bus.

St. John of MaverickStraightTalk did favors for a felon?

Iseman and her colleagues had been lobbying the FCC, the House of Representatives, and the Senate (including John McCain, with whom McCain's advisors believed Iseman had an inappropriate relationship at the time) to win approval for the foreign purchase of American broadcast companies--that is, Conrad Black's properties, which were headquartered in Chicago.

The Straight Talk Express has blown a tire and slid into a ditch.

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