Posted on 12/29/2005 10:08:07 PM PST by flattorney
Sen. John McCain and Rep. Christopher Shays introduced legislation (S. 2128 and HR 4575) on 12/16 to reform lobbying and ethics laws. Major provisions require electronic filing and quarterly instead of semi-annual lobbying reports to be filed by lobbyists and lobbying organizations.
The bills would require each hired lobbyist, lobbying firm, organizations that employ lobbyists and the lobbyists employed by those organizations to disclose the following:
-Each fundraising event they host, co-host or otherwise sponsor for a federal candidate, a Leadership PAC and a political party, and the total amount raised by each such event;
-Contributions made for events to honor or recognize members of Congress; this would require, for example, that contributions made to pay for parties honoring or recognizing members of Congress at national conventions would be disclosed;
-Contributions made to entities named for members of Congress; this would require that contributions made to entities created in the name of Members, such as at universities, would be disclosed;
-Contributions made to entities established, financed, maintained or controlled by members of Congress; this would mean that contributions made to foundations established or controlled by Members would be disclosed; and
-Contributions made to pay for the costs of meetings, retreats, conferences or similar events held by or to benefit members of Congress.
-All of the campaign contributions they have made during the reporting period to federal officeholders and candidates, political parties and leadership PACs.
-Detailed information about any travel they arrange for Members and congressional staff in connection with their official duties. The details would include an itemization of any payments made or arranged to finance travel for a Member or congressional staff, and to whom the payments were made; the itinerary of the trip; a description of all meetings, tours, events and outings attended by a Member or congressional staff; the identity of any lobbyists or employees of a lobbying organization who traveled on the trip; the identity of the sponsor of the trip; and the identity of any person or entity other than the sponsor who directly or indirectly provided payments to finance the trip at the request or suggestion of the person or entity filing the lobbying report. Members and staff would be required to pay fair market value for charter flights.
-Disclose on their quarterly reports any gifts, including meals and tickets to events, of more than $20 given to a Member or congressional staff. The legislation requires that tickets to sporting and entertainment events be valued at the face value of the ticket and if the ticket has no face value (such as in the case of sky boxes and luxury suites at arenas) then the ticket is to be valued at the highest value of any ticket sold for the same event. The legislation also includes new reporting requirements for grassroots lobbying, defined as an attempt to influence the general public to contact members of Congress or their staff about pending legislation. Any person or firm retained by a client to conduct grassroots lobbying activities would have to register and report these activities including the total amount it spent on grassroots lobbying activities and separately the total amount it spent on grassroots lobbying through paid advertising.
Under the legislation, a hired-gun grassroots lobbying firm would have to list its clients and the issues it worked on for the clients, each disbursement over $10,000 they have made for grassroots lobbying and whether such disbursements have been made through any conduit or intermediary.
The legislation also extends from one year to two years the restrictions on former members of Congress and congressional staff from engaging in lobbying contacts with Congress. Members of Congress would have to disclose negotiations over new jobs if those talks could present conflicts of interest.
Oh, great! One would have thought that McCain would be embarrassed enough about the fiasco that bears his name ... McCain-Feingold ... that he would keep his head down for a while. What is it about McCain and "ethics" ... ?
McCain is the last guy that should be offering ethics legislation. It must be some attempt at humor on his part. This clown is so crooked, when he dies, they'll have to SCREW him into the ground.
Sen. John McCain and Rep. Christopher Shays are two of the most untrustworthy members of Congress.
How the Abramoff Scandal Helps McCain
While many Republicans in Congress are running away from Abramoff (and his business partner, Mike Scanlon), McCain is using his position as chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee to investigate the uber lobbyist's alleged corrupt dealings -- a probe that has so far helped reveal Abramoff's links to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) among others
The Abramoff affair allows McCain to bolster his credentials as a reform-minded Republican -- an image that can only help him should he decide to run for president in three years
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2005/12/how_abramoff_he.html
I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT, EVER! HE IS UNSTABLE, IMO!!!
******
In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least 9 trips on Keating's airplanes, and 3 of those were to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain's wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a "sweetheart deal."
In 1995, McCain sent birthday regards, and regrets for not attending, to Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonano, the head of the New York Bonano crime family, who had retired to Arizona.
"The Pampered Politician", by Amy Silverman, The Phoenix New Times, May 15, 1997
"See John Run Off at the Mouth", Phoenix New Times, October 1, 1998
"Opiate for the Mrs.", Phoenix New Times, September 8, 1994
"Flashes: What's Up, Murdoch?", Phoenix New Times, September 17, 1998
"Symington Gets Slammer", Phoenix New Times, February 2, 1998
Election 98: Arizona Governor, Fox News web site, 1998 coverage (no longer on web)
"Keating Gets New Trial", CNNfn Web Site, December 2, 1996
"No More Wagging,", (editorial) by Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, January 3, 1999
"John McCain, rock-and-roll dad", by Andrew Essex, The New Yorker Magazine, December 6, 1999 p52
"Unmasking Darth McCain", by William Cleeland, The Daily Illini, March 9, 2001
I predict few lobbyists will push for these new restriction upon the right to free speech. However the lame stream media will love the increased power this bill will give them as arbiters of the truth. McLame has a tin ear for popular politics, and a strong love of the media spotlight.
October 04, 2005
Today's Scandals Mean McCain in '08
All things being equal, John McCain willl be the Republican nominee in 2008. Why? It's about how the media is framing the issues.
For instance, the Tom DeLay scandal could easily be framed in a number of ways. A conservative might frame the issue as one of big government run amok--DeLay as a sympton rather than a cause. A Democratic partisan might frame the issue as one of Republican misdeeds--DeLay as cause rather than affect.
But how is the MSM generally framing the DeLay scandal? Corruption fed by campaign finance abuses.
http://tinyurl.com/bk4gg
McCain wouldn't know ethics if it bit him in the posterior.
Which is why the "main stream media" love him.
I know little about Shays, but, if he is hanging out witn McCAIN, I'll have to assume he is at best a "person of lax virtue" also.
New Fuel for Scandal; Boeing, John McCain, and the aging Air Force tanker
BY: Jed Babbin, The American Spectator
01/01/1900
snip
Mccain has been warring against the Air Force, its leaders, and the whole idea of buying new tankers to replace the aging KC-135s. In congressional hearings, McCain blasted Roche for e-mail exchanges with Boeing lobbyists, and Sambur for continuing to advocate the lease deal. A search of media reports on the tanker mess shows that since 2003 Senator McCain has been talking almost exclusively to CBS, NBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. In fact, his staff was leaking Boeing and Air Force e-mails to particular reporters known for their anti-administration bias, such as Douglas Jehl of the Times.
On December 5, 2003, McCain staffers Chris Paul and Pablo Carillo faxed 45 pages of Boeing e-mails to Jehl. The fax cover page shows their cell phone numbers. On the second page of the fax, Paul and Carillo noted they had organized the e-mails for Jehl. It shows how McCain's staff orchestrated the attack on the Air Force, saying that the e-mails are "organized by theme." One theme it charts for Jehl is, "Air Force end runs OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] and other Administration channels." Jehl obliged with a December 6 story about "how some Air Force officials continued to press for the contracts even against opposition from government auditors, some lawmakers and some top Defense Department officials," and quoted McCain saying, "Boeing is making an effort to clean up their act, but the Air Force and the Pentagon remain steadfast in their pursuit of a massive ripoff of taxpayer dollars."
When the lease deal was dead, McCain broadened his campaign to include anyone in the Air Force he thought might have been near it. In October 2004, according to the Washington Post, McCain "vociferously challenged" the nomination of Air Force Gen. Gregory Martin for commander of U.S. Pacific Command because McCain believed Martin was resisting McCain's continued investigation of the tanker deal, though Martin had no apparent connection to anything McCain was complaining about. Retired Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Jones and former Strategic Air Command boss Gen. Russ Dougherty wrote to McCain asking him to withdraw opposition to Martin "and not hold him hostage to other actions for which he has had no authority or responsibility." Martin withdrew his nomination when it became clear McCain wouldn't budge. Since then, McCain has put a "hold" on all Air Force 3- and 4-star general promotions.
snip
http://tinyurl.com/b2qq2
I'll let hillary, a primary minion of the anti-christ be elected, before I'll even think of voting for McCain.
At least you know to expect with commie hillary. With McCain, no one will ever know what to expect.... A knife in the back or a handshake that will make you run for the lysol disenfectant.
LOL! Classic!
March 02, 2005
Marshall Wittmann becomes the second key McCain adviser, after John Weaver, to decamp to the Democratic side.
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JUNE 18, 2001
McCain's Game: Keep Playing to the Centrist Crowd
Senator John McCain talks a lot about his hero, Teddy Roosevelt. But these days, the Arizona Republican seems to be stealing pages from the game book of another ex-President--Bill Clinton. Case in point: triangulation, the Clinton-honed art of playing one ideological faction off against another. Now that the Democrats' Senate takeover has cost McCain his perch as Commerce Committee chairman, he is trying to maintain his visibility by forging alliances midway between the GOP Right and the Democratic Left. And his populist agenda keeps getting longer.
SNIP
PROMISING POLLS. The goal for McCain is to broaden his coalition of independents, Reagan Democrats, and moderate Republicans. If the strategy succeeds, "John will become the linchpin of a stable center-Left coalition," says one associate. To that end, McCain is also consulting with Clinton's New Democrat advisers, such as Bruce Reed, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, and Will Marshall, head of the Progressive Policy Institute, a centrist think tank. "He's seizing a market niche," says Hudson Institute fellow Marshall Wittmann, a McCain adviser.
******
JOHN FUND ON THE TRAIL
The McCain Mutiny
Memo to conservatives: Ignore him and maybe he'll go away.
Tuesday, June 5, 2001 12:01 a.m. EDT
Sen. John McCain's office says he has "no intention of running for president" or any "cause to leave" the Republican Party. That denial may sound familiar, but it came over the weekend after a flurry of media speculation that the Arizona senator was contemplating an independent run for president in 2004. That speculation, fueled by Sen. McCain's long weekend visit with Democratic leader Tom Daschle, even prompted President Bush to call his erstwhile opponent about his intentions.
I doubt there is anything at all that would ever make McCain appeal to rank-and-file Republicans. McCain and his media sycophants keep thinking something -- anything -- will "bolster" his chances. No way.
Like so many other FReepers who've expressed their opinions on McCain, there is NO WAY I would ever vote for him. I seriously doubt McCain could ever win the Republican presidential nomination. However, if I were ever faced with a choice between even the worst far Left wingnut or John McCain, I would either not vote or vote third party. This is saying a lot, because I'm a loyal Republican.
FlAttorney's Position Statement on the Abramoff Scandal
Comments Re: McCain's New Lobbyist Reform Bill
GOP Sen. John McCain to the Rescue: - Of course, the last thing the GOP needs is the new Lobbyist and Ethics Reforms Bill (S. 2128) proposed by Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), along with the GOP's #1 Tom DeLay public critic, and spineless loser, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), with his "mirror bill" in the House (HR 4575). Wasn't the damage to the GOP, and significant help to the Dems-Soros~Shadow Party, that McCain did with his McCain-Feingold Bill, that became The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, enough reform for one century by this presidential want-to-be. Co-sponsors of McCain's S. 2128 bill are Democrat, and Abramoff Scandal tied, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis. What is McCain thinking? These hypocrite Democrat co-sponsors received over $45,000 in Abramoff Scandal money. Lieberman received at least $29,830; Durbin at least $14,000; and Feingold at least $1,250 from Abramoff, per NRSC research.
Secondly, John McCain has done nothing about his significantly Abramoff Scandal tied and corrupt Senate Indian Affairs Committee (SIAC) co-chairman, Ranking Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan. Dorgan is one of the top Democrats as to Abramoff Scandal money received and lack of ethics in this matter. Dorgan only came clean, as to lack of proper Abramoff donations disclosure, when he was exposed by an AP investigative article. SIAC has been performing an 18-month investigation into the lobbying activities of Jack Abramoff et. al. - activities McCain described as an ''exploitation of Native Americans.'' What is McCain talking about? His own SIAC co-chair and Ranking Committee Democrat, along with his new lobbyist reform bill Democrat co-sponsors, are involved in this Abramoff Scandal, exploiting some Native American tribes by getting kickback donations for political favors by opposing tribes. John McCain needs to demand that Dorgan step down from the SIAC Abramoff investigation and John McCain needs to stop drinking the same Soro~Shadow Party Kool-Aid that his Democrat buddies are drinking.
McCain introduced S.2128 on 12.16.05, where it was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. July 2005, Sen. Russell Feingold introduced the The Lobbying and Ethics Reform Act. (S. 1398). May 2005, Rep. Marty Meehan introduced the Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act of 2005 (H.R.2412). Both bills were to improve lobbyist disclosure requirements, and target privately funded trips along with lobbyist gifts to Congressional members and staff. Both Democrats and Republicans shot down the two bills, with the bills never making it out of their respective Committee’s. The same rehash is in McCain’s and Shays new lobbyist reform and ethics bills, probably with the same end results. Bottomline - Does lobbyist reform need to happen? The answer is yes, but not by McCain, Shays, and corrupt hypocrite Democrats involved in this Abramoff Scandal.
Posted by TAB
Backstabbers R Us.....comes to mind when I think of these two charlatans.
McLame 'n Shays, aka Mr. & Mrs. RINO.
Just fluff. Readying himself for his Presidential run. More of the same stuff to follow which won't have a chance of passage but will make him look like the All-American candidate.
Does this Mean McCain and Shays are going to go after their pal SOROS? Oops. We're not supposed to know they are connected to him.
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