McCain Campaign Has Strong Ties To Corporate Lobbyists At Center Of Bailout ( Archived) (9)

Think Progress
Tuesday, Sept 23, 2008

The Wall Street Journal reports that lobbyists for Wall Street firms have dispensed with traditionally subtle lobbying tactics and launched an aggressive campaign to ensure that the terms of the Treasury’s proposed bailout are as favorable to the finance industry as possible.

A major player in this effort is the Financial Services Roundtable, a “lobbying group representing the nation’s banks” with significant ties to Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign. According to a MotherJones report, current and former lobbyists for the Roundtable that have worked or fundraised for McCain’s campaign include:

– Former Rep. Susan Molinari: McCain campaign fundraiser, member of Women for McCain committee, and co-chair of Honest and Open Election Committee. [Huffington Post, 8/20/08; JohnMcCain.com, 9/15/08]

– Carlos Bonilla: former McCain campaign economic adviser. [TPM, 6/9/08]

– David Crane: McCain campaign fundraiser and former aide to McCain at the Senate Commerce Committee. [USA Today, 3/24/2008]

– Samuel Geduldig: McCain campaign fundraiser. [Public Citizen, 1/29/08]

– Former Sen. Phil Gramm: While not a lobbyist for the Roundtable, Gramm did address the group as a McCain campaign surrogate at the RNC. [Bloomberg, 9/2/08]
The Roundtable’s agenda in the current economic crisis appears to be two-fold.

First, to expand the size and scope of bailout. Over the weekend the Roundtable successfully lobbied the Treasury to make the proposed bailout “broad enough to include different types of assets” — including those held by foreign banks. “Depending on how many foreign banks participate,” the provision could increase the cost of the bailout to $1.4 trillion, according to Institutional Risk Analytics.

And second, to block struggling homeowners from benefiting from the bailout. The Roundtable is working hard to ensure that the bailout is limited to firms on Wall Street, calling “a proposal to grant bankruptcy judges new powers” to restructure the mortgages of struggling homeowners a “deal killer.” The Center for American Progress notes, however, that such a provision would serve to limit the total cost of the bailout.



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September 24, 2008
McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac

WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said....

Mr. Davis took a leave from Davis & Manafortfor the presidential campaign, but as a partner and equity-holder continues to benefit from its income. No one at Davis & Manafort other than Mr. Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac’s behalf, the people familiar with the arrangement said....

Freddie Mac’s roughly $500,000 in payments to Davis & Manafort began immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in late 2005 disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Mr. Davis to run, the people familiar with the arrangement said.

From 2000 to the end of 2005, Mr. Davis had received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing. That status let them borrow cheaply, helping to fuel rapid growth but also their increased purchases of the risky mortgage securities that were their downfall....

At least two other people associated with Mr. McCain have ties to either Freddie Mac. The lobbying firm of the Republican that Mr. McCain has enlisted to plan his transition to the White House should he be elected, William Timmons Sr., earned nearly $3 million from Freddie Mac between 2000 and its seizure, federal lobbying records show. Mr. Timmons is founder of Timmons & Co., one of Washington’s best-known lobbying shops. The payments were first reported by Bloomberg News.

Mark Buse, Mr. McCain’s chief of staff for his Senate office, also is a Freddie Mac alumnus. He and his former lobbying employer, ML Strategies, registered to lobby for the company in July 2003, and received $460,000 before the association ended after 2004.

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