Story Comments

This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

From The Article:

"Pavía has been a registered lobbyist for various arms of the Puerto Rican government since 2001."

Indeed, this "gotcha" story appears to be more concerned with the letter of the law rather than with the spirit of the law. It's one thing to hire a lobbyist who represents the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which seems relatively benign; it's quite another to hire lobbyists that represent multinational corporations seeking multi-billion dollar contracts from the U.S. government, which presents a much more dangerous conflict of interest.

While there has been public backlash against lobbyists representing corporate interests (i.e., Haliburton, Enron, Blackwater) and interests of foreign countries (i.e. Saudi Arabia), is there anyone genuinely worried about the undue influence of Puerto Rico on U.S. policy?

Oh no! The Puerto Ricans are coming to get us! Honestly, I didn't even know Puerto Rico had lobbyists or needed them at all.

LOL.

0 Replies

This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

There is a profound difference between a lobbyist representing the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the following lobbyists on McCain's staff.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

"Longtime uber-lobbyist Charles R. Black Jr. is John McCain's man in Washington. Black was Jonas Savimbi's man in the capital city. His lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader and took advantage of Black's contacts in Congress and the White House. Black and his partners were at times registered foreign agents for a remarkable collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights records were sometimes harshly criticized.

McCain 'portrays himself as Mr. Clean, and then he has all these lobbyists around him who are connected to a lot of not-so-clean people.'"

0 Replies

This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/201671...

"John McCain's campaign asked prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave. Shirley doubled as a consultant to McCain and the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns.

Shirley's firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work.

Shirley's background is in some of the hardest hitting Republican attacks on Democratic politicians. He was a member of the team that tarred Michael Dukakis with the "Willie Horton" ads in 1988, and he helped organize the press conference with Paula Jones. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a movie attacking John Kerry called, 'Stolen Honor.'"

0 Replies

This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2...

"Sen. John McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that provided a windfall for an Arizona developer whose executives were major campaign donors.

McCain, who has made fighting special-interest projects a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, inserted $14.3 million in a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke AFB in a provision sought by SunCor Development.

The Air Force later paid SunCor $3 million for 122 acres near the base. It was the highest single land transaction of the private lots purchased by the government ââ;¬" three times the county's assessed value and twice the military's estimated value.

McCain's campaigns have received $224,000 since 1998 from donors connected to Pinnacle West, including $104,100 for his current presidential run."

0 Replies

This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

http://news.propeller.com/story/2008/04/26/mcca...

"McCain's help for Keating came after Keating had donated $112,000 to McCain from 1982 to 1987, had taken McCain and his family on nine trips, including three to the Bahamas, and had gone in on a business deal with McCain's wife and father-in-law.

In 1982, Keating held a fund-raiser for him, collecting more than $11,000 from 40 employees of American Continental Corp. In 1983, as McCain contemplated his House re-election, Keating hosted a $1,000-a-plate dinner for him, even though McCain had no serious competition. When McCain pushed for the Senate in 1986, Keating was there with more than $50,000. By 1987, McCain had received about $112,000 from Keating and his associates.

The Arizona Republic revealed that McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center."

2 Replies