The McCain Campaign: A Corporate Lobbyist Bazaar? 
Charlie Black, one of the pre-eminent figures of the presidential campaigns of George Bush the Elder, was reported as touching base with his lobbying interests while aboard the McCain campaign bus, which is ironically called "The Straight Talk Express."
In addition to working with a laundry list of major corporate forces, Black's efforts were also linked to the late Ferdinand Marcos, repressive dictator of the Philippines who was overthrown through mass demonstrations after trying to steal an election Republican style when international observers calculated he lost to Corazon Aquino, who rightfully succeeded to the office she won at the polls, by a 65 to 35 percent margin.
Lately, though, the major focus has been on McCain's leading economic adviser, Phil Gramm, as it should be considering the red flags that the former U.S. Senator from Texas has set off in the past while continuing to do so in the present.
Keith Olbermann has just highlighted Gramm's controversial posture in regard to opposing legislation that would empower the U.S. government to look into occurrences involving international banks with links to terrorist sources.
This position is interesting in view of McCain's position, which echoes that of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney that Republicans are alone to be trusted to fight terrorism.
Recent news sources, including Olbermann, also allege a Gramm conflict of interest in his active lobbying to defeat efforts to achieve federal legislation to provide mortgage relief to those hardest hit by the tragic policies that have brought about the current calamity in the real estate market.
The conflict relates to Gramm's active efforts to defeat this legislation at a time that he served as McCain's chief economic adviser.
The news continues to worsen. It was Phil Gramm who lobbied diligently to exempt Enron from being properly regulated. Gramm is a firm believer in the Ronald Reagan bedrock principle of "Get the government off people's backs!" This applies with extra robustness in the field of regulating banks and savings and loan institutions.
The posture that emerges from the McCain campaign is that of a candidate who appears vague, makes mistakes by the bushel, and is a captive of the most corrupt and rapacious corporate forces.
Do the foregoing traits contain a familiar ring?
Try George W. Bush circa 2000!
Do we need a re-run of that dog and pony show?
The current tab is, with thanks to the U.S. National Debt clock, which our mainstream media seems so loathe to mention, stands at $9,397,931, 464,495.47.
Remember also that McCain, like Bush, is bullish on the idea of more tax cuts. How appropriate considering that our economic house is in such admirable order.
KEYWORDS: John McCain, Charlie Black, Phil Gramm, McCain Campaign Links to Corporate Lobbyists
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