DNC: The Five Sharpest Turns of McCain's Double Talk Express: Pork & Lobbyists

It has been a bumpy ride to say the least for John McCain's Double Talk
Express this year. The one-time maverick turned his back on straight talk,
putting his principles aside to do whatever it took to propel his struggling
presidential campaign forward. For the five days leading toward the New
Hampshire primaries, the DNC is recapping the sharpest and most egregious
turns of McCain's Double-Talk Express. Today's issue: Pork & Lobbyists

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by
the Democratic National Committee:

Throughout recent weeks, John McCain has tried to separate himself from
Washington, DC, where he has spent the last twenty five years, but he's up
against his own record.

Just this weekend, for example, McCain pointed to the Abramoff hearings during
the Republican candidates' forum on Fox News Channel, noting that there are
"former members of congress residing in federal prison because of the spending
and corruption," and invoking Abramoff's name, saying," ask Jack Abramoff, who
is in prison today, a guy who was a corrupt lobbyist, and his friends if I
haven't cut spending." But when McCain had the chance to investigate his
fellow lawmakers in connection with Jack Abramoff's bilking of Native American
tribes as head of the Indian Affairs committee in the United States Senate, he
made it clear he would not investigate anything his fellow members of congress
had done. [FNC Republican Candidates Forum, 1/6/08; Roll Call, 3/10/05]

And despite blasting the pork projects of others, McCain has pushed for his
own pork projects, and even hired a pork lobbyist to head his campaign's
fundraising, who created $40 million in federal pork. As a Washington Post
report noted, "McCain has found himself assiduously courting both lobbyists
and their wealthy clients" and in fact, a "study by the nonpartisan Campaign
Finance Institute and the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen found that
McCain has more lobbyists raising funds for his presidential bid than do any
of his rivals." That same report raised questions about McCain's actions and
connections with lobbyists as head of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee.
[Washington Post, 12/31/07]

"John McCain's rhetoric is anything but straight when it comes to lobbyists
and pork according to his own record," said Democratic National Committee
spokesman Luis Miranda. "From staffing his campaign with pork lobbyists, to
questions over his role as head of the Commerce and Indian Affairs Committees,
McCain is sending a message to Granite State voters that as President he'd
offer business as usual, all talk and no action."

McCain Hates Pork, Just Not His Own

McCain Fights Other's Pork, Pushes His Own. "Arizona Sen. John McCain is
sponsoring two interesting pieces of legislation. One mounts a direct assault
on congressional earmarks, those little morsels of home district pork that
lawmakers slip into unrelated spending bills. The other steers $10 million to
the University of Arizona to launch an academic center honoring the late
Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Yes, McCain does seem to be
saying to himself: Stop me before I sin again. McCain and co-sponsor Jon Kyl,
Arizona's other GOP senator, insist their pork proposal isn't hypocritical
because they aren't trying to hide anything. It is set out in stand-alone
legislation to be vetted on its own merits. In Congress, it seems, the only
bad pork projects are those sponsored by somebody else." [Chicago Tribune,
3/4/06]

McCain Broke His Own Pork-Barrel Spending Rules. "After years of crusading
against 'pork-barrel' spending projects in Congressional appropriations bills,
Senator McCain may be breaking his own rules. McCain pushed for, and got,
$14.3 million for Arizona's Luke Air Force Base inserted into the
just-completed fiscal 2004 military construction appropriations conference
report. The only problem is the project to acquire more land near the base was
not requested. [Roll Call, 11/6/03]

McCain's Chief Fundraiser Earned $3.9 Million for Creating $40 Million in
Federal Pork. McCain's new Presidential campaign consigliere, and chief
fundraising strategist, Tom Loeffler, founder of Loeffler Group, has spent
much of the last decade as a lobbyist. According to documents filed with the
Secretary of the Senate, Loeffler and his associates have collected $3,920,000
over the years lobbying for the Texas cities of San Antonio, Houston, Pharr,
Donna and Mercedes. In return, according to Citizens Against Government Waste,
the cities received $40 Million and possibly more in Federal Government pork.
[Politico, 4/4/07; Washington Post, 4/4/07; Lobbyist Disclosure Documents
Filled with Secretary of the Senate, Citizens Against Government Waste Pig
Book 2003-06]

Lobbyists Driving Double-Talk Express

McCain's Campaign Has More Lobbyists On Board, 32, Than Any Other. "As a
presidential candidate this year, McCain has found himself assiduously
courting both lobbyists and their wealthy clients, offering them private
audiences as part of his fundraising... a recent study by the nonpartisan
Campaign Finance Institute and the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen found
that McCain has more lobbyists raising funds for his presidential bid than do
any of his rivals. He has 32 "bundlers" of donations who are lobbyists."
[Washington Post, 12/31/07]

McCain Made Name Attacking Special Interests, But Has Most Lobbyists at
Campaign. "McCain, who made his name attacking special interests, has more
lobbyists working on his staff or as advisers than any of his competitors,
Republican or Democrat." [Huffington Post, 6/23/07]

Lobbyist Heavy McCain Campaign Has Lobbyist Even as Campaign Manager.
"McCain's campaign has also been guided by lobbyists. Davis, the campaign
manager, is a former lobbyist who represented major telecommunications
companies. The campaign's senior adviser is Charles R. Black Jr., chairman of
BKSH & Associates, which represents drug companies, an oil company, an
automaker, a telecommunications company, defense contractors and the steel
industry, among others...Other occasional McCain advisers include lobbyists
Timothy P. McKone of AT&T, Robert S. Aiken of Phoenix-based Pinnacle West
Capital, John W. Timmons of the Cormac Group and John Green of Ogilvy
Government Relations. Also at Ogilvy is a major McCain fundraiser, Wayne L.
Berman. Their firms' clients have been a significant source of contributions
to McCain's campaign. Executives for the clients of Ogilvy Government
Relations gave at least $271,000 for McCain's presidential bid. Loeffler Group
client employees donated $118,500, according to a Washington Post analysis.
BKSH clients' executives gave $24,000." [Washington Post, 12/31/07]

McCain's Committees

McCain Pledged To Not Investigate Republican Colleagues for Their Illegal or
Unethical Behavior. McCain's Indian Affairs Committee hearings failed to go
after federal lawmakers who benefited from Jack Abramoff's lobbying. "McCain
said his committee continues to examine all the financial angles of where the
$82 million ended up, as well as other political and charitable contributions
the tribes made at Abramoff's request. But he reiterated that he was following
the money trail, not the legislative actions taken by Members of Congress. 'We
stop when we find out where the money went,' he said." [Roll Call, 3/10/05]

McCain's Conduct as Chairman of Senate Commerce Committee Questioned.
According to the Washington Post, "McCain's conduct as chairman of the
powerful Senate Commerce Committee between 1997 and 2004 has occasionally
raised questions."

"In 2003 and 2004, for example, McCain took two actions favorable to
Cablevision, the cable TV company, while Davis, his chief political strategist
at the time, solicited the company for a total of $200,000 for the Reform
Institute, a tax-exempt group that advocated an end to outsize political
donations. Davis solicited an initial donation from Cablevision chief Charles
Dolan a week after Dolan testified before the Senate Commerce Committee in
favor of a position backed by McCain. Davis said there was no connection
between the testimony and the solicitation. Less than a year later, McCain
wrote to the Federal Communications Commission recommending Cablevision's
position on cable pricing, citing Dolan by name. Cablevision followed soon
thereafter with a second $100,000 donation, the Associated Press reported."

"In 1999, McCain wrote a letter as committee chairman on behalf of longtime
political supporter Lowell 'Bud' Paxson, urging the FCC to vote on a
long-delayed decision whether to approve the sale of a Pittsburgh television
station to Paxson's company. McCain had flown on Paxson's corporate jet four
times to appear at campaign events around that time, and had received $20,000
from campaign donations from Paxson and its law firm, the Boston Globe
reported. The FCC chairman at the time, William Kennard, called McCain's
intervention 'highly unusual,' but the senator denied doing any favors."
[Washington Post, 12/31/07]

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or
candidate's committee.

SOURCE Democratic National Committee

Luis Miranda of the Democratic National Committee, +1-202-863-8148