As we await the glorious moment when Ms. Palin does the right thing–the American thing–and opens herself up to the media for an unfettered press conference, we here at Palin Clock will also attempt to cut through the white noise and get at the truth. The truth of what the candidates say, the truth of what the candidates do, the truth behind some of those ridiculous campaign ads.
Today, we tackle lobbyists. Both camps have substantial ties to lobbyists in one way or another. They’re politicians. It’s Washington. It’s virtually impossible not to. But given recent events, ties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae seem to be the supreme indicator of a candidate’s potential corruptibility (I know…whatever.) Given that both candidates have Fannie and Freddie lobbyists working for, or with them, let’s take a closer look at the most egregious claim bandying about the media and the blogosphere.
Sen. Barack Obama is the second highest receipient of campaign contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ($126,349).
Yes, Sen. Obama received $126,349 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What does every biased report leave out? Total Contributions to Obama from Fannie and Freddie PACs = $6,000. Total Contributions from Individual Employees = $120,349.
Now lets take a closer look at contributions to both candidates from Directors of the of the Freddie and Fannie Boards (People like Geoffrey Boisi, Alfonse D’Amato and the like.) Total contributions to John McCain = $169,900. Total contributions to Barack Obama = $16,000. [Source NY Times]
Nineteen McCain advisers and fundraisers lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
McCain Senior Adviser Wayne Berman Continues to Lobby for Fannie Mae. Wayne Berman has lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2004 through the 2nd quarter of 2008. Their firm earned over $100,000 from Freddie Mac in 2004 and over $1 million from Fannie Mae. [Senate Lobbying Disclosures]
Six of McCain’s advisers and fundraisers lobbied for Freddie Mac including:
· McCain’s Current Chief of Staff Mark Buse,
· top McCain adviser Charles Black,
· Carlos Bonilla,
· Al D’Amato,
· Juleanna Glover Weiss
· Susan Molinari.
Thirteen of them lobbied for Fannie Mae including:
· McCain’s Congressional Liaison John Green,
· Head of VP Search Team AB Culvahouse,
· Wayne Berman,
· Kirk Blalock,
· Alberto Cardenas,
· Kirsten Chadwick,
· Richard Holht,
· Kate Hull,
· Aleix Jarvis,
· Tom Loeffler,
· Peter Madigan,
· Allison McSlarrow
· Aquiles Suarez.
