Obama Memorandum

[Uncle Remus]

MEMORANDUM

To: Interested Parties

Fr: Obama Campaign

Re: McCain’s Team of Lobbyists Grows, As They Plan for a Lobbyist-Run White House

Dt: September 14, 2008

Joining the ranks of the seven lobbyists running McCain’s campaign, William Timmons, a top Washington lobbyist, has been named to plan McCain’s transition effort. With at least 177 lobbyists helping advise, raise money and run his campaign, there was little doubt who would be influencing McCain’s White House, should he win, but this appointment just confirms: a John McCain White House will be organized, managed and influenced by lobbyists and the same old Washington politics John McCain has decried. Campaigning on reform while surrounding himself with lobbyists for the oil industry, big drug companies and foreign interests doesn’t seem much like change, and nothing shows that more than naming a top Washington lobbyist to plan his transition.

“We know John McCain’s campaign is run by Washington lobbyists, and we just learned that he has hired one of Washington’s most famous and powerful lobbyists to staff his White House. It’s not a Team of Mavericks who’ll be running Washington if John McCain wins — it’s a Team of Lobbyists.” Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor

See below for more information on William Timmons, and go to www.mclobbyists.com for more details on McCain’s team of lobbyists.



“Timmons and Company pioneered the concept and the industry standard for Washington representation.”

[www.timmonsandco.com, accessed 9/12/08]


SEPTEMBER 2008: TIMMONS JOINS MCCAIN TEAM

One Of DC’s “Most Senior Inside Players,” A Special Interest Lobbyist To Help McCain Transition Planning Effort. William E Timmons, Sr., the McCain campaign’s new senior advisor of a hypothetical transition, is a “prominent Washington lobbyist who has worked for every Republican president since Richard Nixon” pointed out Time magazine. This year alone, he is registered as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac, Anheuser-Busch, an insurance industry trade group, an oil industry group, and a pharmaceutical company. Time called him one “of Washington’s steadiest and most senior inside players.” [Time, 9/12/08; Senate Office of Public Records]


Irony: RNC Attacked Obama On This Issue Just Weeks Ago. In late August, the RNC attached the Obama campaign for hiring Daniel Shapiro, a former staffer at the same firm, sending an email headlined “Daniel Shapiro, Foreign Policy Adviser, Was A Registered Federal Lobbyist For American Petroleum Institute” [Email from Danny Diaz, 8/20/08]

More

Spoze McCain's memory is fadin' again?

 

[crcormier]

Lobbyists First!

How does this reform anything?

How is this change?

 

[loco4dis]

How much money has Barack Obama gotten from the failed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac LOBBYISTS in exchange for protecting them from regulators? The 2nd most in all of Congress — and after only 2 years in Congress!

Barack Obama: CORRUPT!

Who are Barack Obama's top 2 campaign economic advisers? The former CEOs of the failed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! They made millions through fraud, and now the taxpayers pay for their corruption.

Barack Obama: CORRUPT!

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/07/top-senate-recipients-of-fanni.html

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

This has always been the silliest argument since the start of this campaign.

Obama doesn't take Federal lobbyist money. State lobbyist money is OK.

He has said so himself.
Oh, and McCain has 7 ex-lobbyists working on his campaign??? OMG!!!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-15-obama_n.htm

Barack Obama often boasts he is "the only candidate who isn't taking a dime from Washington lobbyists," yet his fundraising team includes 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million last year to lobby the federal government, records show.

Those lawyers, including 10 former federal lobbyists, have pledged to raise at least $3.5 million for the Illinois senator's presidential race. Employees of their firms have given Obama's campaign $2.26 million, a USA TODAY analysis of campaign finance data shows.

Thirty-one of the 38 are law firm partners, who typically receive a share of their firm's lobbying fees. At least six of them have some managerial authority over lobbyists.

"It makes no difference whether the person is a registered lobbyist or the partner of a registered lobbyist, if the person is raising money to get access or curry favor," said Michael Malbin, director of the Campaign Finance Institute, a non-partisan think tank.

And he doesn't deal with Pacs either. Oh, and when he was talking to AIPAC this year someone should have told him that was America's Pro-Israeal Lobby.

 

[duckfan78]

How much money has Barack Obama gotten from the failed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac LOBBYISTS in exchange for protecting them from regulators? The 2nd most in all of Congress — and after only 2 years in Congress!

Barack Obama: CORRUPT!

Who are Barack Obama's top 2 campaign economic advisers? The former CEOs of the failed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! They made millions through fraud, and now the taxpayers pay for their corruption.

Barack Obama: CORRUPT!

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/07/top-senate-recipients-of-fanni.html

You are dead on. it is fact. wait till it gets out into the media more. people will be scratching their heads on this one

 

[transparant]

You are dead on. it is fact. wait till it gets out into the media more. people will be scratching their heads on this one

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Uncle Remus]

And:

The top executives of America’s biggest companies are more willing to open their wallets for John McCain than his Democratic rival, donating 10 times as much to the Arizona senator’s campaign as to Barack Obama’s.
Obama’s campaign seized on the findings of The Hill’s review of campaign finance records to suggest that the gap was due to “special favors” McCain has given corporations.


The presumptive GOP nominee has received $208,200 from the chief executive officers of the 100 biggest Fortune 500 corporations, according to a review of campaign finance reports. Obama has taken in $20,400 from the same group of people.
Link

 

[LotsOfQuestions]

Spoze McCain's memory is fadin' again?

careful Uncle Remus - you are being ageist. I was reprimanded on another thread that it is not nice to call into question the mental capacity of our elderly citizens.

 

[Uncle Remus]

careful Uncle Remus - you are being ageist. I was reprimanded on another thread that it is not nice to call into question the mental capacity of our elderly citizens.

Hey, I was just askin' a question, I got lots of 'em.

 

[Reflection]

How much money has Barack Obama gotten from the failed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac LOBBYISTS in exchange for protecting them from regulators? The 2nd most in all of Congress — and after only 2 years in Congress!

Barack Obama: CORRUPT!

Who are Barack Obama's top 2 campaign economic advisers? The former CEOs of the failed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! They made millions through fraud, and now the taxpayers pay for their corruption.

Barack Obama: CORRUPT!

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/07/top-senate-recipients-of-fanni.html

Obama donations from FM and FM for 2008 campaign: $16,000
McCain donations from FM and FM for 2008 campaign: $169,000

Oh the outrage over $16,000 and quel surprise no outrage for $169,000.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Here's a question, who else was Jeb talkin' about when he said this?:

"Reform becomes contagious," former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of the current president, said at a McCain town hall meeting this week in Orlando. "If you start to dream bigger dreams and you start challenging the basic assumptions, you can change how things work, and we've done it in Florida, and the Good Lord knows we need to do it in Washington, D.C., and John McCain is the right guy at the right time to make that happen."

Link

 

[What the Heck]

Spoze McCain's memory is fadin' again?

Actually, Obama's must be. After all, McCain names who the former lobbyists are on his campaign, but Obama can't remember their names, at least to tell anyone. He won't give out the names of the current and former lobbyists on his payroll - high on his payroll. Seems like he's the one with the shaky memory.

 

[duckfan78]

Obama donations from FM and FM for 2008 campaign: $16,000
McCain donations from FM and FM for 2008 campaign: $169,000

Oh the outrage over $16,000 and quel surprise no outrage for $169,000.

Sorry, had to edit this post, these are all "personal" contributions. The contributions from fannie mae and freddie mac( the actual companies) for Obama was somewhere over $500,000 and only about $150,000 for McCain. Obama also received over $400,000 from Leham bros,

Anther $45,000 from AIG.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Sorry, But I believe the names are swithced on that report.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Sorry, But I believe the names are swithced on that report.

Did you get that line from McCain?

 

[Reflection]

Did you get that line from McCain?

That line was probably from the Free Republic........

 

[DVCKennyD]

Sorry, had to edit this post, these are all "personal" contributions. The contributions from fannie mae and freddie mac( the actual companies) for Obama was somewhere over $500,000 and only about $150,000 for McCain. Obama also received over $400,000 from Leham bros,

Anther $45,000 from AIG.

Good call duckfan78

Here is some information for all the Obamaheads trying to make hay on this issue:

http://amyproctor.squarespace.com/b...nnie-mae-freddie-macs-lobbyistcampaign-c.html

Barack Obama #2 on Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac’s Lobbyist/Campaign Contribution List from 1989-2008

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 02:11AM
Barack Obama likes to blame Republicans for the current mortgage crisis , but there’s a reason why the huge government sponsored mortgage bank gave more money to Barack Obama than almost anyone else in politics: to facilitate and cover their ill-fated lending practices.
After only 4 short years in the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama is the #2 recipient of Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac lobbyist dollar giveaways and campaign contributions, receiving $126,349. In fact, the government sponsored mortgage bank has given more money to top Democrats than anyone else in an effort to keep regulators at bay.
Still, most other democrats have received less in 20 years than Obama has in 4 years from Fannie Mae.
John McCain is #62 on the list receiving $21,550 from Fannie Mae in 20 years.
Under the Clinton administration, Fannie Mae was given instructions to broaden its lending practices, lending to people in inner cities, the poor, and high risk applicants. Well, guess what; they couldn’t afford their homes and are succumbing to foreclosure. What big government can do for you, it can do to you.
John Gibson offers this commentary on the big government debacle and mortgage crisis, showing how it is the Democrats, not Republicans, who are primarily responsible for the current housing crisis and buyouts, despite what Barack Obama says:


Behold, the chart of donations Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac contribute to DC politicians with an explanation by the CRP (Center for Responsive Politics) :

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invest in Lawmakers

When the federal government announced two months ago that it would prop up mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, CRP looked at how much money members of Congress had collected since 1989 from the companies. On Sunday the government completely took over the two government-sponsored enterprises, and we’ve returned to our data to bring you the updates, this time providing a list of all 354 lawmakers who have gotten money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
​

​

Why haven’t we heard about this in an Obama campaign commercial??

Trackback URL: http://amyproctor.squarespace.com/blog/trackback/2288222


KennyD
​

 

[Uncle Remus]

Still can't address the issue of McCain's 177 lobbyists 'n how they're gonna change the present regime, huh?

 

[DVCKennyD]

Well I guess my first reaction to the whole lobbyist issue is a big who cares. Wow... Does anybody really believe that lobbyists haven't played integral parts in political campaigns before.

However, before swallowing this pablum being doled out by the Obama camp, perhaps you should do a little research on the subject beforehand. Please don't take at face value the fact that McCain is the only one in this campaign who is/are associated with "lobbyists"...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/138519


When Illinois utility Commonwealth Edison wanted state lawmakers to back a hefty rate hike two years ago, it took a creative lobbying approach, concocting a new outfit that seemed devoted to the public interest: Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity, or CORE. CORE ran TV ads warning of a "California-style energy crisis" if the rate increase wasn't approved—but without disclosing the commercials were funded by Commonwealth Edison. The ad campaign provoked a brief uproar when its ties to the utility, which is owned by Exelon Corp., became known. "It's corporate money trying to hoodwink the public," the state's Democratic Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said. What got scant notice then—but may soon get more scrutiny—is that CORE was the brainchild of ASK Public Strategies, a consulting firm whose senior partner is David Axelrod, now chief strategist for Barack Obama.
Last week, Obama hit John McCain for hiring "some of the biggest lobbyists in Washington" to run his campaign; Obama's aides say their candidate, as a foe of "special interests," has refused to take money from lobbyists or employ them. Neither Axelrod nor his partners at ASK ever registered as lobbyists for Commonwealth Edison—and under Illinois's loose disclosure laws, they were not required to. "I've never lobbied anybody in my life," Axelrod tells NEWSWEEK. "I've never talked to any public official on behalf of a corporate client." (He also says "no one ever denied" that Edison was the "principal funder" of his firm's ad campaign.)
But the activities of ASK (located in the same office as Axelrod's political firm) illustrate the difficulties in defining exactly who a lobbyist is. In 2004, Cablevision hired ASK to set up a group similar to CORE to block a new stadium for the New York Jets in Manhattan. Unlike Illinois, New York disclosure laws do cover such work, and ASK's $1.1 million fee was listed as the "largest lobbying contract" of the year in the annual report of the state's lobbying commission. ASK last year proposed a similar "political campaign style approach" to help Illinois hospitals block a state proposal that would have forced them to provide more medical care to the indigent. One part of its plan: create a "grassroots" group of medical experts "capable of contacting policymakers to advocate for our position," according to a copy of the proposal. (ASK didn't get the contract.) Public-interest watchdogs say these grassroots campaigns are state of the art in the lobbying world. "There's no way with a straight face to say that's not lobbying," says Ellen Miller, director of the Sunlight Foundation, which promotes government transparency.

Axelrod says there are still huge differences between him and top McCain advisers, including the fact that he doesn't work in D.C. But his corporate clients do have business in the capital. One of them, Exelon, lobbied Obama two years ago on a nuclear bill; the firm's executives and employees have also been a top source of cash for Obama's campaign, contributing $236,211. Axelrod says he's never talked to Obama about Exelon matters. "I'm not going to public officials with bundles of money on behalf of a corporate client," Axelrod says.




http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obamas-k-street-project-2007-03-28.html


Obama’s K Street project By Alexander Bolton Posted: 03/28/07 07:42 PM [ET] Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is benefiting from the support of well-connected Washington lobbyists even though he has prohibited his campaign from accepting contributions from them and political action committees (PACs).

While Obama has decried the influence of special interests in Washington, the reality is that many of the most talented and experienced political operatives in his party are lobbyists, and he needs their help.

Mike Williams, the director of government relations at Credit Suisse Securities, said of the network of lobbyists supporting Obama: “I would imagine that it’s as large as the Clinton list,” in reference to rival presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who is an entrenched favorite of the Washington Democratic establishment.

He said that while lobbyists cannot give money to Obama, they can give “policy” and “campaign support.” Indeed, K Street denizens have rare policy and national campaign expertise.

Williams is actively building support for Obama among lobbyists and the corporate clients they represent. While other Obama supporters have described him as a leading activist, Williams demurs: “I wouldn’t want to put my position as a spearhead.” He acknowledges that the gains Obama is making among Washington’s Democratic establishment are hard to see because Obama’s K Street supporters have kept a low profile. As a result, Obama’s K Street network is a stealthy operation.

Williams said Clinton’s network appears larger because “it’s easy to find the Clinton people because they’re going to be on the FEC reports anyway,” discussing fundraising reports posted by the Federal Election Commission.

Clinton expects lobbyists supporting her to give to her campaign, leaving them little choice but to declare their allegiance publicly. Because Obama has refused their money, lobbyists backing him can keep their support private, and avoid angering Sens. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who are powerful Senate committee chairmen running for the Democratic nomination.

Obama’s spokesman Bill Burton said the senator knows that it is impossible to completely escape the influence of Washington’s establishment, but that rejecting lobbyists’ money is an important gesture.

“Senator Obama said when he set out this policy that it doesn’t solve the problem of money in politics but it is a sign and symbolic step in the right direction,” said Burton. “It’s not going to stop the sway that money has over policies or that special interests have over legislation, but it indicates the type of administration Obama would have if elected.”

Other K Street players working to build momentum for Obama are former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), a consultant for Alston & Bird; Broderick Johnson, president of Bryan Cave Strategies LLC; Mark Keam, the lead Democratic lobbyist at Verizon; Jimmy Williams, vice president of government affairs for the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America; Thomas Walls, vice president of federal public affairs at McGuireWoods Consulting; and Francis Grab, senior manager at Washington Council Ernst & Young.

Lobbyists tend to be cautious creatures. Evidence that they are flocking to Obama’s camp shows that his campaign has gained substantial momentum among the politically sophisticated.

Some of Obama’s K Street boosters keep their support a secret to uphold Obama’s image as a Washington outsider untainted by D.C.’s influence business.

When Obama declared his presidential candidacy in February, he said he would re-engage Americans disenchanted with business-as-usual in Washington who had turned away from politics.

“And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what’s filled the void,” said Obama. “The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who’ve turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter; they think they own this government, but we’re here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It’s time to turn the page.”

In a fundraising e-mail distributed yesterday, Obama emphasized his stance against taking money from lobbyists and PACs.
Two lobbyists who are supporting another candidate and spoke to The Hill on condition of anonymity said that Obama’s campaign contacted them asking to be put in touch with their networks of business clients and acquaintances.

One of the lobbyists, who supports Clinton, said that Shomik Dutta, a fundraiser for Obama’s campaign, called to ask if the lobbyist’s wife would be interested in making a political contribution.

“I was quite taken aback,” he said. “He was very direct in saying that you’re a lobbyist and we don’t want contributions from lobbyists. But your wife can contribute and we like your network.”

Dutta declined to discuss his work.

Williams, of Credit Suisse, said that asking for access to lobbyists’ networks is not the same as asking lobbyists to raise money for Obama.

“When they say, ‘Give us access to your network,’ it’s not so we can raise money from them; it’s so we can have conversations with them and see whether [members of the networks] are interested in what we’re saying,” he said. “They may decide they are not interested.”

Some lobbyists who favor Obama want to stay below the radar to avoid retaliation from rivals such as Clinton, Biden, and Dodd.

One lobbyist who has worked hard for Obama behind the scenes, according to two pro-Obama lobbyists, denied that he was in the Illinois senator’s camp when queried by The Hill. The shy lobbyist wanted to keep his allegiance secret because he represents a New York-based company and his job could be harmed if he alienated Clinton, explained a fellow Obama partisan.

Other pro-Obama lobbyists are open about their plans to help him become president.

“He’s like Bill Clinton with no baggage,” said Jimmy Williams, of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers. “He’s got that aura and people are talking about him. You realize you’re in the presence of something incredible. He has broad appeal.”

“He won’t take our money but we can go out and campaign for him,” he said. “I’m more than happy to campaign for the guy because the country is in dire need of honest leadership.”

Williams, a former aide to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said he was in contact with Durbin’s office to plot out ways to get more young voters interested in Obama.

He also said he would try to raise money for Obama’s campaign in his home county of Rappahannock, in Virginia
“We’ll have a fundraiser in Little Washington or Sperryville or something. I haven’t locked it down yet,” he said.


KennyD

 

[Patch'sD]

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama often boasts he is "the only candidate who isn't taking a dime from Washington lobbyists," yet his fundraising team includes 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million last year to lobby the federal government, records show.
Those lawyers, including 10 former federal lobbyists, have pledged to raise at least $3.5 million for the Illinois senator's presidential race. Employees of their firms have given Obama's campaign $2.26 million, a USA TODAY analysis of campaign finance data shows.