McCain Still Receives Big $$$s from Keating S&L Figure Linked to BCCI and Organized Crime

[leveymg]

A lot of people are familiar with S&L crook Charles Keating's illegal contributions to John McCain in the 1980s. What most don't know, however, was that Keating was implicated in the BCCI takeover of a number of S&Ls, including his own. With me, so far?



Carl Lindner, an Ohio billionaire with CIA and underworld connections who owned Chiquita Bananas, was Charles Keating's original partner, banker, and mentor. Lindner got Keating wrapped up with schemes involving the usual cast of BCCI characters, shady Saudi bankers, the Bush family, and Iran-Contra money laundering. Keating was always a sort of pass-through guy, without any real money of his own. But, a lot of money flowed through Keating to McCain and his wife, Cindy, in an Arizona real estate scam. Lindner who was recently convicted of financing Right-wing death squads in Colombia, is still giving big, dirty campaign checks to McCain. Now, that's a story that the American people need to hear.

leveymg's Journal - THE CRIMES AND COVERUPS OF JOHN McCAIN, “REFORMER” Jun 3, 2008 ... Like the Bush Family, McCain had his Hand in the BCCI and S&L Scandals McCain claims that his involvement in the Keating S&L scandal wasn’t ...
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/leveymg/365 - 48k

McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia ...Jul 2, 2008 ... Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/mccain-fundraiser-oversaw_n_110354.html - 146k -

The public should get a view into the background of Lindner, Keating and McCain, which essentially boils down to big Mafia money that has flowed into the GOP and various extreme Rightist groups around the world since Meyer Lansky made a deal with the Republicans in the mid-1940s. John McCain got onto the mob pad because he was willing to do business, and Cindy's father was a long-time wise guy in the Bronfman-Marley liquor racket. In exchange for their legalized gambling and liquor concessions, Top Bosses Lansky and Giancana straightened up the mob's image in the southwest, in exchange the GOP (along with elements of the CIA) got a piece of the action. See, http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg20418.html

During the high points of Keating's reign the
big man in Arizona was Kemper Marley. Marley was the first and
only billionaire in Arizona. His wealth was based originally on
a liquor monopoly conferred upon him by Sam Bronfman of the
SEAGRAMS family. In Arizona Marley was all powerful.

In 1948, fifty two employees of Kemper Marley's wholely
owned company, UNITED LIQUOR, went to prison on federal liquor
violations -- including Gene Hensley, the father-in-law of
Arizona Senator John McCain. Gene Hensley was Kemper Marley's
UNITED LIQUOR general manager. On the basis of so many
prosecutions some people might feel UNITED LIQUOR could qualify
as organized crime. The slick attorney who kept Marley out of
this trial and sent McCain's father-in-law to prison in his place
was William Rehnquist -- currently the Chief Justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court.

It was the judgement of the court that Gene Hensley would
be prohibited from ever working in the liquor industry. Of
course such judgments meant nothing to Marley. When Gene Hensley
got out of prison Marley arranged a BUDWIESER distributorship for
Hensley which is now in the hands of Senator John McCain and
reported to be worth $50 million!

The best source for an introduction to the environment of
total political corruption in Arizona is the book, THE ARIZONA
PROJECT: HOW A TEAM OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS GOT REVENGE ON
DEADLINE. In graphic detail journalist Michael Wendland links the
most prominent people in Arizona with various organized crime
king pins. Wendland was part of the group called INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTERS AND EDITORS who came to Phoenix in the wake of the
fatal car bombing of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC's investigative
reporter, Don Bolles. It was the conclusion of this group that
Marley, by far the wealthiest man in Arizona, was behind this
murder.

According to intelligence sources of the Phoenix police, who
prepared a background profile of Kemper Marley the week following
the Bolles murder, Marley was at one time directly connected to
the remnants of the old Al Capone mob.

When Marley died July 1990 he owned 5 square miles of
Carefree )*) the highest priced real estate in Arizona. The
smallest lot in this most exclusive township is zoned for one
acre. By some coincidence the Tax Accessor made the same mistake
evaluating Marley's properties as he did on Charlie Keating's
properties. This oversight was saving Marley a million dollars a
year. Of course the official investigation showed no wrongdoing
in either case.

For the last 45 years Marley bankrolled the Republican Party
which doled out Marley's great wealth to a slate of Republican
candidates who were almost universally successful in obtaining
high political office. Marley was able to control the Democratic
party as well. Every current congressman and every senator in
Arizona owes his position to the Marley machine. These office
holders include "Keating Five" Senators John McCain and Dennis
DeConcini as well as former State Attorney General, Bob Corbin.

At one point Marley
served as Chairman of the Board of the VALLEY NATIONAL BANK. When
Bugsy Siegel, on instructions from Meyer Lansky, built the FLAMINGO CLUB,
Las Vegas's first casino, the money was borrowed from the VALLEY NATIONAL
BANK.

[Hope And Change]

1. K & R!

[stillcool]

2. ooh...this is a keeper!

thank you. I knew I had some homework to do!

[libnnc]

3. !!!!

:kick:

[NewJeffCT]

4. John McCain spent five years in a Vietnamese jail as a POW

how dare you imply that this heroic former POW is linked to organized crime! It's simply impossible that this former POW would do something like that when his time as a POW qualifies him for any job in the world, including king of the world, astronaut or rocket scientist. We are lucky that this former POW is modest enough to only want the presidency of the united states - we should bow down and kiss McCain's former POW feet in thanks.

[leveymg]

5. Extenuating circumstances.

The court will take that into consideration as part of sentencing.

He can go back behind bars, along with his mobbed-up in-laws.

[bertman]

17. Thank you, thank you, thank you, NewJeffCT.

Today I am officially nominating John McCain to be JESUS CHRIST.


By the way, leveymg, this is a FANTASTIC POST. Gangsta John, our first POW mobster.

[trof]

51. He was POW, too.

While he was a POW.

[hootinholler]

6. Dang Mark!

You keep finding the best dirt!

Thanks for this, I've been wondering about the 'Keating 5' since I wasn't paying much attention back then.

-Hoot

[Alexander]

7. K&R for the Keating crooks.

[autorank]

8. Criminal elite ... sounds like a replay of the same old same old

Great post, this is really superb. This is a theme that's entirely relevant to the political
campaign. That is why we'll never hear about it, even though it was developed by MSM.

Won't hear a word. And McCain gripes about the press.

Thanks!

[blm]

32. Exactly...The Powerful, Criminal Elite. Just scratch at these illegal operations and you find BCCI

underneath.

THAT is why BCCI is STILL the most important matter this nation needs opened up for full assessment. It's outstanding matters led to the Walmartization of this nation, 9-11, this Iraq war, and the sabre rattling against Iran.

[Lars39]

9. K&R

Wow

[Number23]

10. Good food for thought. Nice 'n meaty...

Particularly the Keating info. Thanks for putting this together.

[PATRICK]

11. The Mafia gave

winning horse tips to Hoover. I bet that McCain gets special treatment in his Vegas betting too.

[annabanana]

12. Carl Lindner OUGHT to be a household name. . .n/t

[pinniped]

13. Not only that, this assclown's commercial claims he took on big oil.

He took on big oil all right. He took them up on their $$$$ offers and the tours of the oil rigs.

[mod mom]

14. Lindner's United Fruit Co (Chiquita) successfully sued Cinci Enq despite it's story being true:

NOTE THE DRUG SMUGGLING CONNECTION:


Last week, in one of the largest and most unusual settlements by a news organization, The Cincinnati Enquirer published an apology across the top of its front page and said it had agreed to pay Chiquita Brands International Inc. more than $10 million to avoid being sued for a series of articles that exposed the fruit company's criminal practices.

The articles, which appeared in an 18-page special section on May 3rd, were partially based on 2,000 internal voice mails that were said to have been obtained from "a high ranking Chiquita executive."

-snip




Nevertheless, the Enquirer has erased all the articles from its website; previously existing links on the internet to the stories now all lead to the Enquirer's apology to Chiquita instead.

Chiquita, formerly known as the United Fruit Company, is the world s largest banana producer. Among the illegal Chiquita practices uncovered by the Enquirer s investigation:

Chiquita secretly controls dozens of supposedly independent banana companies. It also suppresses union activity on the farms it controls.
Despite its pact with environmental groups to abide by pesticide safety standards, Chiquita subsidiaries have used pesticides in Central America that are banned in the U.S., Canada, and the European Union. Chiquita also released harmful toxic chemicals into farms, killing at least one worker in Costa Rica according to a coroner's report.
Chiquita's fruit transport ships have been used to smuggle cocaine into Europe. More than a ton of cocaine was seized from 7 Chiquita ships in 1997. (The Enquirer story says the illegal shipment was traced to lax Colombian security rather than to Chiquita)
Chiquita executives bribed Colombian officials
Chiquita called in the Honduran military to evict residents of a farm village; the soldiers forced the farmers out at gunpoint, and the village was bulldozed.
An employee of a competitor filed a federal lawsuit charging that armed men hired by Chiquita tried to kidnap him in Honduras.


-snip
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/0342243



In Terrorism-Law Case, Chiquita Points to U.S.
Firm Says It Awaited Justice Dept. Advice
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 2, 2007; Page A01



On April 24, 2003, a board member of Chiquita International Brands disclosed to a top official at the Justice Department that the king of the banana trade was evidently breaking the nation's anti-terrorism laws.

Roderick M. Hills, who had sought the meeting with former law firm colleague Michael Chertoff, explained that Chiquita was paying "protection money" to a Colombian paramilitary group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations. Hills said he knew that such payments were illegal, according to sources and court records, but said that he needed Chertoff's advice.

Chiquita, Hills said, would have to pull out of the country if it could not continue to pay the violent right-wing group to secure its Colombian banana plantations. Chertoff, then assistant attorney general and now secretary of homeland security, affirmed that the payments were illegal but said to wait for more feedback, according to five sources familiar with the meeting.

Justice officials have acknowledged in court papers that an official at the meeting said they understood Chiquita's situation was "complicated," and three of the sources identified that official as Chertoff. They said he promised to get back to the company after conferring with national security advisers and the State Department about the larger ramifications for U.S. interests if the corporate giant pulled out overnight.

-snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102601.html?hpid=topnews




-snip

A "false and misleading picture"? The Enquirer's lawyers may have found it necessary to bend over fast and far. But in fact the "Chiquita Secrets Revealed" series presents a damning, carefully documented array of charges, most of them "untainted" by those purloined executive voice mails. Gallagher's and McWhirter's allegations are largely based on old-fashioned reportorial legwork: land records in Central America, interviews with environmental scientists and trade unions, lawsuit records, leaked corporate memoranda and the reporters' own visits to workers' villages and camps.

Consider:

In Honduras, Guatemala and Colombia, Chiquita "secretly controls dozens of supposedly independent banana companies," the articles charge, evading laws limiting foreign companies' ownership of farms by setting up local fronts for the corporation's under-the-table investments. One Honduran lawyer who works for Chiquita openly told the reporters that the corporation was trying to "hide its assets" to evade ownership restrictions, to "get rid of its Honduran labor union" and protect itself from "lawsuits and child labor law violations."

Throughout much of Latin America, McWhirter and Gallagher charge, Chiquita subsidiaries spray plantations with highly toxic pesticides banned in the United States and Europe, in direct violation of an agreement with environmentalists. They uncovered the autopsy report of an 18-year-old agricultural worker at a Chiquita subsidiary in Costa Rica who died after working in a recently sprayed field. "He didn't have any experience in this kind of job and he wasn't using any protective gear like gloves and mask either," one of the young man's co-workers had told Costa Rican authorities. The company refuses to allow independent scientific researchers to study the impact of pesticides on its plantations; workers are exposed to pesticides without protective clothing, and runoff from Chiquita pesticides contaminates workers' drinking water.

Chiquita security guards, according to the Enquirer series, are widely accused of using "brute force to enforce their authority on plantations operated or controlled by Chiquita. In an internationally controversial case, Chiquita called in the Honduran military to enforce a court order to evict residents of a farm village; the village was bulldozed and villagers run out at gunpoint."
McWhirter and Gallagher also detailed the precarious economic condition of workers on Chiquita plantations.

To repeat, none of these charges -- none -- depend on Chiquita's hacked voice mails. The series does present one allegation to which the voice mails are central: that company executives bribed Colombian officials to gain use of a government warehouse. And there, the voice mail messages Gallagher recorded, legally or not, were deeply revealing of Chiquita's mind-set. "We can only fire him with cause because of his involvement in the Colombian problem if we file a criminal charge against him with Colombian authorities," the series quoted company lawyer David Hills saying of another executive. "Clearly we would not want to do that because we would be implicating ourselves." Another message caught company Vice Chairman Keith Lindner suggesting the company muscle Panama's foreign minister out of a European Union trade mission deemed not in Chiquita's best interests.

-snip

http://www.salon.com/media/1998/07/08media.html

Lindner-not a nice guy!

[leveymg]

20. These are definitely NOT nice people behind McCain.

:hide: Who says the Mob's dead in America? Ask Jack Abramoff about that. :hide:

[mod mom]

26. leveymg, did you read the interview Thom Hartman did w Bob Ney yesterday?

very interesting-he seems to think his prosecution was politically motivated over passing an Iranian peace plan. Love to here what you think about it. In Ohio there has long been speculation that Ney had CIA connections.

[leveymg]

36. No, but please post a link to Hartman's interview w/ Ney.

Sure some of us would like to read that. :hi:

P.S. - I've long thought that the reason Abramoff and his pals were finally pulled down was because they strayed too far off the reservation. McCain is at the center of the Abramoff coverup and sanitization effort.

[mod mom]

43. Can be found here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3832936&mesg_id=3832936

sorry I'd repost it but I'm trying to get my kids ready for the start of school.

Thanks for all your informative posts :hi:

[rubberducky]

15. ..

:kick:

[grannie4peace]

16. corsi was right about something

it's funny the shit he throws only sticks on repugs

[BonnieJW]

18. Problem

NONE of this is any good unless it makes the MSM, and it won't. It's got to be front and center on WaPo, NYT, CNN, etc. It won't.

[leveymg]

21. If it gets picked up by the campaign, it will.

That's the rules of the game.

[bertman]

39. You are kidding aren't you, leveymg?? They're taking the HIGH ROAD, so they will only be using

POSITIVE TALKING POINTS.

And this definitely ain't positive.

Besides, you can believe that Chiquita has plenty of Dems on the payroll too. That'll keep Obama's team silent on this.

[leveymg]

41. Remember the line in "The Untouchables" about bringing knives to gunfights . . .?

Obama's staff should get some popcorn, stop what they're doing for two hours, and watch it. :popcorn:

[bertman]

47. Yes, I know the scene and I agree wholeheartedly. Right now they're carrying a switchblade

and think they can hang against the guy with the AK.

[eleny]

19. McWiseguy McCain was one of their bought boys in the U.S. Congress

K&R

[leveymg]

23. The Keating 5 ethics probe was the least they could have done

There's an awful lot more on the record about these thugs that never hit the headlines.

And, it's just waiting for someone at the NYT, WaPo, National Journal, whatever, to come along and turn over the compost heap and describe what's still moving around under there.

And, man, it sure stinks that nobody has.

[eleny]

25. Perhaps Olbermann could be a start - Why not send some of this to him

Btw, I so appreciate your thread. I've been going over the details to commit them to memory and will read the links you provided. I know some people here who won't vote for Obama because "of those Chicago connections". I want to be prepared to discuss the McCain/Marley relationship since McCain went to Congress when Marley controlled Arizona politics.

Do you know if the book on Keating includes the info about Marley as well?

[leveymg]

35. Some people here have sent Olbermann some of my earlier work on McCain

The article above has a link to one of three parts I did on him. This is Part IV, actually.

Here are the other links:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/leveymg/360
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/leveymg/366

The focus in Trust Me is on Lindner-Keating. Follow the links here for more on Marley-Keating.

[eleny]

44. I've been researching and found the Dougherty/Silverman article in the Phoenix New Times News

Plowing through that now and will go back to your links as well. Thanks for the reply.

Have you found any links between Reagan and the Arizona? I'm interested since he elevated Rehnquist to Chief Justice and appointed O'Connor to the SCOTUS. We can presume, but I like the nuts and bolts details that link the people together. Online, I can't find the person or organization that makes that link. I haven't read any books abut Reagan. Maybe that's where such information can be found. Or my search words aren't precise enough.

Aside from all this being hair raising and dispiriting, it's also altogether fascinating.

[leveymg]

57. The line about Cindy's unhappy "marriage of convenience" really stands out. Did she get her opiate

addiction because of a bad marriage, or because he needs them (his doctors keep him on minimal pain-relief), and he was copping unprescribed meds from her sources?

... a very sad, lonely woman whose marriage of convenience to a U.S. Senator has driven her to: distance herself from friends; cover feelings of despair with drugs; and replace lonely moments with self-indulgences.

That article links to this one, which states:

... she told the Hensleys her addiction was rooted in her unhappiness--her marriage--and that she took the pills to mask her depression.

She has all the money she could spend in a lifetime. The only reason I can think of is that she wants - power.

What do we really know about John McCain's medical condition, including his prescription drug history? Maybe, they just enjoy popping Nebutols together. Happy family. Drugs are the ultimate aphrodesiac, after all. Or, is it that opiates are the religion of the elites?

That brings us to the Question of the Week: Could a U.S. Senator (and his wife) be a junkie, and get away with it, if they both had a good enough excuse?

[eleny]

58. If his records stayed shut we won't be able to draw any conclusions

So I'll stay with following the money at this point. But it's an interesting question about McCain that I've never asked myself.

I have found some mainstream info about the Bronfman running liquor from Canada to the U.S. in a History Channel documentary about Prohibition.
http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/tv_guide/full_details/Crime/programme_2299.php

[Gabi Hayes]

60. a LOTof this was tied together by Pete Brewton in his seminal book:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=7587

Pete Brewton is an award-winning journalist who has worked for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. Brewton has also taught investigative journalism at the University of Houston.

In 1992 Brewton published The Mafia, CIA and George Bush. In the book Brewton explains how George Bush and Lloyd Bentson are members of a small circle of powerful Texas businessmen who have done business with the Mafia and enjoyed the covert assistance of the CIA. Brewton argues that money scammed from Savings & Loans went to fund covert CIA operations, including Iran-Contra and secret weapons deals.

Brewton also explores the relationship that George Bush had with Ted Shackley, Carl E. Jenkins, Paul Helliwell, Rafael Quintero and Thomas Clines. The people I believe were involved in the assassination of JFK.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKbrewton.htm

I read this book a LONG time ago, and it disgusted me, making me wonder just how paranoid a person can be and still function in a world gone through the looking glass. the years have shown that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and BCCI, as blm has said, could be the nexus of all that sprang from the dems' COWARDICE in not pursuring Iran/Contra during Reagan/Bush, and, exasperatingly, Clinton......

[defendandprotect]

22. McCain . . . united in corruption . . . while waving the Bibble ---

[Waiting For Everyman]

24. Outstanding! Thank you.

I still say... scratch big money anytime, and you find big crime.

[burf]

27. Veerrrrry interesting......

A question that I have: Was there any involvement by McCain with BCCI when they were the bank of Osama bin Laden? I have read some about BCCI being the terrorist bankers but have only seen that Sen John Kerry was doing any investigating and was basically shut down in those efforts.

[leveymg]

38. Yes, when McC got his money passed through, BCCI was run by the same Saudi bankers and intel

chiefs under Kamal Adham who were funding UBL. These guys are basically the Bush family's business partners, and have been since G.H.W. was CIA Director.

Here are some links, mine at the bottom:

An Icon Falls in The B.C.C.I. Scandal - TIMEA B.C.C.I. director, Sheik Kamal Adham, last week became the second prominent Saudi to be ... Mexico's Cocaine Capital · Obama and McCain's Test of Faith ...
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976182,00.html?iid=chix-sphere - 35k - Cached - Similar pages
More results from www.time.com »

U.S. Prosecutor Met Sheik Involved in the B.C.C.I Case - New York ...Sheik Kamal was also accused of helping B.C.C.I. acquire a secret ... Foreign Policy: 2 Camps Seek McCain's Ear · Obama Says Real-Life Experience Trumps ...
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDD123EF93AA15753C1A967958260 - 44k - Cached - Similar pages

Two Investors Testify on Dealings in B.C.C.I. Case - New York TimesLast week the jury heard testimony from two of those investors, Sheik Kamal Adham, a major figure in the B.C.C.I. scandal, and Sayed Jawhary, ...
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DF163CF935A35754C0A965958260&sec=&spon= - 36k - Cached - Similar pages
More results from query.nytimes.com »

leveymg's Journal - PARTNERS IN CRIME: The Clintons, the Bushes ...- 5 visits - Aug 17Feb 11, 2008 ... The relationships among former CIA personnel and BCCI front men and nominees, including Kamal Adham, Abdul Khalil, and Mohammed Irvani, ...
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/leveymg/347 - 77k - Cached - Similar pages

[burf]

45. Thank you for the informative article and the

prompt reply. Have a good day!

[blm]

46. Kerry worked for 5 1/2 yrs to unravel BCCI with both GOP and Dem powerstructure blocking him.

Clinton could have cooperated with the investigation of the many outstanding matters in the report issued Dec 1992 to the outgoing and incoming administrations, but he sided with the secrecy and privilege of GHWBush and his powerful cronies. Jackson Stephens knew exactly what he was doing when he tapped Clinton to be the Dem to succeed and protect GHWBush throughout the 90s. That is exactly why we ended up with Bush2.

[Waiting For Everyman]

28. Lindner funded FARC, and then McC's rescue photo-op recently

Ok, now I get it...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/mccain-fundraiser-oversaw_n_110354.html

Chiquita's funding of violent paramilitaries does not end with the right-wing AUC. The fruit giant "had been making similar payments to the leftist FARC and ELN guerrillas" since 1989, also on Lindner's watch. Those payments ended in 1997 as "control of the company's banana-growing area shifted" to the AUC, according to the Associated Press.

McCain, who is currently visiting Colombia to promote free trade, has described FARC as "one of the worst" terrorist groups and accused his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, of being unwilling to support Colombian President Uribe's anti-terrorist efforts.

That the Arizona Republican is raising funds from a man whose company once paid that very same terrorist group seems likely to sully his charge.

[spanone]

29. don't tell the media, they think it's neck and neck

k&r

[Octafish]

30. McCain was set to become chair of Armed Services Committe in 2006...

...had the election gone the pukes' way.

Who knows who his true masters are, McCain's been making the big bucks for the right crowd for a long time.

Business & Lobbying

Tanker deal may benefit McCain, Ala.

By Roxana Tiron
Posted: 11/01/06 12:00 AM

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) played a major role in ending the notorious Boeing Air Force mid-air refueling tanker deal several years ago.

McCain, who will become the chairman of the Armed Services panel next year should the GOP retain its majority in the Senate, is now stepping in again just as Air Force officials have declared the addition of a new tanker program to be their No. 1 priority.

This time, McCain’s reach and influence on the program could not only bring good fortunes to the state of Alabama, but could in some ways benefit his own 2008 presidential bid because Southern support will be essential for the GOP moderate.

Alabama has added appeal for 2008 presidential candidates because earlier this year the state legislature voted to move up the primaries to the spring. And McCain would bolster his candidacy with a strong showing in the early primaries.

Just last week, McCain appeared in Mobile, Ala. with GOP Gov. Bob Riley, who is up for reelection this year, to talk about an open competition in the tanker program. And Riley, along with the Alabama congressional delegation, worked out a deal with EADS, one of the defense giants competing for the contract. The Alabama lawmakers stand to gain from the open competition as they aim to make Mobile a magnet for aerospace business.

CONTINUED...

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/tanker-deal-may-benefit-mccain-ala.-2006-11-01.html

Lots of money in defense contracting.
Riley, huh? That McCain buddy is also connected to Rove and the railroading of Gov. Siegelman.

Thank you for another excellent post, leveymg. Proud to be KR57B.

[mod mom]

33. McCain helped Riley by refusing to release key evidence linking Riley to Abramoff:

Today's McCain Myth: John McCain doesn't do political favors for friends.

Though John McCain has repeatedly claimed he took on Jack Abramoff and the
Republican culture of corruption, a recent story revealed that McCain covered
for his friend, Alabama Governor Bob Riley, who was fighting a tight
re-election battle at the time, by refusing to release key evidence that would
have linked Riley to the Abramoff scandal. Yesterday, Riley returned the favor
by endorsing McCain.

As chair of a committee conducting an investigation on Abramoff, McCain had
access to an incriminating email sent just one month after Riley was elected
to office detailing what Abramoff wanted Riley to do in return for the
contributions Abramoff's tribal clients directed toward his campaign. But
instead of including the email in his report on the Abramoff scandal, McCain
instead chose to withhold the email, shielding Riley from becoming implicated
in the scandal as he was waging a bitter fight to keep his seat, a race that
even Karl Rove became involved in.

This cycle of quid pro quo seriously calls McCain's integrity into question
and is further evidence that the so-called "maverick" isn't the Washington
reformer he claims to be.

-snip
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS189664+04-Mar-2008+PRN20080304

IF THERE'S CORRUPTION, SEEMS THE "MAVERICK" HAS CLOSE LINKS!

:hi: Thanks for the info. I'd sure like to see some payback for what was done to Gov Siegelmann, as well as the rest of the country!

[leveymg]

42. That was just one of about 742,000 e-mails McCain withheld from the public as Chair of the Abramoff

probe.

Imagine what are in the others?

[Octafish]

62. Did John McCain deny Boeing a $100 billion contract for an Alabama endorsement?

Should our Congress launch a serious investigation into the Siegelman Affair, it would bring down the entire BFEE.

Did John McCain deny Boeing a $100 billion contract for an Alabama endorsement?

Posted Mar 8th 2008 7:26PM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Boeing Co (BA), Northrop Grumman (NOC)

As he stumps for President, Senator John McCain likes to brag about how he kept Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) from winning a contract to build Tankers -- in-flight refueling aircraft -- for the Air Force in 2004. Last week, the Air Force announced that the winner of the contract was Boeing's arch-rival, EADS, parent of Airbus which is based in Toulouse, France and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC).

That decision is sitting very well with the governor of Alabama, where Northrop Grumman is based. Republic Governor Bob Riley endorsed McCain a mere three days after the Air Force contract was announced. The EADS-Northrop tanker, based on the Airbus A330, will be built in Mobile, AL, where The Associated Press reports it will produce 2,000 new jobs, and support 25,000 jobs at suppliers nationwide.

Is it just a coincidence that Riley endorsed McCain so soon after that contract was awarded? Boeing supporters in Congress may be wondering and they are angry with McCain "for scuttling an earlier deal that would have let Boeing build the next generation of Air Force refueling tankers." AP reports that Boeing now will miss out on a deal that it says would have supported 44,000 new and existing jobs at the company and suppliers in 40 states.

SNIP...

AP also reports that Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. said, "Having made sure that Iraq gets new schools, roads, bridges and dams that we deny America, now we are making sure that France gets the jobs that Americans used to have. We are sending the jobs overseas, all because John McCain demanded it."

Did McCain have anything to do with awarding the Tanker contract to EADS-Northrop? If so, what was his role? Did the endorsement from the Alabama governor have anything to do with the decision?

CONTINUED...

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/03/08/did-john-mccain-deny-boeing-a-100-billion-contract-for-an-alaba/

Here's hoping the next President can move Madame Speaker in that direction.



Thanks for all you are doing to make it so, mod mom!

[leveymg]

40. The tanker deal is what's really going to sink him, when the MSM pays attention to it.

It's gotten some play, and the DNC did highlight it a few months ago, but it hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as it will.

Don't f-ck with Boeing, if you want to be Prez or even Head of the Armed Services Comm.

KR57B???

[Octafish]

61. The spaghetti is gonna hit the fan.

Think "cheeze-it" and smile and forget I ever heard about no stinking tanker deal.

McCain advisers lobbied in EADS tanker deal

By Jim Kuhnhenn and Matthew Daly
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

WASHINGTON: Top current advisers to Senator John McCain's presidential campaign last year lobbied for European Aeronautic Defense & Space, which beat Boeing to a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract, taking sides in a bidding fight that McCain has tried to referee for more than five years.

Two of the advisers gave up their lobbying work when they joined McCain's campaign. A third, the former Texas Representative Tom Loeffler, lobbied for EADS while serving as McCain's national finance chairman.

EADS is the parent company of Airbus, which teamed up with U.S.-based Northrop Grumman to win the lucrative aerial refueling contract on Feb. 29. JMcCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been a key figure in the Pentagon's years-long attempt to complete a deal on the tanker. McCain helped block an earlier tanker contract with Boeing and prodded the Pentagon in 2006 to develop bidding procedures that did not exclude Airbus.

EADS retained Ogilvy Government Relations and The Loeffler Group to lobby for the tanker deal last year, months after McCain sent two letters urging the Defense Department to make sure the bidding proposals guaranteed competition.

"They never lobbied him related to the issues, and the letters went out before they were contracted" by EADS, a McCain campaign spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker, said.

According to lobbying records filed with the Senate, Loeffler Group lobbyists on the project included Loeffler and Susan Nelson, who left the firm and is now the campaign's finance director. The Ogilvy lobbyist John Green, who was assigned the EADS work, recently took a leave of absence to volunteer for McCain as the campaign's congressional liaison.

"The aesthetics are not good, especially since he is an advocate of reform and transparency," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the aerospace consulting firm Teal Group. "Boeing advocates are going to use this as ammunition."

CONTINUED...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/11/business/lobby.php

Kicked, Recommend #57 and Bookmarked.

[Edleft]

31. Move along - nothing to see here

How dare you look behind McCain's curtain!! Don't you know that Rezko is still out there haunting Obama???

If I didn't know better, I would think that you people get your information from some disreputable site, not like Fox news......

[frylock]

34. keating five?!! how about POW five point five.

John McCain also received several contributions from the Viet Cong when he was SAVING his strength to LOAN comfort to his fellow POWs, you big poopyhead.

[bluesmail]

37. What's so interesting is the slimy lawyer was Rehnquist.

[Octafish]

63. Eagle Eye Re

Lil Bill, enjoying another Happy Hour in his Sgt. Pepper's best.



Know your BFEE: Vote Suppressor Supreme, the Turd Bill Rehnquist

[mod mom]

48. Guess what? The p(R)esident just appointed Lindner to the Board of Trustees for the JFK Center for

The Performing Arts:

From the White House

The President intends to appoint the following individuals to be Members of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for six-year terms expiring 09/01/14:

Carl H. Lindner III, of Ohio

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blog02&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aec38bb2b-982e-46ba-819a-da01a547e8eaPost%3aaac009e9-96eb-4820-8030-e33b58362bbc&sid=sitelife.cincinnati.com

UFB!

[eleny]

49. I just read this OP by you from back in April

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5707283&mesg_id=5718855

Makes me want to crawl in a hole or go to a mountain top. What a bunch of horn toads on both sides of the aisle.

[mod mom]

53. Yeah I get a lot of criticism for my opposition of the Clintons but some folks

would rather where blinders than face the truth.

I have a reporter friend who terms the problem is not about party except for the MONEY PARTY. Follow the money as the old adage goes. :hi:

[leveymg]

54. You don't get any arguments from me, about that.

They hedge their investments, don't they? Creating political leaders in both parties, and compromising them, is the Black-Scholls of politics -- it's a science.

[mod mom]

50. Lindner gave sustantail support to Bill Clinton (for trade issues) but more to GOP

Carl Lindner
Former Board Chairman, Chiquita Brands International; Chairman and CEO, American Financial Group; Majority Owner and CEO, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati, Ohio

What he gave: Amount raised for Bush 2004: At least $200,000
Amount contributed to Bush-Cheney inauguration: $200,000 ($100,000 from Lindner; $100,000 from American Financial Group)
Soft money contributions, 1999-2002: $2,777,000 ($2,030,000 to Republicans; $747,000 to Democrats).
TOTAL: $3,277,000

What he got: The World Trade Organization forced European Union nations to open their markets to Chiquita bananas, while Lindner gave substantial financial support to the Democratic Party under former President Bill Clinton and to President George W. Bush. The move by the WTO accelerated a trade dispute between the EU and the United States that, in 2003, threatened to add more than $6 billion in tariffs on U.S. products, including $2.2 billion in tariffs on products manufactured in political battleground states.



-snip

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=196963

[Kurovski]

52. K&R. (nt)

[Phred42]

55. K&R - Great job

[GreenTea]

56. Republican McCain is so fucking shameless! A liar without any integrity what so ever!

[Gabi Hayes]

59. spin off of this thread, sorta, with an answer for scaredy dems for the "ayres terror" problem

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6732347

[Kurovski]

64. Kick. (nt)