Posted on 04/11/2008 10:08:35 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Two of Sen. John McCain's top advisers and fundraisers are among several Republican and Democratic presidential campaign officials whose lobbying firms have been paid more than $15 million by foreign governments since 2005.
The firms of McCain senior adviser Charlie Black, who until recently was the chairman of Washington-based BKSH & Associates, and campaign co-chairman Thomas G. Loeffler, who heads the Loeffler Group in San Antonio, received millions of dollars lobbying the White House, Congress and others as agents of nearly a dozen foreign clients in recent years.
[snip]
c Rob Allyn, head of the Dallas-based Allyn & Co., a public relations, advertising and political media firm, who was paid $720,000 by the Mexican government in 2006 to polish its image and call for a guest worker program for millions of Mexican nationals illegally in the United States.
The lobbying efforts came at a time Congress and the White House were debating comprehensive immigration-reform legislation, which was defeated in June. Then-President Vicente Fox was an outspoken critic of the proposed legislation.
Mr. Black and Mr. Loeffler also are listed by Mr. McCain's campaign Web site as bundlers, expected to collect thousands of dollars in donations from several sources to bypass federal election laws limiting individual contributors to a $2,300 maximum donation.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Ping!
Wow.
How very, very... maverick.
Good God, what next?
Great job, GoP!
We got us a real winner in November..
for foreigners!
McPain can save himself in my eyes if he chooses Newt as his VP.
THE POINT <----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> YOU
If McCain doesn’t pick a running mate who’s tough on illegals and agree to leave all decisions with respect to illegals to that VP pick he’s done.
Some of McCain’s other positions I could stomach but I will never accept his position on illegals and I’m not alone.
Me, I'm voting for conservatives downticket, and simply leaving the top space on the ballot blank.
“Mr. Black and Mr. Loeffler also are listed by Mr. McCain’s campaign Web site as bundlers, expected to collect thousands of dollars in donations from several sources to bypass federal election laws limiting individual contributors to a $2,300 maximum donation.”
Why, there oughta be a law! Oh, there is? Never mind.
http://www.campaignfinancesite.org/legislation/mccain.html
McCain just emphasized in his interview with Hannity, his unbending stance on creating a “guest worker” program.
Well, guess what, those who came here as “guest workers” simply disappeared into the American population after the work was through. They will continue to do so and they will not follow any of these ridiculous rules McCain has outlined.
McCain is for wide open borders, contrary to what he has said recently. This is just more election year rhetoric and pandering for votes from Conservatives.
No way does he get my vote or my support, for any reason. Too much damage has been done over the years for there ever to be a reconciliation for this statist RINO.
I am now declaring the winner in the 2008 US Presidential race. The winner is.... Mexico.
God-help-us-all BUMP.
The only way now to get Republicans to go conservative is to buy them, apparently. So, who’s our clearinghouse?
Me, I’m voting for conservatives downticket, and simply leaving the top space on the ballot blank.
I’ll vote for conservatives in every race, even if I have to write one in.
It has been obvious for a long time that McCain does not have in mind the best interests of this country. For a while it has appeared he has foreign handlers or is in some way beholden to foreign interests. This would explain his frenzy for amnesty and open broders.
Again, McCain made it quite clear in the latest Senate sessions that he was in favor of qualified amnesty programs.
This is nothing new.
Why would it be surprising that one of his campaign advisers has lobbied to advance a legislative agenda that McCain has publicly supported?
I'm not sure what the relevance is.
I can also use flash cards and/or finger puppets, if necessary. Whatever is needed; whatever works. ;)
I'm not sure what the relevance is.
Already covered, re: posts #10 and #13. Start there.
Wait till the media blitz begins, funded by that 40 million the Democrats have pledged to take McCain down.
There is much ammunition available for them to use against him. He is also a big and slow target and will go down like the Titanic. We can then expect to see his temper begin to surface. Right now, he has been working extra hard to stay cool but he has not had any tough challenges yet. Give it time, he will crack. He always does and quite easily at that, once the opposition learns his pressure points. And there are many, because of his long history of blowing up, it will be easy to trigger his detonator.
He's another "global warming" idiot.
It should never have been illegal for able-bodied Mexicans seeking work to come to the USA in the first place - our backwards immigration laws, created by Democrats in the 1960s, are themselves wrong. Just bad law.
The fact that illegal aliens avail themselves of government largesse is can easily be fixed by changing government programs. It's not as if there isn't already a ton of waste in these programs to begin with, apart from immigration.
The same goes for taxes - the fact that taxes are too high has nothing to do with immigration - it has to do with a Congress that never met a program it didn't like.
As far as the American public opposing amnesty is concerned. McCain should take it as a message that his stance on the issue is far too lenient.
The fact remains that deporting every illegal immigrant in this country would be an economic and human rights disaster, and our focus should be on eliminating aliens who commit violent crimes or engage in the drug trade.
The illegal aliens whose criminal activities extend to trespassing the border and buying papers in order to stay should pay a far steeper price than McCain is willing to impose, certainly.
But some kind of just punishment and clear road to legal rehabilitation needs to be found.
And neither the let 'em all in people nor the drive 'em all out people have a workable solution.
“Well, guess what, those who came here as “guest workers” lsimply disappeared into the American population after the work was through”
My only experience with guest workers was in the 50’s when I was doing work in cenral California, and the progem worked very well then. I not sure what the difference was from recent programs. Perhaps back in the 50’s they were paid in Mexico. Of course, Chavez ended that program.
Tell us about your experiences with a guest worker program?
“Well, guess what, those who came here as “guest workers” lsimply disappeared into the American population after the work was through”
My only experience with guest workers was in the 50’s when I was doing work in cenral California, and the progem worked very well then. I not sure what the difference was from recent programs. Perhaps back in the 50’s they were paid in Mexico. Of course, Chavez ended that program.
Tell us about your experiences with a guest worker program?
THE LEADING MODERATOR OF FR JUST KILLED NEWS FROM JPOST SAYING THAT AN UPCOMING REPORT WAS ABOUT TO BE PUBLISHED STATING THAT SADDAM WMDS HAD BEEN MOVED TO SYRIA.
AS FREEREPUBLIC DOESN’T WANT TO SPREAD THE STORY (?!), PLEASE GO TO LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS WHERE THE STORY HAS BEEN SHOWN :
An upcoming joint US-Israel report on the September 6 IAF strike on a Syrian facility will claim that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein transferred weapons of mass destruction to the country, Channel 2 stated Monday.
"Not wanting another 50mil+ illegals forcibly rammed down our collective gullet" is not even remotely equivalent to "deport every illegal immigrant already in this country." Straw man argument.
It should never have been illegal for able-bodied Mexicans seeking work to come to the USA in the first place
It isn't "illegal for able-bodied Mexicans seeking work to come to the USA in the first place." They can apply to do so legally, just as immigrants from every single other nation on the face of the planet are required to do. Straw man argument.
In the face of this economy staggering under the stupidity of all the financial bubbles amnesty and guestworkers ain’t gonna play. The old potato head is dead in the water, Jim Jones Obama is gonna eat his lunch.
Do. NOT.
Here’s a pertinent portion of (the ever-popular campaign finance reform act) McCain/Feingold:
SEC. 303. STRENGTHENING FOREIGN MONEY BAN.
Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended—
(1) by striking the heading and inserting the following: `contributions and donations by foreign nationals’’; and
(2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
(a) Prohibition.—It shall be unlawful for—
``(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make—
``(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;
``(B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or
``(C) an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 304(f)(3)); or
``(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national.’’.
[[Page 116 STAT. 97]]
I’m sure this will be a popular statement here at FR, but I’ll say it anyway: Ross Perot was right!
But the spectacle of all those lobbyists in “thousand dollar suits and Gucci shoes” has progressed far beyond what it was in 1992. Now it’s probably “three thousand dollar suits and Gucci shoes.” Reading this article is beyond disgusting. The only conflict of interest anyone in DC is now concerned about are any laws or traditions that conflict with the DC insiders desire to cash in on the big foreign lobbying bucks.
We’ll never have honest, responsive government as long as these constant gaggles of lobbyists are swarming around every issue before our governement.
Wonder how Trent Lott’s new venture is going.
And the proposed legislation does not provide qualified amnesty for any new illegal immigration.
Straw man argument.
Yours is, indeed.
It isn't "illegal for able-bodied Mexicans seeking work to come to the USA in the first place." They can apply to do so legally
The amount of legal visas available is tiny and set by a 40 year old formula.
For all intents and purposes 95% of Mexicans who want to legitimately come to the US have no legal way of obtaining a visa, other than waiting indefinitely for a lottery.
Keep in mind McCain is being flacked by the same types Rooty Giuliani was supposed to win with. You remember Rooty? His losing campaign has achieved cult status as the stupidest strategy in American political history.
===================================
McCain's got a strange group flacking his candidacy.
McC has emphasized he won't "pander" to so/cons to get this important constituency behind his candidacy. According to McQueeg, it's called "pandering" only when applied to conservatives.
McC has No such problem pandering to illegals. McC is all puckered up, on his knees, sucking up to illegals like a dry drunk with his mouth glued to a beer keg.
Alarmingly, McCain chose a dual-loyalty traitor to be his "Hispanic Outreach Director." Talk about pandering-----McCain said he chose Hernandez because he AGREES with his positions.
Juan Hernandez was born in Dallas and decided as an adult to become a dual-national Mexican citizen. His last verifiable job was serving in Mexican President Vicente Fox's cabinet as Fox's "American Reconquista Director." Hernandez then worked for Bush hater George Soros' international foundations---(one such foundation published Hernendez's book that taunts Americans).
Hernandez believes all illegal Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the USA should become dual citizens and consider themselves Mexicans first, "to the 8th generation." The "New American Pioneers" proclaimed in his book are the illegal alien invaders he urges to become settlers in the USA for "Reconquista"---the plan to take back the SW.
===================================
Another group switch-hitting to McCain is shortstuff Fox pundit, Billy Kristol, his daddy, and their crowd of pukeneos.
The Kristols are cheerleaders for the current admin's most destructive polices---including the twice-failed amnesty, and the trillion dollar bleeding of US treasure into Mideast hellholes (and into pockets of war profiteers).
The conservative-hating Kristols are also designated drivers of the wacky "National Greatness" thingy---which must have been written in a drunken stupor.
Kristol and the pukeneos first-choice for prez was Rooty Giuliani; they were the ones orchestrating Rooty's stupid strategy to religiously cleanse the Repub party and kick conservatives to the curb.
The Kristol crowd switched to McCain when their boy Giuliani tanked like a deadweight going down a 300 ft cistern. The pukeneos were directing Giuliani's cockamamie strategy to "save himself" for Florida---which has reached cult status as the stupidest strategy in campaign history.
Giuliani ferociously campaigned (and lost) in EVERY primary/caucus, then campaigned 61 days straight in Fla, and came in a distant third..........without conservatives.
Now we await McC's disastrous sucking up to hyphenates. Keep in mind McQueeg helped write the twice-failed amnesty bill we fought so hard to stop.
How about the ones who already have businesses and property? Will their property be seized? Their businesses closed by the police?
Make it undesireable to be here as an illegal alien.
It would be better to make it easier to immigrate here but make it very undesireable to be a freeloader.
More like Soros got himself 3 winners come November. WE have already lost...
THIS LEGISLATON JUST PASSED IN ARIZONA--JUAN'S HOME STATE:
Fed up with the devastating effect of illegal immigration, Arizona has enacted the nation’s toughest laws to curb the problem and evidently its working. State legislators have passed laws barring illegal immigrants from receiving government services, posting bail for serious crimes and winning punitive damages in lawsuits. This year a new law makes it illegal for businesses to hire undocumented workers and those that do can be shut down.
The state legislator who sponsored the work bill, Representative Russell Pearce, says the law’s undeniably positive effects include smaller class sizes, shorter emergency room waits and an overall huge savings to taxpayers. The Republican congressman drafted the bill because studies revealed that illegal immigration cost Arizona taxpayers over $2 billion annually, not including the toll of crime and destruction.
It turns out that enough illegal immigrants have either fled the U.S. or been deported that officials in the Mexican state of Sonora, which shares an extensive border with Arizona, have complained that too many of their fellow countrymen have returned. They miss the remittances sent from the U.S. as well as smaller class sizes in local schools.
Mexican government officials knew Arizona’s tough employment verification law would become their worst nightmare, which explains why they tried blocking it. Earlier this year a delegation of nine legislators from Sonora toured Tucson and held a news conference to say that their beloved state cannot handle the demand for housing, jobs and schools resulting from illegal Mexican workers returning home.
One baffled Mexican legislator, Leticia Amparano Gamez, asked in Spanish “how can they pass a law like this?” She went on to explain that Mexico is not prepared for the “tremendous problems” it will face as more and more Mexicans working in Arizona and sending money to their families return to hometowns in Sonora without jobs. Another member of the Mexican delegation, Representative Florencio Diaz Armenta, asked “what do we do with the repatriated?”
=================================
MEMO TO MEXICO: We could care less what you do with repatriates. They're your problem. Too bad you're not "prepared" to handle it---maybe if you people weren't so corrupt you'd be able to care for your poor instead of tossing them over the border to sponge off Americans.
“For all intents and purposes 95% of Mexicans who want to legitimately come to the US have no legal way of obtaining a visa, other than waiting indefinitely for a lottery. “
Hey, stoop beating around the bush and just say you favor totally open borders, with no restrictions on the entry of anyone who thinks they have a legitimate reason to come here and stay.
Otherwise, your statement above is true, which is why Mexicans should be forced to stay home and bring about the changes in their own nation that would result in more opportunity for all citizens, not just the moneyed oligarchs.
And, 95% of Mexicans (or more) SHOULD NOT have any legal way to come to the US and stay. It’s called being a sovereign nation with laws and borders. Is that a foreign concept to you?
I have no idea either, but if I had to guess, I would figure that some of McCain's friends are making $ because of it, and consequently, he is too. That's how low my opinion of McCain has been for a long, long time.
... and if that had been what I'd stated, you'd actually have a point, here. Unfortunately -- threaded message board conversations being what they are -- my original statement, already archived for posterity, is, was, and remains:
"Not wanting another 50mil+ illegals forcibly rammed down our collective gullet"
You know perfectly well what's being stated here, FRiend; and whey-faced disingenuousness doesn't even remotely suit a FReeper of your years and stature. Argue the points on their merits, or else simply cede them graciously, for heaven's sake.
Again: "Not wanting another 50mil+ illegals forcibly rammed down our collective gullet" is not even remotely equivalent to "deport every illegal immigrant already in this country." Straw man argument.
The amount of legal visas available is tiny and set by a 40 year old formula.
Not even remotely enough reason to surrender our borders -- and, hence, both our sovereignty AND our national security (isn't Juan supposedly running as the "defense-savvy candidate, this year?) -- obviously.
Here's a wacky, way-out solution: why not simply lobby -- openly and fairly -- for an increased/adjusted formula, re: LEGAL immigration... rather than simply transforming the entire nation into a slightly swankier suburban bedroom community of Mexico proper, instead. Hmmmm?
N-i-c-e work. Now here's what I'm suggesting. We gotta work fast. The Reconquista termites are gnawing on the US government to hand back the SW to Mehico.
FACE FACTS Hernandez is McCain's Reconquista flunky. (And Hillary Clinton's campaign co-chair Dolores Huerta, in a speech given two weeks ago, railed, "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us." Huerta gloated that immigration enforcement is moot because the Reconquista is won. "It's really too late," Huerta said. "If 47 million [Latinos] have one baby each...it's already won.")
NOW IS THE TIME It's time to declare these lawless invaders and their supporters on American soil (1) persona non grata, and, (2) enemies of state. Their words and actions clearly are intended to undermine the US government and to endanger the safety and security of US citizens.
SUGGESTED LEGISLATION Crimes against the United States of America's sovereignty will be prosecuted.
Any person who pledges loyalty to a foreign country and by their words and actions are found to be colluding with foreign entities to undermine the US government are declared "persona non grata"........ and are hereby expelled.
Congress will declare invaders squatting on US lands, sending money out of the US to prop up foreign governments to be enemies of state.
Makes sense. You most likely are right.
“How about the ones who already have businesses and property?”
If they are operating a *legal* business (with a business licence and paying taxes), they’re lying to multiple layers of gov.
If they bought property with false documentation, the contract isn’t valid and it’s not really theirs.
You really need to think before you post.
Exactly.
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