Posted on 08/05/2005 6:17:25 AM PDT by OESY
As Sen. John McCain gears up for a prospective presidential run in 2008, he's trying to put an ugly little incident behind him — one that makes him look like a flat-out hypocrite on his signature issue, campaign-finance reform.
If members of the national media are anything more than lapdogs for the war-hero, "maverick" senator, they'll start asking some tough questions about a bogus little think tank in Alexandria, Va., called the Reform Institute.
According to the inside-the-beltway paper Roll Call, McCain has stepped down as chairman of the Reform Institute, citing "negative publicity" from earlier this year when it was discovered that the Institute was accepting large cash contributions from businesses with interests before the Senate Commerce Committee.
At the time, McCain was chairman of the Commerce Committee (he no longer is, due to committee term limits).
An Associated Press investigation back in March revealed that:
* Cablevision Systems Corp. cut two checks, each for $100,000, to the Reform Institute in July of 2003 and August of 2004.
* The first check was solicited by Rick Davis — McCain's chief political adviser and president of the Reform Institute — just one week after Cablevision chief Charles Dolan testified before the Commerce Committee....
* In between the two checks, in May of 2004, McCain wrote to the Federal Communications Commission advocating Cablevision's position. McCain also wrote to other cable companies on the same matter....
Much of the rest of the Institute's staff is made up of former McCain staffers, too, including Carla Eudy, who doubles as treasurer of the Reform Institute and chief fund-raiser for McCain.
McCain may no longer be chairman of the Reform Institute, but he's still neck deep in it. And there are a lot of questions left to answer....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I don't think this is illegal. In fact, it's common practice for the Dems, so I would hesitate to rub McCain's nose it unless we're going to hold the Dems similarly accountable.
But his nose should be rubbed in being a part of the Keating 5!!
McCain can't feign surprise at these contributions. These groups and many others like them gave directly to his campaigns in the years before he was bitten by the Reform bug (which was actually a Publicity bug, but the bites often cause the same reaction).
You are suppse to do as he says not do what he does.
McCain is also on the board of Christie Whiman's PAC. They are donating cash to moderate republican candidates with the express purpose of defeating conservative members of the congress and senate.
Sen. McKeating...er, McCain's got some splainin' to do...
Don't worry about a donation from a corporation.
What Americans need to be concerned about is how the Reform Institute gets a lot of money from George $oreA$$ via $oreA$$'s money laundering NGOs.
The link below shows this vile relationship between the Reform Institute and the most evil man on earth, George $oreA$$.
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=Reform%20Institute%20Soros
Thursday, March 10, 2005
John McCain Gets Soros Cash
Senator John McCain's Reform Institute has suffered some bad press recently due to its involvement in an influence-peddling scandal with Cablevision. As usual, however, mainstream media have failed to go to the root of the matter.
Founded on June 26, 2001, McCain's Reform Institute for Campaign and Election Issues has long served as a nerve center for the so-called "campaign finance reform" movement – a movement which has done nothing to clean up campaign finance, but has done a great deal to empower federal judges and government bureaucrats to regulate political speech, in defiance of the Bill of Rights.
Now here's the kicker. The list of donors published on the Reform Institute's Web site reads like a veritable Who's Who of radical, leftwing foundations, including the Tides Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Proteus Fund and George Soros' Open Society Institute (hat tip, Winfield Myers).
Not surprisingly, in view of the above associations, Arianna Huffington serves on the Reform Institute's Advisory Board. Huffington has long acted as a front for George Soros' "campaign finance reform" efforts. In 2000, she organized the so-called Shadow Conventions which provided John McCain with a bully pulpit to stump for his now-infamous McCain-Feingold Act. George Soros shouldered about one third of the cost of the Shadow Conventions.
Posted by Richard Poe @ 6:15:00 PM Eastern Time
I don't want GOP candidates being held to a different standard than Dems. We've got too much of that already. If we're going to chastise McInane for this, then we should similarly criticize Dems who put their organizers on the boards of organizations that have political budgets.
Ah, yes! Him along with Alan Cranston!
Senator Slick Mick {D-Az} has nothing to worry about from the News Cartel giving this legs. Now that a News Cartel outlet has reported one time on this little tidbit concerning his For-me Institute it has been "covered extensively" and they can MoveOn to other matters.
another Keating5 situation - can't teach an old dog. Wait the dog knows the tricks. Maybe we can't keep him honest. The crime of this story is McLame can get all the money he wants. He can write books, do TV and speak to groups or he can be a Senator with less income, but more power...he has to chose.
BTTT!
McCain deserves it. But I'm all for similarly criticizing 'RATS who do likewise.
The Reform Institute is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization representing a thoughtful, moderate voice for reform in the campaign finance and election administration debates. The Reform Institute has three main roles:
1. The Institute is a unique voice focusing on the need to restore democracy by breaking down barriers that hinder civic participation in the political process and free the political system from the influences of special interests. We reach out to organizations and coalitions interested in reducing corruption in politics and educate the public on these issues.
2. The Institute provides technical and research expertise in the important discussion about reforming our election registration and voting procedures. We will use the substantial expertise of the Institute's Advisory Committee to develop suggestions on how best to open the doors of the voting process and increase citizen participation in our democratic system.
3. The Institute will participate in current and future legal battles to open up the political system and defend reform initiatives.
The Reform Institute is an important addition to counter citizen political disillusionment by providing citizens with a voice in efforts to open the system up to greater and cleaner political participation.
The Institute's Advisory Committee is headed up by The Honorable Amo Houghton, former Congressman, New York and is made of a bipartisan group of notable academics and legal experts, election administrators and public officials.
The Reform Institute is led by president Richard Davis of Davis Manafort, general counselor Trevor Potter of Caplin and Drysdale, and executive director Cecilia Martinez.
******
The Advisory Committee
The Honorable Amo Houghton, former Congressman, New York
Chair, Advisory Committee
Academic Advisory Board
Michael Alvarez
Associate Professor
Voting and Elections
California Institute of Technology
Marion Just
Professor Politics and Mass Media
Wellesley College
Tami Buhr
Director of Research Joan Shorenstein Center
Harvard University
Charles Kolb
President
The Committee for Economic Development
Norm Ornstein
Senior Scholar
American Enterprise Institute
Anthony Corrado
Government Department
Colby College
Thomas Mann
Senior Scholar
Brookings Institute
Raymond Wolfinger
Heller Professor
Political Science
University of California at Berkeley
Government & Politics Advisory Board
David Boren
Former. U.S. Senator
President of University of Oklahoma
Amo Houghton
U.S. Representative
New York
Ron Michaelson
Executive Director
Illinois State Board of Elections
William Gardner
Secretary of State
State of New Hampshire
Arianna Huffington
Syndicated Columnist
and Author
Ralph Munro
Former Secretary of State
State of Washington
Lindsey Graham
U.S. Senator
South Carolina
Bob Kerrey
Former U.S. Senator
Cameron Quinn
Former Elections Board Director
State of Virginia
Business & Finance Advisory Board
David S. Pottruck
President and Co-CEO
Charles Schwab & Company
Joseph Schmuckler
Chief Operating Officer
Nomura Holding America, Inc.
Board of Directors
Richard H. Davis
Partner
Davis Manafort
Carla Eudy
The Eudy Company
Jean Inman
Massachusetts State Republican Party
Chair
>>>>the Carnegie Corporation of New York
I have no idea if this means anything....
But I really hate when 'things' keep popping up.
This guy just 'killed' himself. He was also part of HRW which was involved with the UN Oil for Food.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453393/posts
Carnegie Hall Vice Chair Dead in Apparent Suicide
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