John McCain's Political Campaign Finance Reform? Not!

     U.S. News  has an interesting piece on John McCain and his straight talk about finance reform'

  You all know that for many of the past few years, Mr. McCain has pressed for campaigns that are run clear of the big cash inflows from special-interest groups. He has been particularly chasing after the " soft money "  coming in from lobbyist, corporations and given to the political parties.

   McCain is now running for the Republican presidential nomination so it begs the question, does all of his straight-talk now have a curve in it? Has it always?

McCain has positioned himself as a die-hard opponent of special-interest influence. But a U.S. News analysis of his 25-year legislative career shows he has been an avid seeker of special-interest money to support his campaigns and initiatives. The pattern goes all the way back to his first House race in 1982. Moreover, as the boss or No. 2 member of the Senate Commerce Committee, he has drawn heavy support from PACs and individuals associated with industries overseen by that committee-especially telecommunications, media, and technology firms. Between 1997 and June 2006, he collected nearly $2.6 million from such interests, according to the Center for Public Integrity, an independent watchdog group in Washington. In some cases, the review showed, McCain's positions mirrored those of his biggest supporters. Big corporate donors also have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Reform Institute, a tax-exempt organization-once closely affiliated with McCain-that was established to promote campaign finance reform.  U.S. News

  His aides claim that he has no other choice than to take the cash from big corporate donors and PACS if he wants to be president.

   So, McCain is selling his soul for the chance at running for president.

Tags: John McCain Reform Institute PACS

Morning News For Monday

   After helping to craft the new immigration bill, employers have decided that they do not like it.

WASHINGTON, May 20 — Employers, who helped shape a major immigration bill over the last three months, said on Sunday that they were unhappy with the result because it would not cure the severe labor shortages they foresee in the coming decade.

In addition, employers expressed alarm as they learned that the Senate bill would require them to check a government database to verify that all current and former employees — aliens and citizens alike — were eligible to work in the United States.         NYTimes

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Second Life for Study Group
Monday, May 21, 2007

After an initially tepid reception from policymakers, the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group are getting a second look from the White House and Congress, as officials continue to scour for bipartisan solutions to salvage the American engagement in Iraq.

With negotiations continuing this week on a new war funding bill, the administration is strongly signaling that it would accept the idea of requiring the Iraqi government to meet political benchmarks or else risk losing some assistance from the United States. That was one of the key proposals from the group headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton, but it was initially dismissed by the White House when first proposed last December.       Washington Post

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Haniyeh Could Be on Israeli Hit List

GAZA CITY/RAMALLAH, 21 May 2007 — Israeli forces killed at least four Palestinians yesterday and an Israeli minister warned that even Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh could be targeted by his country.

Israeli Minister Ze’ev Boim said Israel must strike at Hamas leaders “with all our might.”

“There’s a list of them from the first of them to the very last,” Boim told Israel Radio. “Now, with Hamas saying openly that it is the one who is firing the Qassam rockets, we must strike at Hamas. There are people there who are launching them, there are their commanders there in the armed wing, and there is the political echelon, there is a prime minister.”

Arab News

 

Tags: immigration bill Senate Iraq Study Group Hamas Israel White House