McCainsLobbyists.Com--Interactive Display Makes Corruption Vividly Visible

by: Paul Rosenberg

Wed Sep 10, 2008 at 10:30


3/4 size screenshot of main action on front page:

McCainsLobbyists

The best presentation I've seen so far of just how wired into the lobbyist world John McCain really is.  Click on one of the lobbyists, and what you see is...

Paul Rosenberg :: McCainsLobbyists.Com--Interactive Display Makes Corruption Vividly Visible
This:

How the money flows in, around and through one Randy Scheunemann.  You may have heard of him?  Almost helped start a little war with Russia back in the Dark Ages of a month or so ago?  Remember him?

Well, they also have a window of to the right of what I've shown here, and in it, this is what they have to say:

Randy Scheunemann

Randy Scheunemann, a foreign policy advisor to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign who heads Scheunemann & Associates, has worked on behalf of numerous high profile clients, including the National Rifle Association, Lockheed Martin and BP. However, it is his work for Texas businessman Stephen Payne that has garnered the most attention. Two of Payne's firms, Worldwide Strategic Partners Inc. and the Caspian Alliance, paid Scheunemann to lobby Congress, the State Department and the National Security Council on their behalf in connection to energy issues.[1] According to The Sunday Times of London, Payne offered to give the former president of Kyrgyzstan access to President Bush and Vice President Cheney in exchange for a $250,000 donation to Bush's presidential library and a $450,000 payment to his lobbying firm.[2] Payne was recorded as saying that Scheunemann had been on his payroll for five of the past eight years.[3] His work with Baltic countries has also included efforts on behalf of Georgia, which paid another Scheunemann firm, Orion Strategies, to help the former Soviet republic win admission to NATO. The firm met or spoke to McCain and his staff dozens of times between 2001 and 2008, and made regular political contributions to McCain's campaign and PAC. The hard work apparently paid off: In 2006, McCain co-sponsored legislation encouraging Georgia's admission to NATO, and he has been a vocal supporter of the country during his presidential campaign.[4] Scheunemann was also a prominent supporter of invading Iraq, having served as a board member of the Project for a New American Century and a founder of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.[5]

For a complete look at Randy Scheunemann's lobbying activities, please visit the non-partisan Center For Responsive Politics' money-in-politics database.

[1] Pete Yost, "McCain adviser lobbied for Stephen Payne," The Associated Press, July 21, 2008.

[2] Daniel Foggo and Steven Swinford, "President Bush Lobbyist Stephen Payne In 'Bribes' Row Quits," The Sunday Times Of London, July 20, 2008.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Mark Benjamin, "McCain: To Russia, Without Love," Salon.com, June 9, 2008, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/09/mccain/print.html

[5] Peter Slevin, "Randy Scheunemann: McCain Adviser Campaigned for War," Washingtonpost.com, June 17, 2008, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/17/
randy_scheunemann_mccain_advis.html

Pretty impressive, no?  And that's just for ONE of the dozens of lobbyists they have information on.  plus, they have regular blog updates.  A real treasure: http://www.mccainslobbyists.com/


Tags: , , , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email

Nice find, Paul. (0.00 / 0)
People have been handwringing around here about how we can affect the campaign. Well, we can send this link around to everyone we know, and we can make sure every individual media figure is reminded of it every time they say anything about McCain The Reformer. That alone could keep us all busy until November.

PS -- the diary would be even better if the opening graphic were made into a link.


Linked! (0.00 / 0)
Yeah, I did this last night when I couldn't sleep & weighed whether to link it or not. So I decided to wait till I was done. By that time I, was finally sleepy, and just wanted it to be done.

So, thanks for the extra kick in the pants.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3


[ Parent ]
USER MENU

Open Left Campaigns

SEARCH

   

Advanced Search

QUICK HITS
STATE BLOGS
Powered by: SoapBlox