There Goes Another One...

by hilzoy

Politico:

"Former Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler, a Texan who is among the McCain campaign’s most important advisers and fundraisers, has resigned as a national co-chair over lobbying entanglements, a Republican source told Politico on Sunday.

It’s at least the fifth lobbying-related departure from the campaign in a week. (...)

The officials who have left include Doug Goodyear, who was McCain’s top liaison to the Republican National Convention; Doug Davenport, regional campaign manager for mid-Atlantic states; Eric Burgeson, an energy policy adviser; and Craig Shirley, a prominent Republican consultant who was a member of McCain’s Virginia Leadership Team."

And why did Loeffler leave? Michael Isikoff at Newsweek:

"One top campaign official affected by the new policy is national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler, a former Texas congressman whose lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate interests, including a French aerospace firm seeking Pentagon contracts. Loeffler last month told a reporter "at no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain." But lobbying disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show that on May 17, 2006, Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to "discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations."

Oops!

Of course, the elephant (still) in the room is Charlie Black. He has responded to MoveOn's ad about his lobbying work:

"He told me, as he has told other reporters, that his firm ran every potential foreign client by the State Department and/or the White House in whatever administration was in power and asked whether the scope of the work fit with American foreign policy goals.

"A lot of times it wasn't [within the scope], and we didn't do it," he said.

Black allowed that "in some cases, it went bad.""

To my mind, this is not close to an adequate response. For one thing, as Christopher Orr says:

"Claiming that you only worked for dictators the U.S. government liked is not much of a defense when a central part of your job was convincing the U.S. government to like them. It's a little like saying, yes, I made a ton of money defending a series of murderous mafiosi--but remember, I always quit working for them once they were convicted."

More fundamentally, though, the fact that Black ran his contracts by the federal government does not answer the moral questions they raise. It does show that he did not sell out US interests, as those interests were defined by whoever held power. It does not show that there was nothing wrong with trying to win US government support for a possible Iranian agent who was trying to lead us into war (Chalabi); two of the greatest kleptocrats in recent history, who robbed their countries blind and immiserated their people (Mobutu and Marcos); or a sociopath (Savimbi) who plunged his country into civil war, scattered millions of land mines across the country, targeted food supplies, health clinics, and schools, and was responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths.

"I ran it by the White House first" doesn't begin to cover that one.

***

McCain has announced a new policy on lobbyists: everyone in his campaign has to report ties to lobbyists or foreign governments, and everyone will be vetted again. But he doesn't seem to think this will cause problems for Charlie Black:

"[McCain] defended Black and his campaign manager Rick Davis, who has also come under fire.

"Charlie Black and Rick Davis are not in the lobbying business; they've been out of that business," he told reporters. "Charlie Black has been involved in every presidential campaign going back to President Reagan's first campaign.

He has severed his connections with the lobbying group that he was with. "Rick Davis has not been involved in any lobbying for years.''"

***

Final intriguing note: most stories on Charlie Black report that he resigned from his lobbying firm at the end of March to work full-time for McCain. But yesterday's NYT story says that "Mr. Black is on leave from his firm". The only BKSH press release that I could find that mentions this says that Black decided "to step down as Chairman and work full time for the John McCain campaign", which leaves open the question whether he also resigned from the firm. It would be interesting to know whether he did or not. I have written to the NYT reporter; I'll update if I hear back.

Comments

[Ugh]

There Goes Another One...

Hold your fire. There are no life forms. It must have been short-circuited.

[cleek]

Thomas G. Loeffler has the plans for the Death Star!

[felix culpa]

his firm ran every potential foreign client by the State Department and/or the White House

Well, but yes?
That’s exactly what a high level PR person does, if they’re connected the way they oughta and gotta be! Doh!

Ya go to the Assistant Head Guy, and you say “What is good here? What is not so good?
Then you go back and arrange the bullet points, maybe change the vocabulary and syntax and a few other things appropriately, to suit, you know?
And when you’ve got it ready, you take it back and ask again.
If you’re good to go, it’s Rolo-time. Has bugs, you work it over again.
When you get that approval from the top, it’s your key selling point.
Piece of cake.

It’s that check-back that’s the mark of a real pro. Heh. The reporter blew it on that one.
Spin. Ya gotta love it.

[jdog]

Lots of lipstick on those pigs.

But remember, that is how "free" markets work! You have to KNOW someone. Econ 101.

[felix culpa]

Yeah; markets work best for marketers under free-marketer crony capitalism.
Basic.

[Bruce Baugh]

Right, felix culpa. As nearly as I can figure, their take is about like this: Organizing so that a bunch of people with a shared interest can get leverage is market-distorting when they don't have buddies in the capitol; drawing on your personal ties because you're part of the privileged sector is just natural market forces, and must not be restrained. Helping the rich get richer is natural; helping anyone not already rich get any richer is unnatural.

[Bill in Chicago]

Loeffler is a real traitor to the Republic. Accepting millions to pull strings on behalf of these guys:

www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com

Talk about your appeasers. No one tops the Bush administration and their lackeys, turning a blind eye while the Saudis attack and murder Americans by the thousands.

[felix culpa]

Right!
Social Darwinism!
Survival of the socially and economically fittest!
Exploit or else! Eliminate all the (unfit) brutes!

Cutting edge dinosaurs!

Extinction is waiting, just around the corner.