McCain Calls for ‘9/11 Commission’ for Economic Crisis
RICK KLEIN
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Under attack over his approach to the economy, Sen. John McCain on Tuesday called for a “9/11 Commission”-style probe of the current financial crisis, and blamed “the old-boy network and the corruption in Washington” for the strains facing American families.
(Wikipedia) The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators, Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, John Glenn, John McCain and Donald W. Riegle, were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB).
(CNN) One: Campaign manager Rick Davis is a major telecommunications lobbyist. Two: Senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann recently faced scrutiny over his foreign lobbying on behalf of the Republic of Georgia, which has been embroiled in a military conflict with Russia. Three: Senior adviser Charlie Black was a foreign lobbyist for dictators in Zaire and Angola in the 1980s, fodder for the liberal group MoveOn.org. Four: Frank Donatelli, the Republican National Committee’s liaison to the McCain campaign, has had clients including Exxon Mobil. Five: Economic adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer has lobbied for corporate giants like Koch Industries.
(Boston Globe) . . . Issenberg quoted McCain as telling reporters on December 17 in New Hampshire: “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” McCain said. “I’ve got Greenspan’s book.”(Associated Press) . . . from a 2005 interview with The Wall Street Journal. “I’m going to be honest,” McCain told the newspaper. “I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.”(NYTimes) . . . one of his top economic advisers (Sen. Phil Gramm) was quoted Thursday as saying that the United States was only in a “mental recession” and that it had become a “nation of whiners.”