This is just great. I was going to vote McCain until I remembered this B.S.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obama Campaign Hits Back at McCain With Keating Five

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama, after attacks on his character and past associations, is hitting back by highlighting John McCain's ties to the ``Keating Five'' savings-and-loan scandal that embroiled the Republican presidential nominee in the 1980s.

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, e-mailed millions of supporters on Oct. 5 directing them to a new Web site, keatingeconomics.com, dedicated to McCain's ties to the scandal. It features a 30-second Web advertisement and beginning at noon Washington time the site will also host a 13-minute documentary called ``Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis'' produced by the campaign.

``The McCain campaign has tried to avoid talking about the scandal, but with so many parallels to the current crisis, McCain's Keating history is relevant and voters deserve to know the facts -- and see for themselves the pattern of poor judgment by John McCain,'' Plouffe wrote.

Obama has opened up a lead over McCain, 72, in the aftermath of their first debate Sept. 26 as the economy deteriorates.

Earlier in September, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll showed more respondents said Obama would do a better job handling the financial crisis than McCain, and almost half said they believed Obama had better ideas to strengthen the economy than his rival.

During his first Senate term, Arizona senator McCain faced accusations of improperly intervening with federal regulators on behalf of former savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating in the 1980s savings-and-loan industry collapse. He took contributions from the Arizona businessman and the Senate Ethics Committee reprimanded McCain.

The Senate Ethics Committee, chaired by the late Alabama Democrat Howell Heflin, ultimately found that McCain had ``exercised poor judgment.''
``The point of the film and the Web site is that John McCain still hasn't learned his lesson,'' Plouffe wrote. ``And this time, McCain's bankrupt economic philosophy has put our economy at the brink of collapse and put millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes.''

This will be great debate fodder tomorrow night. There will be no "you betchas", but plenty more misdirection and avoidance of answering questions.

Someone has to throw in a "you betcha!" or "I would like to get back to ..." for old time's sake. It wouldn't be a good debate without these remarks.

Even Bush says McCain is crooked and says "He is full of double talk"

Yes, I am sure you were going to vote McCain before you were reminded of this. What a load.

I was going to vote for Obama too until Palin got in the race.

NOT.

BTW - McCain was exonerated of all of these issues.

Obama still has two major issues of his own to deal with. If you read any of the Chicago newspapers or online articles you will see there is still a lot of issues in the Rezko investigation, and Obama has not been totally cleared of that cloud yet.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article

An interesting back and forth of questions including this little tidbit:

Quote

Q: Did Rezko or his companies ever solicit your support on any matter involving state or federal government? Did Al Johnson, who was trying to get a casino license along with Tony Rezko, or Rezko himself ever discuss casino matters with you?

A: No, I have never been asked to do anything to advance his business interests. In 1999, when I was a State Senator, I opposed legislation to bring a casino to Rosemont and allow casino gambling at docked riverboats which news reports said Al Johnson and Tony Rezko were interested in being part of. I never discussed a casino license with either of them. I was a vocal opponent of the legislation. (http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/srollcalls91/pdf/910SB1017_05251999_001000C.PDF)

If you go to the PDF, all it has is a list of names and who voted Yea or Nay. If you look into the legislation, the bill passed and was signed into law. I would totally understand him voting against this bill seeing as how it promotes gambling, and one thing he has indicated is that he doesn't believe this helps poor people. The bill was most likely going to pass anyway with or without his vote.

The other part that defies logic is the home purchase. So Rezko somehow has an idiot real estate person (he was in real estate development lets remember) who makes him buy a swatch of land next to the house Obama is buying for the ASKING price (oh wait, it was his wife that bought it - right), and somehow Obama manages to get the house reduced $300K...

And of course, what he said was not true:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200706140007

Quote

On June 13, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), while serving as an Illinois state senator in 1998, "did a political favor" for Chicago Democratic fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko by writing letters to state and local government officials in support of a Chicago housing project proposed by Rezko's company, New Kenwood LLC. The Sun-Times asserted that the "letters appear to contradict a statement last December from Obama, who told the Chicago Tribune that, in all the years he's known Rezko, 'I've never done any favors for him.' '' In reporting on this story, however, several media outlets omitted statements included in the Sun-Times article that challenge the paper's assertion that Obama performed a "favor" for Rezko -- specifically, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton's claim that "I don't know that anyone specifically asked him to write this letter," and Rezko's attorney's claim that Rezko "never spoke with, nor sought a letter from, Senator Obama in connection with that project."

Before Hillary got out of the race - I guess ABC was still doing hit jobs for her:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4365942&page=1

Quote

While Obama is not considered a target of the Rezko investigation, Stewart says it will shed light on a man who was pivotal to Obama's political career.

"This wasn't just some guy who wrote a check once for Barack Obama, it's someone who was an early supporter and had a personal relationship with Sen. Obama for quite some time," Stewart said.

Indeed, even after he was elected to the United States Senate, Obama involved Rezko in a land deal that enabled the senator to buy his current home on Chicago's South Side.

Obama has since called his decision to involve Rezko "a bone-headed mistake."

"Tony Rezko is all that is wrong with the old kind of politics or any kind of politics," said the Better Government Association's Stewart.

The Rezko trial will focus on Rezko's alleged role in steering Illinois state contracts in exchange for kickbacks and political contributions to Rezko friends.

The most damning examples cited by prosecutors involve Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but several of the contributions were directed to Obama's 2004 Senate campaign.

A motion filed by federal prosecutors identifies two instances when Rezko directed contributions to an unnamed "political candidate" who has since been identified by Chicago newspapers as Obama.

The Obama campaign says it has donated to charity some $160,000 that can be traced to Rezko or others involved in the corruption investigation.

Not to mention the more than $200M they have somehow managed to raise by donations of less than $200 each... I saw there was another thread on that subject so I won't go into it here. Suffice it to say, I guess you get what you pay for. I wonder how much Chinese money is in this election?

Lies..lies and more lies...it's amazinghow you can manufacture these at a drop of a hat...you must have quite a resource for all this crap!

No one has been examined..cross-examined and lied about then Obama...and this is the best anyone can come up with. No investigations being stone walled on this side of the fence..can you and your pit bull in drag say the same?

More of this HIGHLY EXAGGERATED crap Registered voted?

Registered Voter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, I am sure you were going to vote McCain
> before you were reminded of this. What a load.
>
> I was going to vote for Obama too until Palin got
> in the race.
>
> NOT.
>
> BTW - McCain was exonerated of all of these
> issues.
>
> Obama still has two major issues of his own to
> deal with. If you read any of the Chicago
> newspapers or online articles you will see there
> is still a lot of issues in the Rezko
> investigation, and Obama has not been totally
> cleared of that cloud yet.
>
> http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-N
> WS-obama05.article
>
> An interesting back and forth of questions
> including this little tidbit:
>
>
> Q: Did Rezko or his companies ever solicit your
> support on any matter involving state or federal
> government? Did Al Johnson, who was trying to get
> a casino license along with Tony Rezko, or Rezko
> himself ever discuss casino matters with you?
>
> A: No, I have never been asked to do anything to
> advance his business interests. In 1999, when I
> was a State Senator, I opposed legislation to
> bring a casino to Rosemont and allow casino
> gambling at docked riverboats which news reports
> said Al Johnson and Tony Rezko were interested in
> being part of. I never discussed a casino license
> with either of them. I was a vocal opponent of the
> legislation.
> (http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/sroll
> calls91/pdf/910SB1017_05251999_001000C.PDF)
>
>
> If you go to the PDF, all it has is a list of
> names and who voted Yea or Nay. If you look into
> the legislation, the bill passed and was signed
> into law. I would totally understand him voting
> against this bill seeing as how it promotes
> gambling, and one thing he has indicated is that
> he doesn't believe this helps poor people. The
> bill was most likely going to pass anyway with or
> without his vote.
>
> The other part that defies logic is the home
> purchase. So Rezko somehow has an idiot real
> estate person (he was in real estate development
> lets remember) who makes him buy a swatch of land
> next to the house Obama is buying for the ASKING
> price (oh wait, it was his wife that bought it -
> right), and somehow Obama manages to get the house
> reduced $300K...
>
> And of course, what he said was not true:
> http://mediamatters.org/items/200706140007
>
>
> On June 13, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that
> Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), while serving as an
> Illinois state senator in 1998, "did a political
> favor" for Chicago Democratic fundraiser Antoin
> "Tony" Rezko by writing letters to state and local
> government officials in support of a Chicago
> housing project proposed by Rezko's company, New
> Kenwood LLC. The Sun-Times asserted that the
> "letters appear to contradict a statement last
> December from Obama, who told the Chicago Tribune
> that, in all the years he's known Rezko, 'I've
> never done any favors for him.' '' In reporting on
> this story, however, several media outlets omitted
> statements included in the Sun-Times article that
> challenge the paper's assertion that Obama
> performed a "favor" for Rezko -- specifically,
> Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton's claim that
> "I don't know that anyone specifically asked him
> to write this letter," and Rezko's attorney's
> claim that Rezko "never spoke with, nor sought a
> letter from, Senator Obama in connection with that
> project."
>
>
> Before Hillary got out of the race - I guess ABC
> was still doing hit jobs for her:
> http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4365942&pag
> e=1
>
>
> While Obama is not considered a target of the
> Rezko investigation, Stewart says it will shed
> light on a man who was pivotal to Obama's
> political career.
>
> "This wasn't just some guy who wrote a check once
> for Barack Obama, it's someone who was an early
> supporter and had a personal relationship with
> Sen. Obama for quite some time," Stewart said.
>
> Indeed, even after he was elected to the United
> States Senate, Obama involved Rezko in a land deal
> that enabled the senator to buy his current home
> on Chicago's South Side.
>
> Obama has since called his decision to involve
> Rezko "a bone-headed mistake."
>
> "Tony Rezko is all that is wrong with the old kind
> of politics or any kind of politics," said the
> Better Government Association's Stewart.
>
> The Rezko trial will focus on Rezko's alleged role
> in steering Illinois state contracts in exchange
> for kickbacks and political contributions to Rezko
> friends.
>
> The most damning examples cited by prosecutors
> involve Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but several
> of the contributions were directed to Obama's 2004
> Senate campaign.
>
> A motion filed by federal prosecutors identifies
> two instances when Rezko directed contributions to
> an unnamed "political candidate" who has since
> been identified by Chicago newspapers as Obama.
>
> The Obama campaign says it has donated to charity
> some $160,000 that can be traced to Rezko or
> others involved in the corruption investigation.
>
>
> Not to mention the more than $200M they have
> somehow managed to raise by donations of less than
> $200 each... I saw there was another thread on
> that subject so I won't go into it here. Suffice
> it to say, I guess you get what you pay for. I
> wonder how much Chinese money is in this election?

Re: China - Not as much as Bush and the GOP Congress pumped into our t-bills from 2001 to 2006, that's for sure.

McCain was exonerated from criminal charges, but still reprimanded on his lack of ethics.

Besides, influencing a local government has nothing on interfering with federal regulators for the largest thrift scandal in U.S. history (soon to be surpassed once the SEC and FBI are finished with their fieldwork).

Lopter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> More of this HIGHLY EXAGGERATED crap Registered
> voted?

What is exaggerated exactly? Direct quotes from him in the Sun Times article. Media Matters cites another Sun Times article with the information on the letters he wrote. Lastly an investigative report from a source you all like to cite all the time at ABC.

The only misleading thing I saw was the OP stating they were going to vote for McCain before they remembered all this. The $200M they have raised is also documented, and they have now had to start returning it like the ones from fake addresses and names totally over $25K so far. Or the guys in Gaza - all documented, nothing exaggerated. Why is it when I post facts with supporting articles it is somehow fake? Oh right - because you don't want to hear it.

Hey Vince - its called "The Internet". Remember, your boy Al Gore invented it, right before he came up with the cure to Global Warming - buying carbon offsets from his company.

Listen..if someone broken a law raising money...let the FBI investigate...unlike republikan dregs like you...just because I find it on the interent doesnt mean I believe it! Telling the Times isnt exactly like telling the FBI who will prosecute your ass if you lie. So..just give it up.

Hey, you know Rezko sentencing is coming up and I notice they are leaning on him now to make a deal with him on naming names to reduce his sentencing....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-07-oct07,0,641472.story

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_re_us/fundraiser_trial

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,433624,00.html

Quote

Besides bankrolling a large portion of Blagojevich's campaign, Rezko raised substantial funds for Obama's past campaigns in Illinois — although none for his current presidential run.

Obama's campaign says it has sent to charity $159,000 traceable to Rezko's past fundraising.

While Blagojevich was frequently mentioned at Rezko's trial, the testimony rarely touched on Obama, who has been accused of no wrongdoing.

Unmentioned at the trial was a purchase by Rezko's wife, Rita, of property adjacent to the Obama home near the University of Chicago on the city's South Side. Obama and his wife, Michelle, purchased their home the same day that Rezko's wife closed on her property. And she later sold some of her property to the Obamas to enlarge their lot. Obama later said that allowing Rezko to do what appeared to be a favor was a "bonehead" move.

Ethics Scale of Significance

Obama (Rezko)-------: (2 of 10)

McCain (Keating)-----------------------------------------------: (9 of 10)

Winner: McCain for interfering with federal regulators and being publically reprimanded.

Petty (no relation to Richard) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ethics Scale of Significance
>
> Obama (Rezko)-------: (2 of 10)
>
> McCain
> (Keating)-----------------------------------------
> ------: (9 of 10)
>
> Winner: McCain for interfering with federal
> regulators and being publically reprimanded.


You are stupid or a liar. McCain was NOT reprimanded. Repeating the same lie does not make it true.

The attorney in charge of the investigation called it a sham.

Robert Bennett, the Washington lawyer and Democrat who served as special counsel to the Senate Ethics Committee during the Keating Five investigation, which focused on whether McCain and other senators exercised improper political influence over the regulation of Keating's failed Lincoln Savings & Loan.

In an interview, Bennett said McCain should never have been dragged into the ethics case to begin with. He said that after his own lengthy investigation, he came to the conclusion that the case against McCain and former Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) "should have been dropped" because the evidence suggested that once McCain understood that the Justice Department was investigating Keating, he backed off any involvement. Dowd noted that McCain threw Keating,once a strong supporter, out of his office after Keating pressed him to intervene in his case.

Bennett said former Sen. Howell Hefflin (D-Ala.) insisted that the two be included in the formal public inquiry because otherwise there would have been a month of public hearings "with no Republicans in the dock." The other members of the Keating Five were Democrats.

"It was clear that McCain should not have been at the table nor should Glenn," Bennett said. "I felt it was unfair for McCain to be included as part of the Keating Five."

Keating is 0 relevance. The lawyer that investigated the scandal (Robert Bennett - staunch Democrat) recommended to the committee that they exonerate McCain and Glenn before the hearing even started. Unfortunately the hearings were controlled by a Democrat who didn't want to have the entire hearing taken up by Democrats lambasting 3 other Democrats for the ethics violation. So they dragged McCain and Glenn in as token Republicans, held the hearings, and still exonerated them.

http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/3813449.html

Quote

"After reviewing my report, the committee voted on October 23, 1990, to hold a public adjudicatory fact-finding hearing in the matter as to all five senators. This was perhaps the first time the recommendation of a special counsel not to charge a senator was rejected. This was pure politics as the Democrats on the committee did not want to cut McCain loose so that only Democrats would remain in the proceedings. If Senator McCain was not going to be cut loose, in retaliation the Republicans were going to keep Senator Glenn in the proceedings. McCain was the victim of politics, and poor Glenn was held captive to the decision on McCain. So much for nonpartisanship." -- Democratic Keating Investigation Counsel Robert Bennett

I heard him (Bennett) the other day on the radio, and he made it clear that in his view McCain did nothing wrong or unethical, and he recommended that McCain be exonerated before the hearings even started.

This dog is not going to run. It sounds good to the Democrats already inclined to vote Obama, but to the rest of the folks that actually look into this any deeper than the sound bites they will see there is a lot of smoke from the Democrats, but they were the only ones that had a problem on this issue.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2008 04:45PM by Registered Voter.

More like McCain made a side deal to clear his name. Just wait, there will be more on the Keating 5 soon.

You know, there are all sorts of viral videos out on YouTube - video opinions are just that. You can string any number of unrelated quotes and contexts with quotes together to make it look like folks say whatever you want.

But hey, I see we are back to pipe dreams again. You must be worried again....

I get it, so McCain never said any of that stuff, it was all editing tricks. OK>>>

He said all sorts of things, so did Obama. I don't come here to post troll videos other people slapped together.

But then by your own admission you obviously think it is OK to take what folks say out of context to make out that they are liars. I like to stick with the full quote, that way there is no misunderstanding.

Ethics Scale of Significance (as Amended and Restated as FINAL, hereby sworn and voted by all present Board of Directors of fairfaxunderground.com):

Obama (Rezko)---: (0.000001 of 10)

McCain (Keating / Questionable Lobbying Ties / Affiliation with the Republican Party / Voting with Bush 90% of the time)------------------: (10 of 10)

Winner: Me, fool.

Second.

Wow, fight facts with nonsense. Yeah, you win. Lol.