John McCain, Rick Davis, Freddie Mac Connections

Why didn’t I get the memo that the Three Stooges had reunited again? Apparently, the new version of the Stooges is all about the money trail that has lead this nation down the road to a very expensive bailout. What a freakin’ knee slapper that is! Then again maybe this isn't so funny, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC has this informative interview on the facts behind this McCain/Davis scandal...

Video Link



It seems that Rick Davis, the campaign manager for John McCain has some skeletons in his closet over at Freddie Mac. Follow the money and you find the source of the problem. Over at the New York Times they have let the horse out of the barn on Freddie Mac still paying Rick Davis (Lobbyist) former firm $15,000 per month for doing… Nothing?

McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac

By JACKIE CALMES and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: September 23, 2008

WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a remark by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the two people said.

They said they did not recall Mr. Davis’s doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than to speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of his close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House.

-SNIP-

From 2000 to the end of 2005, Mr. Davis received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing. That status let them borrow cheaply, helping to fuel rapid growth but also their increased purchases of the risky mortgage securities that proved to be their downfall. - New York Times

Obviously the McCain campaign is going to deny these accusations and rightfully so. If Davis goes down then so does McCain. So what do they do from here? Let’s play “Where’s Waldo?” Davis is ducking out of campaign appearances and scheduled events for the time being. I wonder why? Over at the Chicago Sun Times they have the starting point to not place your guess…

WASHINGTON--John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis--under the spotlight because of his work for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--is skipping a Wednesday lunch with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

On Tuesday, word came that McCain political director Mike DuHaime will substitute for Davis because he is "heading out on the trail" today. - Chicago Sun Times

It’s beginning to look more and more like the McCain for President campaign has a self destruct button. First they trot out the mother of all liars Sarah Palin with her bridge to nowhere and endless “Thanks, but no thanks” stump speech, now they have Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, dodging the press over his connections to Freddie Mac?

One of the things in Presidential politics is the association of guilt even if it isn’t true. George Bush and Karl Rove perfected it in 2000 and 2004! Rick Davis may not have worked for his lobbying firm for a couple of years but he still receives dividends from the performance of that firm. So yes, he does have financial gains from the Freddie Mac contract.

One of the bigger questions in this whole mess is the fact that Freddie Mac blindly paid Davis former firm $15,000 per month for access to John McCain as a candidate for President because of Davis. If $15, 000 per month is the going rate to buy a candidate for President then I’m sure that we are in fact in an economic depression. I’m thinking that President Bush and V.P. Cheney’s lobbyist were paid at a much higher rate per month. No bid contracts for Iraq just don’t miraculously appear on just one certain companies doorstep for nothing! Frankly, maybe we need to do a bailout for lobbyist too! Poor bastards…

Papamoka

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