Bank Lobbyist Serves as Advisor to McCain on Mortgage Crisis Policy

Submitted by NCDem Amy on May 28, 2008 - 02:05

Yet another lobbyist problem for McCain:

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s national campaign general co-chair was being paid by a Swiss bank to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain about his economic policy, federal records show.

MSNBC

Olbermann reported on this story Tuesday night, noting that Gramm served "as a lobbyist dealing specifically with legislation regarding the mortgage crisis as recently as Dec. 31, 2007."

lobbyists, corruption, McCain, Mortgage Crisis, Phil Gramm, predatory lenders
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cho

May 28, 2008 - 09:08

Really appreciate your pushing this information out there!

NCDem Amy

May 28, 2008 - 19:49

As it turns out, Gramm is also connected to futures oil trading and is a big recipient of Enron campaign contributions, as is his wife.

Per arguebus on DailyKos:

Dr. Wendy Gramm [yes, that's his wife], in her capacity as chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), exempted Enron’s trading of futures contracts in response to a request for such an action by Enron in 1992. At the time, Enron was a significant source of campaign financing for Wendy Gramm’s husband, U.S. Senator Phil Gramm.

Six days after she provided Enron the exemption it wanted, Wendy Gramm resigned her position at the CFTC. Five weeks after her resignation, Enron appointed her to its Board of Directors, where she served on the Board’s Audit Committee. Her service on the Audit Committee made her responsible for verifying Enron’s accounting procedures and other detailed financial information not available to outside analysts or shareholders.

Following Wendy Gramm’s appointment to Enron’s board, the company became a significant source of personal income for the Gramms. Enron paid her between $915,000 and $1.85 million in salary, attendance fees, stock option sales and dividends from 1993 to 2001. The value of Wendy Gramm’s Enron stock options swelled from no more than $15,000 in 1995 to as much as $500,000 by 2000.

Phil Gramm is the second largest recipient in Congress of Enron campaign contributions, receiving $97,350 since 1989.

Just when you think it can't get any more corrupt...

Thanks, cho!