I get annoyed whenever Senator McCain tries his tired old line that he's a reformer out to mend the broken ways of America when the evidence suggests otherwise. Here is the latest case in point. Today, in the wake of Lehman Brothers collapsing, he is styling himself and Sarah Palin as a "team of mavericks" who will "clean up Wall Street." That sounds great and everything, but a quick trip to the campaign finance site OpenSecrets.org paints an altogether different picture. Like for George W. Bush before him, it seems that McCain hasn't been shy in accepting Wall Street campaign money at all. According to OpenSecret.org's tally, McCain's top five donors to date are, er, affiliated with Wall Street firms:
That's really "maverick," McCain: taking bucketloads of (probably subprime tainted) money in the finest Dubya style from the very same Wall Street firms you're bashing. To be non-partisan, Obama does little better despite adopting similarly tough talk. His tenth largest group of contributors is traceable to a certain Lehman Brothers. McCain and Obama as reformers? Somehow, I have my doubts. When it comes to sources of campaign finance--and a whole bunch of other things--these guys are no different from those who came before.
9/17 UPDATE: The "maverick" McCain has now outlined a thoroughly conventional (read: slow-moving and time-consuming) way of dealing with the housing bust--create something to investigate the housing mess modelled on the 9/11 Commission. Is this what a fast-imploding market needs?
That's really "maverick," McCain: taking bucketloads of (probably subprime tainted) money in the finest Dubya style from the very same Wall Street firms you're bashing. To be non-partisan, Obama does little better despite adopting similarly tough talk. His tenth largest group of contributors is traceable to a certain Lehman Brothers. McCain and Obama as reformers? Somehow, I have my doubts. When it comes to sources of campaign finance--and a whole bunch of other things--these guys are no different from those who came before.9/17 UPDATE: The "maverick" McCain has now outlined a thoroughly conventional (read: slow-moving and time-consuming) way of dealing with the housing bust--create something to investigate the housing mess modelled on the 9/11 Commission. Is this what a fast-imploding market needs?
