John McCain's troubles aren't merely about a possible love affair with this 40-year-old lobbyist.

[seafan]

It's about using his position on Senate committees to exert direct pressure on government entities for the benefit of his campaign contributors, represented by lobbyists such as Ms. Iseman, cozying up to McCain on their behalf.


Isn't it interesting that Ms. Iseman is, among other things, a telecommunications lobbyist who represented her clients before Senate and House committees.


And, in 1995, John McCain was repeatedly pressuring the FCC about Paxson Communications, a major campaign contributor, to rule on Paxson's desire to purchase a Pittsburgh TV station.

Was Ms. Iseman involved in this Paxson Communications lobbying effort? There's a very good chance of it.

And with the outcry occurring now over unchecked media consolidation that has occurred since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, some intrepid investigative journalists should uncover additional ties between Ms. Iseman and Mr. McCain and others.




Vicki Iseman

Vicki Iseman, Partner, represents corporate and public clients on issues as diverse as government contracting and regulatory reform. Her experience includes representation of clients before Congress, Federal government agencies and local opinion leaders.

She has extensive experience in telecommunications, representing corporations before the House and Senate Commerce Committees. Her work on the landmark 1992 and 1996 communications bills helped secure cable access for broadcast television stations. Her experience in the communications field includes digital television conversion, satellite regulations and telecommunications ownership provisions.

She has been active in grassroots communications campaigns for clients, building community based support for legislative initiatives. Among others, she participated in the "Keep America Moving" campaign that educated community leaders on the allocation of Federal highway trust funds.

In addition, she has consulted for clients who are interested in government contracting opportunities. She has assisted corporations through the authorization and appropriation process. An active fundraiser, she has organized and participated in many political fundraising events.

A native of Pennsylvania, she holds a B.A. degree in Education from Indiana University in Pennsylvania.

John McCain: Straight Shooter?

By Mollie Dickenson
January 29, 2000

In a classic 1995 example in Claremont, N.H., President Clinton shook House Speaker Newt Gingrich's hand in a mutual pledge to reduce the influence of big money in politics. The problem only got worse.

.....

Responding to questions at that Dec. 16 event, McCain came across at his straight-talking best.

The 63-year-old senator admitted that "there have been times when I have probably been influenced" by campaign (donations). Many listeners found the frankness refreshing and assumed he was talking about the cause celebre of the 1980s when McCain was one of the notorious Keating Five, named after convicted savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
In the presidential campaign, McCain had confided that his intervention with bank regulators on Keating's behalf was the worst mistake of his adult life, one that caused him as much anguish as spending five years in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp. The Arizona Republican said the incident taught him that "the appearance of impropriety" can be as damaging as actual wrongdoing.

But little did his listeners in Claremont know that McCain had just written letters to the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of Paxson Communications, a major campaign contributor. Literally on the eve of the Claremont appearance, McCain was pressing the FCC to rule on Paxson's proposed purchase of a Pittsburgh TV station.
When The Boston Globe disclosed the Paxson intervention a few weeks after the Claremont summit, McCain handled the disclosure with aplomb, even chutzpah. The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee argued that he had done nothing wrong and that the suspicion falling on him only reinforced his argument for campaign finance reform.

"We're all tainted," McCain said. "We're all under suspicion as long as Washington is awash in special interest money."

He soon released documents showing that he had intervened for many others, including other large campaign contributors. In the Paxson case, McCain insisted that he was simply "telling a bureaucracy to act," not instructing them how to act. McCain also reminded NBC's Tim Russert that "members of your network contact me too on telecommunications matters."

.....

However, as McCain's intervention for Paxson revealed anew, the business of politics might not have changed all that much, even for a Keating Five survivor.

Careful to include language denying any intent to pressure regulators, McCain made clear in his letters that he was displeased with the FCC's handling of the Paxson application.

On Nov. 17, 1999, McCain wrote to FCC chairman William Kennard and asked that the FCC vote promptly on the three-way transfer of a Pittsburgh TV station to Paxson. The application had been pending since May 30, 1997, more than two years. McCain claimed that most decisions take about 418 days.
In a second letter on Dec. 10, 1999, McCain asked Kennard "that each member of the commission advise me, in writing" before their next open meeting on Dec. 15 "whether you have already acted upon these applications" and, if not, why not. McCain added that his "purpose is not to suggest in any way how you should vote -- merely that you vote."

FCC chairman Kennard bristled. "I must respectfully note that it is highly unusual for the commissioners to be asked to publicly announce their voting status" on a pending matter, he wrote back. After the exchange, the FCC did approve Paxson's application, but it was unclear what, if any, influence McCain's letter had on the FCC's ruling.

Though less dramatic than five senators sitting down with banking officials, the Paxson intervention did have parallels to the Keating case.
Company chairman Lowell Paxson and McCain had become personal friends, with Paxson and his executives lavishing more than $20,000 in campaign donations on McCain. McCain also enjoyed the convenience of flying around on Paxson's corporate jet, including one flight on Dec. 9, a week before the Claremont summit. A planned Paxson fund-raiser for McCain was canceled when the story broke in January.

.....

As with Paxson, McCain became Keating's personal friend, traveling on Keating's jet and enjoying vacations at Keating's Bahama island retreat. As part of the Keating Five settlement, McCain was required to pay back $13,434 for those personal costs. ..... But the Paxson case is a reminder that it's just possible McCain might have learned less of a lesson than many had thought. He certainly hasn't forgotten a cardinal rule of politics -- that a candidate needs money from somewhere to compete.

.....

Revisited: John McCain, one of The Keating Five corruption scandal of 1989, January 31, 2008



Mr. Straight Talk Express, indeed.

[GodlessBiker]

1. That picture they are using on CNN.com now is another problem. Oy.

[TwilightGardener]

2. There are a lot of defenders of McCain here--some of the same Hillary supporters

who were bashing Obama for "plagiarism" and Michelle for being unpatriotic. Sickening.

[Ivote]

3. This is what's next & Rezko & his buddies look out folks

Well isn't this a cozy little group: Obama, Exelon, and their consultant, Obama's main man David Axelrod. A partnership made in heaven for the nuclear giant Exelon, which has given "at least $227,000" to Obama's campaign that eventually got them legislation from the Illinois Senator written with their best interests in mind. If this was a story about Clinton rewriting legislation to benefit one of her biggest campaign contributors, who also happened to be Big Nuke, there would be blaring headlines across the web. That it revolves around nuclear leaks and helping provide cover for Exelon, a big biz corporate contributor for Obama, against the best interest of a community, is not a small issue either. You cannot buy this type of free pass from the traditional media. They have to be willing to be complicit in it, because any way you slice it this is a huge story.

The report in the New York Times is alarming. For one thing, you've got to wonder why he told a whopper in Iowa when the records are so easily revealed. Of course, to win. But when it concerns radioactive leaks and the protection of citizens, we're talking about the morality of personal politics and professional ethics. Guess Obama knows the press has been asleep where he's concerned and counted on that continuing. Oops.

[TwilightGardener]

4. You're spamming your shit now.

[MNDemNY]

7. You will surely be struck down...

for daring to question any aspect of the Lord-God-Obama. You are clearly a racist who will stop at nothing to try and damage the reputation of this man of utmost character and saintliness.

[NNN0LHI]

5. How on earth can you tell who the Hillary supporters are on an anonymous internet web site?

I can't tell who are the real supporters of any candidate from some scum sucking freepers causing trouble under these circumstances.

Tell me how you do it.

Don

[TwilightGardener]

6. Some, I just know. Some are tougher to figure out--they are coming

out of the woodwork now, some who have been registered for years but have relatively low post counts, and others who claim they don't like either candidate, or like both candidates, but are clearly out to bash Obama in particular.

On edit--see post 3# for an example.

[seafan]

8. Ms. Iseman is also involved in brokering "government contracting opportunities."

Wonder if she's assisted folks such as Brent Wilkes, Mitchell Wade, Duke Cunningham, Dusty Foggo, BlackwaterUSA, and others with outstretched, greedy little hands... hhmmmm.

[seafan]

9. McCain Lobbyist Story Has Tampa Connection

McCain Lobbyist Story Has Tampa Connection

By BILLY HOUSE and WILLIAM MARCH
The Tampa Tribune

February 21, 2008

WASHINGTON -- A New York Times story on a female lobbyist's ties eight years ago to John McCain has an important Tampa connection: She worked then and now for the firm of Hector Alcalde, a prominent Tampa-connected political figure.
The Times, in a story this morning that initially was posted on its Web site Wednesday night, raises questions about the relationship between Alcalde & Fay partner Vicki Iseman and McCain during a period when the senator was in his first run for president, in 2000. ..... The Web site notes, "She has extensive experience in telecommunications, representing corporations before the House and Senate Commerce Committees."

Citing information from unnamed former McCain campaign associates, the Times said aides began to worry about the senator's relationship with Iseman in 2000 as news organizations were reporting McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of one of her clients.
Adding to those concerns, the story said, was that in February 2000 McCain and Iseman attended a small fundraising dinner with several of her clients at the Miami-area home of a cruise-line executive and then flew back to Washington along with a campaign aide on the corporate jet of one of her clients, Paxson Communications.
Citing the anonymous sources, the story said top McCain advisers became convinced the relationship had become romantic and intervened, instructing staff to block her access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him.
They warned McCain that even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the committee threatened to harm his career, the story said.

Alcalde, who now lives in the Washington area, long has been prominent in Tampa politics. He was chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons of Tampa. He also was a graduate of the University of Tampa and member of the college's board and a prominent lobbyist who has represented local governments including Hillsborough County and Tampa. He is listed on the Arlington, Va.-based Alcalde & Fay's Web site as the firm's founder and chairman.
Despite his Democratic roots, in recent years Alcalde has contributed heavily to Republicans including former Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov. Charlie Crist, state Sen. Ronda Storms, Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman, and U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Adam Putnam.

Alcalde could not be reached late Wednesday.

Iseman's partners at Alcalde & Fay include L.A. "Skip" Bafalis, a former Republican congressman from Florida.

The Times reported that Iseman represented telecommunications companies for Alcalde's firm and McCain's commerce committee was pivotal to those clients. Her clients contributed tens of thousands of dollars to his campaigns, the story said.
A champion of deregulation, McCain wrote letters in 1998 and 1999 to the Federal Communications Commission urging it to uphold marketing agreements allowing a television company to control two stations in the same city, a crucial issue for Glencairn Ltd., one of Iseman's clients, the newspaper said.

McCain also introduced a bill to create tax incentives for minority ownership of stations; Iseman represented several businesses seeking such a program. And he twice tried to advance legislation that would permit a company to control television stations in overlapping markets, an important issue for Paxson, the Times reported. ..... The Times said that McCain's aides released all his letters to the FCC to dispel accusations of favoritism and that aides said the campaign had properly accounted for four trips on the Paxson plane. But the campaign did not report the flight with Iseman, the newspaper reported.

McCain's advisers say he was not required to disclose the flight, but ethics lawyers dispute that.

Here is the NY Times breaking story:


For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk, February 21, 2008

WASHINGTON — Early in Senator John McCain’s first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship.

.....

Yes, Paxson Communications was Ms. Iseman's client. And Senator McCain made good use of his influence for Paxson's benefit.
If there was a romantic relationship, it appears that Ms. Iseman used it for the ultimate benefit of her client.


How can John McCain look the American people in the eyes and claim he is proud of his record as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, as he is running for President?

He, like many of his Republican predecessors and current cohorts, is a crook.

[seafan]

10. Jeb Bush also connected to Vicki Iseman's lobbying firm

Cross-posted:

Well, well. Jeb Bush is also connected to Alcalde & Fay (Vicki Iseman's firm), February 21, 2008

[Tippy]

11. John McCain has pulled the whool over many people's eyes

For way to long. Yes he served our country, yes he was a POW...but the man is also a crook and a lier. Usually where there is smoke there is fire. I am just glad people were unable to talk him in to changing politics. Just because he was a POW he thinks the US owes him...well what about all the other POW's...what ABOUT ALL OF OUR WOUNDED FROM IRAQ? How much more do we owe McCain.