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

[seafan]

While working on another angle to the John McCain/Vicki Iseman lobbyist story in today's NYT, I stumbled upon some additional and very interesting connections deeper into this whole story.


Put very simply:

John McCain may also be involved (1) in Vicki Iseman's lobbying efforts for the Carnival Corporation, (2) a Miami cruise company.

Carnival Cruise company (CEO Micky Arison)(3) was under scrutiny for a decision by FEMA in 2005 to charter three cruise ships to be used as temporary housing for Katrina victims. The contracts awarded to Carnival were exorbitant and were under investigation by Henry Waxman on the Gov't Reform Committee.

Jeb Bush pulled the strings to obtain these FEMA contracts for Carnival. (4) Oh, and one more detail about Hector Alcalde, the owner of Ms. Iseman's lobbying firm, Alcalde & Fay,... Mr. Alcalde has contributed heavily to Jeb Bush and other Florida Republicans. (5)




(1)

The lobbyist, a partner at the firm Alcalde & Fay, represented telecommunications companies for whom Mr. McCain’s commerce committee was pivotal. Her clients contributed tens of thousands of dollars to his campaigns.

Mr. Black said Mr. McCain and Ms. Iseman were friends and nothing more. But in 1999 she began showing up so frequently in his offices and at campaign events that staff members took notice. One recalled asking, “Why is she always around?”

That February, Mr. McCain and Ms. Iseman attended a small fund-raising dinner with several 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. By then, according to two former McCain associates, some of the senator’s advisers had grown so concerned that the relationship had become romantic that they took steps to intervene.

(Although this cruise-line executive is not named in this article, I would bet that it is Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corporation.)




Here is Miss Vicki's client list:


(2)

Iseman, Vicki
Lobbyist Profile, 2007

Lobbying Firm Alcalde & Fay


Client


Arison Family Trust (Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corporation)

BearingPoint Inc

CACI International

City of Miami, FL

Computer Sciences Corp

Homer-Center School District

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Ion Media Networks

Jovan Broadcasting

Operation Warm

Saga Communications

Total Living Network

(Credit: Center for Responsive Politics)

Iseman, Vicki
Career Client List, 1998 - 2006


Client

American Maglev Technology

AMFM Inc

Arison Family Trust

AstraZeneca

BearingPoint Inc

CACI International

CanWest

Capstar Broadcasting Partners

Carnival Corp

City of Miami, FL

City of Palm Springs, CA

Click Radio

Computer Sciences Corp

Future Leaders of America

HFF Inc

Hillsborough County

Hispanic Broadcasting Inc

Homer-Center School District

i2Telecom International

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Ion Media Networks

Jovan Broadcasting

Latona Assoc

Marin County, CA

National Stroke Assn

Operation Warm

Paxson Communications

PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Saga Communications

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Telemundo Network Group

Total Living Network

Tulare County

Univision Communications

Walter Industries

(Credit: Center for Responsive Politics)

(3)

Loophole Lets Lobbyists Hide Clients' Identity, July 5, 2002


.....In the 1990's, Congressional Democrats used http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EFDB1031F936A35754C0A9649C8B63">Ted Arison, the founder of Carnival Cruise lines who saved millions in taxes by renouncing his United States citizenship and returning to Israel, as a case study of why the tax law should be rewritten. Mr. Arison was one of the richest men in the world when he died in 1999. A spokesman for the Carnival Corporation, whose chairman is Micky Arison, a son of Ted Arison's, referred questions about why the Arison family trusts had operated through the Section 877 Coalition to one of the lobbying firms, Alcalde & Fay.

At the firm, Hector Alcalde said he had listed the client as the Section 877 Coalition for ''simplicity's sake,'' because PricewaterhouseCoopers had already done so. ''There's no hidden agenda,'' Mr. Alcalde said.

.....

(4)

Carnival CEO defends cruise ship deal for hurricane evacuees, September 30, 2005


FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) — Carnival Corp. CEO Micky Arison defended his company's $236 million contract with the federal government to use cruise ships to house hurricane victims, denying reports Friday that the vessels were mostly empty.

U.S. Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., called it a "sweetheart" deal in a letter Thursday asking Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to explain the contract with the Miami-based company.

The senators alleged the contract guaranteed the Carnival Cruise Lines brand rates that were much higher than market levels.

.....

The senators also asked Chertoff to explain why the U.S. didn't accept Greece's offer to send two ships for free. Gov. Jeb Bush said those ships wouldn't have arrived until Oct. 10.

Bush said the contract might be an example of government waste, "but don't blame Carnival Cruise Lines for canceling cruise ships with 100,000 customers. That's their business."

"No good deed goes unpunished," Bush said ....

October 2, 2005

....."Many of the berths are going unfilled, which could make the cost per person extraordinarily high," wrote Waxman. "Even if all the berths were filled, the cost for a family of five appears to exceed $20,000 per month. "This would appear to be far more than other options, such as providing community-based housing."

Waxman asked Chertoff to provide copies of the contracts, requests for proposals and other documentation.

On September 27, U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) piled on.

The two senators are sponsoring legislation that would create a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to oversee all expenditures associated with the Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction effort.

.....

n a joint statement they said that "the Senate Federal Financial Management Subcommittee's investigation into a six-month $192 million FEMA contract with Carnival Cruise Lines has discovered that taxpayers are paying, per evacuee, four times the amount a vacation cruise passenger would have to pay. Three Carnival ships are only half full and mostly occupied by relief workers. Carnival's overhead costs in the FEMA operation are far lower than during normal cruises. The Carnival ships are docked. No fuel is being used and no entertainment is being provided to the relief workers. Yet, taxpayers are paying $2,550 per guest per week, which is four times the cost of a $599 per person '7 Day Western Caribbean' Cruise from Galveston."

"When the federal government would actually save millions of dollars by forgoing the status quo and actually sending evacuees on a luxurious six-month cruise it is time to rethink how we are conducting oversight. A short-term temporary solution has turned into a long-term, grossly overpriced sweetheart deal for a cruise line," Obama and Coburn said.

The FEMA contract has, however, found a defender in Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Speaking to travel agents at an event in Fort Lauderdale he said critics who have labeled the (Carnival) contract a "sweetheart deal" are wrong, and that the charge could inhibit companies in Florida from stepping forward in the future if a similar hurricane situation develops there.

"There's some senators and politicians up there in Washington criticizing this and I think it's wrong," the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reports Bush as saying.

.....

(5)

McCain Lobbyist Story Has Tampa Connection, February 21, 2008


(Hector)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.

.....

So, to recap the connections:

John McCain--->Vicki Iseman, lobbyist---Alcalde & Fay lobbying firm-->Iseman's client Carnival Corporation-->Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival-->recipient of $236 Million FEMA Katrina contracts-->Jeb Bush, facilitator of FEMA contracts and recipient of Hector Alcalde's largess.


So, Jeb Bush used his influence as Florida Governor to secure FEMA contracts for Carnival Corporation, a client of Alcalde and Fay. And magically, Hector Alcalde is a large benefactor for Jeb Bush.




Jeb's story here is parallel to the hot water in which McCain finds himself.

But Jeb (*the smart one*) performs the lobbying, the influence peddling AND gets the payoff.


Isn't it nice how it all works out for the Bush family?

[Lars39]

1. K&R for the connecting dots.

[babylonsister]

2. Thanks! Rec'd and bookmarked to read later. nt

[oldtime dfl_er]

3. Your last line sums it up perfectly!

"Isn't it nice how it all works out for the Bush family?"

recommending!

[uberblonde]

4. Caci International, huh?

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CACI_International

[spanone]

5. koinkydinks, simply koinkydinks

Nominated


:sarcasm:

[malaise]

6. Great post

The cautious approach of the usual spinners suggests that this story has teeth.

[angrycarpenter]

7. All of the corruption is interconnected

So that everyone will cover for everyone. How many degrees separate any corporate sleezebag from any republican congressman. Hey I just invented a new game!

[seasat]

8. Great Research

Is there anything crooked our asshat former governor doesn't have a hand in?

[Canuckistanian]

9. Wow, those are some connections

Carnival Cruises, eh?

Funny how that name keeps popping up, doesn't it?

Great research, seafan.

:thumbsup:

[malaise]

10. And a great pix with King George

[Canuckistanian]

14. Say, isn't that Cindy McCain?

Oops, my mistake....

[flashl]

11. K&R n/t

[dano81818]

12. careful...

do not fall into the RW trap of piling on with baseless allegations.. mccain is about as squeaky clean as they come. his involvement in keating was minimal and the nytimes article is baseless. mccain will have to be defeated on ISSUES. no need to create sympathy for him.

[malaise]

13. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Any involvement contradicts squeaky clean.

[annabanana]

17. thank you for

your concern.

[seemslikeadream]

18. .....!

[Mabus]

25. Can I have some of what you're smoking?

:rofl:

[starroute]

15. American Freedom PAC and ICCL

I found Iseman listed at veromi.com as having a business connection with the American Freedom Political Action Committee.

According to http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/american-freedom-political-action-committee.asp?cycle=08, the sole donors to that PAC appear to be Micky Arison, the chairman of Carnival Corporation, and his wife; Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises, and his wife; some other Carnival people; and Hector Alcalde, Kevin Fay, and other top Alcalde & Fay people.

The address of the American Freedom PAC is the same as that of the Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation, which in turn is tied in with the International Council of Cruise Lines:

http://books.google.com/books?id=S5QlSKl3oFEC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=%22cruise+industry+charitable+foundation%22+alcalde&source=web&ots=aqT3_PiCyg&sig=nKFV0B3xP7qsDoRb7CWfY7zukK0

ICCL does its own lobbying and also employs the firm Alcalde and Fay. The two have an odd relationship in that the president of ICCL is a partner in Alcalde and Ray. The previous president, Cynthia Colenda, is Hector Alcalde's daughter and now serves as executive director of the Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation. The two organizations, ICCL and Alcalde and Fay, are inextricably linked. Curiously, the amount Alcalde claims as lobbying income from ICCL is greater than the amount ICCL says it spent on lobbying activities in recent years.

http://www.alcalde-fay.com/meet_the_firm/BiosDetail.cfm?id=35

Cynthia A. Colenda, Consultant, is an experienced government and legislative affairs specialist who joined Alcalde & Fay in 1983 and later served as president of the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL). In that position, she directed the association's international and domestic regulatory programs, and public affairs initiatives. During her five-year tenure, she spearheaded the development of an Associate Membership Program that forged relationships between domestic and international businesses. She also established the Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation and continues to serve as executive director.

I'm not sure what all this amounts to -- but I do know from looking into Jack Abramoff and SunCruz that there are many flaky aspects to the cruise industry and a considerable potential for financial irregularities. Also, the Abramoff SunCruz deal was going down in 2000, the same time that McCain was involved with Iseman. And Alcalde & Fay, with its apparent Miami Cuban connections, is reminiscent in certain ways of Greenberg, Traurig.

I don't want to hit too heavily on the possible Abramoff parallels (though it does seem that when McCain wasn't assisting his lobbyist friends through his position with the Commerce Committee, he was helping cover up the Abramoff affair through the American Indian Affairs Subcommittee), but there definitely does seem to be something about this cruise line connection that could bear looking into.

[sofa king]

32. Maybe you should hit heavily on Abramoff.

Having seen it myself, I know that the DC lobby circuit is as incestuous as a five gallon water bottle full of rats, and one probably doesn't have to look too far to find cross-pollination between any two firms.

One curious example is Michael Brown, son of Ron, who did time with Abramoff's Greenberg Traurig before joining Alcalde & Fay.

Abramoff's other law firm, Preston Gates, represents Norwegian Cruise Lines, among others, which also retains the minimal services of Alcalde & Fay. The frontman for Preston Gates and Norwegian was none other than Tom DeLay's best boy, Mike Scanlon. That opens up the possibility of a cross-connection between the lobbyist he was banging and the lobbyist who later fucked over the Indians.

If McCain gets caught knowing Scanlon behind the curtains and then hauling him before his own committee without disclosing it, he's through. We can only hope he sews up the nomination before that happens.

Even if there are no other lawyers on staff who have worked for both firms (and I'm sure there are), one still has to consider the various associations, working groups and PACs (including the hilariously named WUFPAC) which are staffed by lawyers from various lobbying firms. And chances are, even if you find nothing there, they're still all getting ripped together at Poli-Tiki or My Brother's Place, or whatever hasn't become sooo Eighteenth Street Lounge since I quit drinking and left.

Worse still for McCain, whether he likes it or not he was (and still is) on Greenberg Traurig's short list at Christmas because in 2000 he was still a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, though he had moved up to the Chair of Commerce as well. So Jack's firms lavished McCain with donations which now bear the taint of Jackness, whatever he says. And he'll have to say something about it soon.

Apparently Greenberg Traurig has shoveled over $100,000 to him over the years, which paid off handsomely for them when he returned to the Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 2005 and proceeded to allow all of the most explosive Abramoff revelations to wash through his Committee without action--action wasn't his jurisdiction, you see--and it must have been someone else's fault that nobody else took that information and ran with it. In those hearings, McCain was careful to isolate Abramoff from everyone, including Abramoff's own firms, and I can think of a hundred thousand reasons why.

Again, McCain may have taken a cautious path through that sandbox, but again, all of his playmates have shit all over them, so he'll have to explain why he's clean.

Worse still for McCain, he's a Republican, vying for the nomination by a criminal political machine which knows no other electoral tactic but to impugn, denigrate and destroy in order to get close enough to steal it--a party which has already destroyed McCain himself with plenty of information to spare, information which will be offered up throughout the summer by other sociopathic party operatives who won't be able to resist cashing in on the good dirt they've been sitting on for eight years.

He's fucked. I've been saying for four years that the Republicans would do everything in their power to pick Hillary because she's the one they've invested two decades of slander and slime in, but we Democrats couldn't have picked a better Republican out of a bag of snakes--except maybe Mike Huckabee, who's much better at handling snakes than we are, anyway.

[bonito]

16. KICK!

[trusty elf]

19. All of this corruption makes my blood boil.

Here's a lovely pic of the "smart one".

[Sancho]

20. Another of Jeb's devious plans...& he has taught Charlie how to play the game

Good job, Seafan


:dem:

[snappyturtle]

21. WOW! Super job! K&R

:kick:

[Virginia Dare]

22. I guess we now know how the Bush family had Gramps by the balls..

put a perky little blond with pretty blue eyes in his hemisphere and let the chips all fall where they may.

[Phred42]

23. Well Done! K&R

[bdamomma]

24. the bush crime family is correct.

there is always one in the shadows.

[mod mom]

26. Isn't it ironic how many shady events always lead to a member of the Bush family?

[seafan]

27. "He is beholden to no interest other than that of the public good."--Jeb Bush endorsing McCain, 2/11

Just another example of Jeb's ability to recognize 'character' when he sees it...

"John McCain is a patriot and devoted conservative leader," Bush said in a statement issued by the McCain campaign. "Like no other candidate in the field, John McCain has made tremendous sacrifices for this nation. He is beholden to no interest other than that of the public good. He is determined and steadfast in his commitment to reducing the burden of high taxes, restoring the people's trust in their government, and winning the war against radical Islamic extremists. It is with pride that I announce my endorsement of John McCain for president." -----Jeb Bush, February 11, 2008

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. Boy, that little blonde gets around.

No wonder she looks so sleepy.

[L. Coyote]

29. Donor name: Alcalde, Hector = Total for this search: $132,731

THE CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS
Results: 203 records found in 0.3906 seconds.
Donor name: Alcalde, Hector
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?key=dsmb9&txtName=Alcalde,%20Hector&txtState=(all%20states)&txtAll=Y&Order=N

Total for this search: $132,731

Largest of 203 contributions is:

5/17/2005 $2,000 American Freedom PAC

...... $1,000 Badger Fund ... American Freedom PAC ... Future Leaders PAC ... lots of politicos .... D & R politicos .... ... $1,000 ....

[lovuian]

30. talk about being in Bed with the Bush's

oh ya

[L. Coyote]

31. Who are McCain's bundlers? Like for AT&T's $181,900 or Greenberg Traurig's $129,587

Who is doing the bundling? ... Like for AT&T's $181,900 or Greenberg Traurig's $129,587

JOHN MCCAIN: CAREER PROFILE (SINCE 1989)
Total Receipts: $111,808,625

http://opensecrets.org/politicians/allcontrib.asp?CID=N00006424
Top Contributors
1 Citigroup Inc $201,750 international financial conglomerate
2 Goldman Sachs $195,670 global investment banking and securities
3 Merrill Lynch $195,000 investment banking services

4 AT&T Inc $181,900 telecommunications

5 Blank Rome LLP $147,500 lawyers www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Blank_Rome_LLP

7 Greenberg Traurig $129,587 lawyers www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Greenberg_Traurig

9 Qwest Communications $116,550 telecommunications

13 Verizon Comm. $90,750 telecommunications

18 Time Warner $82,625 media and communications
19 IDT Corp $82,150 long distance
20 Univision Comm. $82,000 telecommunications

[lisainmilo]

33. yes...K&R for connecting the dots!

Great job, Bush family............utterly disgusting how the continue to use and abuse the United States treasury, the United States tax-payer...ME! :mad: