Time to Talk Keating

[bigtree]

from Washington Monthly: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014734.php


TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE KEATING FIVE?.... It's apparently considered impolite during the presidential campaign to talk about parts of John McCain's political career that he doesn't like, but given recent events, McCain's role in the Keating Five scandal, by any reasonable measure, does have a renewed salience right now.

Major bank failures? Financial fraud and greed? Political ineptitude? We're seeing these factors play out now in the financial industry, but we saw the same thing 20 years ago, in the biggest scandal of McCain's career. (http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/memories-of-keating-by-digby-as-we.html)

Time's Joe Klein has the audacity to bring up McCain's record during the presidential campaign: (http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/their_brand_is_collapse.html)

The mortgage crisis was a perfect metaphor for Republican financial governance: Investment banks like Lehman -- R.I.P. -- took loans to invest money in ... bad loans. In this case, the loans were bad mortgages. This is called throwing good money after bad.

Actually, John McCain has excellent experience -- a ringside seat -- in the vagaries of this experiment in greed and anarchy. He was a member of the Keating Five. This was the signature scandal of the Savings and Loan crisis, twenty years ago. It concerned the insider help that five Senators gave Charles Keating and his Lincoln Savings and Loan, in return for contributions and gifts. The deregulation of S&Ls -- community banks dedicated to local mortgages (like George Bailey's bank in "It's A Wonderful Life") -- enabled slick operators like Keating to make reckless loans in new areas where they had no expertise. The final tab to the taxpayers was $165 billion.

McCain wasn't the worst offender in the scandal. He was included in the Five to make it bipartisan (the other four were Democrats). But he knew Keating, partied with him, made inquiries on his behalf. He once told me that his role in the scandal was harder on him, in some ways, than being a prisoner of war "Because my honor was called into question."

After an experience like that, you might think Senator Honorable would have devoted himself to preventing other such crises -- to making sure the Big Wall Street Casino was operating according to rules that wouldn't screw the small investors and, more to the point, the taxpayers. But he walked the anti-regulatory party line... McCain, after his political near-death experience, could have made the responsible regulation of markets one of his great causes. He didn't. And today he said, once again, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong." I hope he's right, but it's entirely possible that he knows as much about our economy as Sarah Palin knows about The Bush Doctrine.

Boston Globe ran a great piece on the controversy back in February: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/28/amid_mccains_new_status_old_scandals_stir?mode=PF

[bemildred]

1. Oh fuck yeah.

"Never forget".

[tekisui]

2. And if they even try to say "It was a long time ago" Just ask which was

more recent: "The Keating 5" or the "POW".

[ColbertWatcher]

3. No, we need to talk about Joe Biden's son.

We need to talk about that now and not wait until there is no time left to reverse the lies that will come out about it.

[bigtree]

7. I haven't heard a word about that, outside of Obama's most desperate critics

WE should dictate the conversation and stay focused on McCain and his record

[ColbertWatcher]

13. We can't be naive.

I don't expect the GOP-controlled media to leave it alone. I do expect them to bring it out in the 11th hour.

Think about it. Today there was bad news about banks. Also, a bank a week has closed for the past 11-12 weeks.

Yet, they're not spreading lies about Joe Biden and his son?

I would rather get it done and over with NOW and not have to deal with the GOP's last-minute "issue" bullshit.

[RoccoR5955]

4. The "Keating 5" talk is known to tip gramps over the edge...

...Wanna hear McCain scream? Mention the Keating 5, and how come he got off so easy.

[bigtree]

6. from the Arizona Republic

(McCain) had adopted the blanket defense that Keating was a constituent and that he had every right to ask his senators for help. In attending the meetings, McCain said, he simply wanted to make sure that Keating was treated like any other constituent.

Keating was no ordinary constituent to McCain.

On Oct. 8, 1989, The Arizona Republic revealed that McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators.

The paper also reported that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay.

McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. Total cost: $13,433.

When the story broke, McCain did nothing to help himself.

"You're a liar," McCain said when a Republic reporter asked him about the business relationship between his wife and Keating.

"That's the spouse's involvement, you idiot," McCain said later in the same conversation. "You do understand English, don't you?"

He also belittled reporters when they asked about his wife's ties to Keating.

"It's up to you to find that out, kids . . ."


read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter7.html

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Tweety just asked Schumer why they don't bring it up

Schumer sort of hem and hah on the whole discussion
and didn't really answer

[bigtree]

8. Schumer isn't in any position to step in front of the campaign on that

and, he DID answer.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Well, they need to hit them with ads

which why I nominated your thread.

[bigtree]

11. heh,

I agree. We'll see . . .

[FourScore]

10. Proud to give this the 5th rec!

[AwakeAtLast]

12. Absolutely - K & R!

:kick:

This is shades of the 80's and McLame is still trying to make it look like he had nothing to do with anything! Has he been asleep for 26 years? Can his new nickname be Rip? ;)

[understandinglife]

14. Bring it ... bring it ... bring it ........ Recommended.