Since the topic of the Keating 5 is no longer off-limits in the TM, and the Obama campaign has launched a counter-attack to deal with the absurd Ayers smears launched by the McCain campaign, perhaps it is time to revisit not just John McCain's culpability and lack of judgment back in the time of Keating, but also the intimate involvement of his wife.

(Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

On Saturday night, there were reports not just that Obama was making a major play for the one electoral vote that comes with a victory in Nebraska's second congressional district, but that this move sufficiently concerned the McCain campaign that they decided to send Sarah Palin to Omaha to do a rally there.  Well, guess what?  Sarah denies that she went to Omaha to shore up flagging support.

Friday, the Wall Street bailout bill passed the House.

Today, Monday, news from all corners of the world that confirms the fears of many: The $1.1 trillion bailout ($700 billion bailout + $400 billion to support failing money market funds) isn't going to accomplish much, at all.

Back when I was much younger, I used to go a bit wild on weekends, only to find myself scrounging for lunch money on Monday.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-CAp_DWPFlc/SO m3Ev3roOI/AAAAAAAAANU/fpjRn5Z6HII/s1600- h/mccain_keating.jpg

The core allegation of the Keating Five scandal is that Charles Keating, who eventually served five years in jail for his mishandling of a saving and loan association (eerily similar to our current economic crisis), made contributions to senators and then called on them to resist the passage of regulation. As a result there was a slowdown in the finance industry and the real estate market that many consider a contributing cause of the economic recession in the 1990's. From 1982 to 1987 John McCain received $112,000.00 in contributions from Keating. In addition, McCain's wife and father in law, had invested over $350,000.00 in a Keating owned shopping center. McCain, his family and their babysitter had made nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard his private jet. Three of the trips were to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain did not pay anything for the trips until years after they were taken and the insinuation of impropriety first arose. Keating established similar relationships with four other senators.

The facts:
Regulators were concerned in the mid 1980's that risky investment practices were potentially exposing government insurance funds to huge losses. Charles Keating's savings and loan association, Lincoln, had become burdened with bad debt as a result of its past aggressiveness. As a result its investment practices were being investigated. For a time it seemed as though the government might seize Lincoln for being insolvent. Keating wanted five senators to intervene on his behalf.

On April 2nd, 1987, a meeting with the chairman of the FHLBB (Independent Federal Regulatory Body) and four of the Keating Five senators took place, including John McCain. The senators requested that no staff be present. One of the senators started the meeting with mention of "our friend at Lincoln" referring to Charles Keating. The chairman said he was unfamiliar with the details of that case, but offered to set up a meeting with the regulators in San Francisco that had oversight jurisdiction over Lincoln.

On April 9th, 1987, the Keating Five, including McCain met with three members of the San Francisco regulators. The regulators felt that the meeting was very unusual and that they were being pressured by a "united front." At this point the regulators explained Lincoln was under criminal investigation for many serious charges.

Lincoln was seized by the government in 1989. More than 21,000 elderly investors lost their life savings. A criminal investigation of Charles Keating followed that was expanded to include the five Senators, including John McCain.

John McCain was cleared of any criminal impropriety, but the Senate Ethics committee criticized him for poor judgment for when he met with regulators on behalf of Charles Keating. In 2002, John McCain said these two meetings were "the worst mistake of my life." The Senate Ethics committee did not pursue, for lack of jurisdiction, McCain's delayed re-imbursments to Keating for trips at the latter's expense. One of the San Francisco bank regulators felt that McCain had gotten off too lightly, saying that Keating's business involvement with Cindy McCain was an obvious conflict of interest.

There is more:
John McCain's first letter on behalf of Keating:
http://www.keatingeconomics.com/pdf/Lett er%20to%20Baker.pdf
John McCain's second letter on behalf of Keating:
http://www.keatingeconomics.com/pdf/Lett er%20to%20Gray.pdf
John McCain's third letter on behalf of Keating:
http://www.keatingeconomics.com/pdf/Seco nd%20Letter%20to%20Gray.pdf
John McCain's fourth letter on behalf of Keating:
http://www.keatingeconomics.com/pdf/Thir d%20Letter%20to%20Gray.pdf
John McCain's fifth letter on behalf of Keating:
http://www.keatingeconomics.com/pdf/Lett er%20to%20Regan.pdf

In conclusion, can the American people really believe that John McCain, who admitted his judgment was compromised during the Keating Five scandal, is the man to clean up the current financial mess on Wall Street? Can we trust John McCain to implement the regulation we need?

The same John McCain who opposed Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in 2000, because he felt they threatened the government surplus, and in 2008 supports them in spite of defecits and national debt that is spiraling out of control. The same John McCain who promised an honorable and positive campaign and then launched into attack advertisements about Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Moses, not to mention saying Obama called Sarah Palin a pig and wanted to teach sex education to Kindergarten children. The same John McCain who chose a clearly uninformed and unqualified Vice Presidential candidate at the age of 72 for purely political purposes. The same John McCain who, now down in the polls, is preparing to "change the conversation" away from the issues that matter to launch a nasty smear campaign against his opponent.

Can you trust John McCain?

My GOD, am I sick and tired of the rights favorite guilt-by-association target, SOROS' name (nothing against Mr. Soros). They toss his name around, this election season, more that ever to attack the left.

I realize the average age in the GOP is over the age for onset of SENILE DEMENTIA, but come on.
And they always magically, in their hazed logic, FORGET that Mr. McCain has a LONG history of association with George.

The names WorldNetDaily or Jerome R. Corsi sound familiar?

"John McCain funded by Soros since 2001." (1)
"George Soros brains behind McCain-Feingold" (2)

And NO, I'm NOT one of these 'guilt-by-association' conspiracy NUTS, NOR do I think there is a thing wrong with George Soros, I just feel it is time to SHUT THEM UP!

I have been on this "Fair Tax" kick as of late and I am having problems finding issues with it.  What do you guys think?

Jesus Christ... This is just brilliant. They aren't even reacting, they've been planning this. The site says that there will be a full documentary at noon tomorrow. They even registered the domain name back on September 25th. McCain's people can't compete with this. Not only that, but the angle they are taking makes the incident relevant by tying it directly to the most current, most politically volatile situation, so they've instantly made this more damaging and more relatable than McCain's unfocused accusations of knowing bad people. AND that strategy gives them an argument against John McCain's primary defense, that he learned his lesson. Because now McCain has been running with the same crowd. He hasn't cleaned up his act, he just found out how to hide it.

They've essentially pulled a Bugs Bunny cannon trick. John McCain's people yell to ready the cannons, and then immediately Obama's ship opens up and reveals cannons about twice the size. Whatever misgivings I once had about this campaign have long been alleviated.

The current economic crisis demands that we understand John McCain's attitudes about economic oversight and corporate influence in federal regulation. Nothing illustrates the danger of his approach more clearly than his central role in the savings and loan scandal of the late '80s and early '90s.

. . . .

The Keating scandal is eerily similar to today's credit crisis, where a lack of regulation and cozy relationships between the financial industry and Congress has allowed banks to make risky loans and profit by bending the rules. And in both cases, John McCain's judgment and values have placed him on the wrong side of history.

Short, but sweet.  Here's just another sign of the overall McCain implosion.  I've hardly been aware of McCain's brother.  hope we'll be hearing a lot more from him.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's brother made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia.

Joe McCain, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia "communist country," according to a report on The Washington Post's Web site.

"I've lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country," Joe McCain said at an event in Loudon County, Va.

- snip -

"This was Joe McCain's unsuccessful attempt at humor," said McCain campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho. "John McCain and Sarah Palin are committed to winning the support of voters in Northern Virginia and understand the region's importance to victory statewide."

Asked if he thought McCain was taking the state seriously enough, Davis paused before saying: "I think they're going to."

And where does John "The Maverick (TM)" McCain live when working in Washington?  Why, his luxurious Arlington condo, right in the heart of commie country.  Wonder if he's been tainted?

This just can't be helpful.  Heh.