On Feb 4, 5:13=A0am, "Patriot Games" <Patr...@America.com> wrote:
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/hastert_mccain_ally/2008/02/03/69709....
Hastert: McCain Always a Democratic Ally
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Sen. John McCain has made a career of siding with Democrats, says former
House Speaker Dennis Hastert. And he blames McCain's frequent forays acros=
s
the aisle for the Arizona senator's involvement in a notorious scandal.
McCain was always known among Republicans as "the undependable vote" in th=
e
Senate and always "allied with Democrats," Hastert told the Chicago Tribun=
e.
In a conference call with reporters, Haster said McCain had changed "after=
the Keating Five scandal."
The Tribune recalled that McCain was one of five U.S. senators implicated =
in
the 1989 Keating Five scandal, when the lawmakers allegedly pressured
federal regulators against pursuing an investigation of Charles Keating, t=
he
former chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association and a McCain
close friend and contributor.
McCain and Democratic Sens. Dennis DeConcini of Arizona, Alan Cranston of
California, and John Glenn of Ohio met with Ed Gray, chairman of the Feder=
al
Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) in April 1989. They met a second time, along
with a fifth senator, Don Riegle.
The FHLBB then waited a full two years to seize Lincoln Savings, and the
subsequent bailout cost taxpayers $2.6 billion, making it the biggest of t=
he
era's savings and loan scandals. Lincoln investors lost almost $200 millio=
n
in the debacle.
In November 1990, the Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation in=
to
the meetings between the regulators and senators, who became known as the
Keating Five.
McCain was cited by the Senate Ethics Committee for showing "poor judgment=
"
in the matter. But the panel recommended no further action against him.
As a result of McCain's involvement in the scandal, said Hastert, McCain
changed and became "more of a populist."
"He was gearing up for a run for the presidency in 2000, so he had to chan=
ge
track and clean up his image, from my point of view," explained Hastert, a=
Mitt Romney supporter.
According to the Tribune, Hastert has not had a lot of good to say about
McCain in recent years. Hastert also insisted that on agenda items under t=
he
Republican-controlled Congress, "it just seems like everything we did, Joh=
n
was someplace else."
"It was McCain-Kennedy, it was McCain-Lieberman, it was McCain-Feingold on=
campaign finance reform," Hastert told the Tribune, noting McCain's
Democratic co-sponsors on legislation. "He was against us on tax cuts, and=
his form of immigration reform was to open the gates and let everybody in.=
"
Asked if he considered McCain a conservative, Hastert said, "In my opinion=
,
he is not. He is a moderate. In almost everything he's done, he's done
[things] against what mainstream Republicans thought and he's allied with
Democrats. He was always the undependable vote in the Senate."
A modest observation; Senator McCain would perform oral sex on a road-
killed
Mexican to glean even more support from his beloved illegal aliens.
ted
http://www.newnation.org/ New Nation News
.
