The Respectfully Republican Conversation
Comments
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I just heard that Obama said today at the VFW meeting that he wants to send BILLIONS of our money to Georgia to help re-build their infrastructure after their war. Am I hearing this correctly? Our bridges are falling down, levees breaking, roads need repair, to the tune of $200 billion, and he wants to send money to Georgia for their repairs!?!. I'm sitting here shaking my head. Billions mean nothing any more to them.
Plus, he wants to expand the war into Pakistan. Sure give them warning, the yanks are coming, and they'll be waiting for our young ones with everything they got. There's a seat waiting for him back in the Senate.
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What is a Billion,
Old teacher of mind gave this example. Rich man wanted some space from his wife. Gave her a million dollars and said spend 1000.00 a day don't come back till it is gone. She came back in less than three years. He then gave her a billion dollar, she was gone for almost 3000 years.
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T Boone Pickens
A great man, not only for his energy plan, but to do such things as make a $100,000,000.00, a 100 million dollars donation for medical research. 50 mil to UT Sourthwest and 50 Mil to MD Anderson for cancer. This donation done in way to produce 1 billion for research.
I like this a lot better than Gates doing the 40 bill to stop malaria in Africa. Got a hint for him, don't worry about thin buzzard eggs, save a few million kids by spraying DDT to kill mosquitos.
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My dear friend believes that BO is the antichrist. Here is a bible verse she found this week:
Proverbs 26:25
When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, For there are seven ABOMINAtions in his heart.
Note the similarity with abomination/obama.
What do you all think?
IBC spouse, before you become too much a believer of Mr. Pickens, check out what they have to say about him on Humanevents.com. It seems he stands to make a lot of money with his campaign because he owns a lot of natural gas reserves and like Pelosi, has invested heavily in wind tech. They seem to feel that his purpose is to get everyone to push it so that he can make more. There is also an interesting article there that states that wind power, while it sounds good does not really produce much energy. The article says that all those turbines in CA only produce about 4 % of the energy needed for LA while the nuclear power plant supplies most of it. It says that with all the money Pickens and the dems want to put into turbines, a nuclear power plant could be put in all 50 states, and supply a lot more power. Sorry I am not posting the article. One of these days I am going to take the time to get the hang of it. My new computer still has me in learning mode.
I was not happy with the Fox studies on the candidates. They seemed to dig deeper on McCain than Obama. CNN is also doing one. It will be interesting to compare them.
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Lindamenn,
One of the reasons I think he is great because he will make money on it. I never trust an Al Gore type that disclaims money as a motive, his carbon offset company. I like the fact that he has brought the whole package on the table. Nuclear, gas, wind, water, sun, and drilling. Both candidates now quote the 700 billion dollar figure in all their speaches. I do like the donation to cancer.
I can look out the door of my house at a cooling tower on a nuclear plant, or out the other door at a hydro electric producing dam on the Arkansas River. Still 25% of my electric bill is fuel adjustment. The electricity from both of these go to other states.
One stupid question, If the nuclear reactor on a Carrier or sub, can power a city, Why don't we have these small nuclear reactors powering cities..
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Linda,
I'm going to teach you how to copy and paste addresses.
Look up to the address line, next to the HTTP there is a doololly thing. Put your cursor on the thing, left click your mouse, it turns the entire address a color.
Put your cursor on the colored address and right click, up will come a small box asking you what you want to do, in this case it's copy. Left click the word copy.
Then bring the cursor down to the page where you want it to go and right click.
The same box comes up asking you what you want to do, and in this case its paste
Right click on paste and there it is.
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/7/topic/702894?page=38
And there you are. Let me know when your an expert and I'll delete this..
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Is it me, or are we seeing/hearing a lot more talk about Joe Lieberman as McCain's veep choice since McCain won the forum Saturday night? I like Joe, but if he's for choice, McCain won't pick him. I think all this Lieberman talk is a plant to deflect from McCain's great showing last Saturday night. Someone planted this for a reason.
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And the good news is:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sharp turnaround, Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama's solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll.
The reversal follows a month of attacks by McCain, who has questioned Obama's experience, criticized his opposition to most new offshore oil drilling and mocked his overseas trip.
The poll was taken Thursday through Saturday as Obama wrapped up a weeklong vacation in Hawaii that ceded the political spotlight to McCain, who seized on Russia's invasion of Georgia to emphasize his foreign policy views.
"There is no doubt the campaign to discredit Obama is paying off for McCain right now," pollster John Zogby said. "This is a significant ebb for Obama."
McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy -- an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election.
That margin reversed Obama's 4-point edge last month on the economy over McCain, an Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war who has admitted a lack of economic expertise and shows far greater interest in foreign and military policy.
McCain has been on the offensive against Obama during the last month over energy concerns, with polls showing strong majorities supporting his call for an expansion of offshore oil drilling as gasoline prices hover near $4 a gallon.
Obama had opposed new offshore drilling, but said recently he would support a limited expansion as part of a comprehensive energy program.
That was one of several recent policy shifts for Obama, as he positions himself for the general election battle. But Zogby said the changes could be taking a toll on Obama's support, particularly among Democrats and self-described liberals.
"That hairline difference between nuance and what appears to be flip-flopping is hurting him with liberal voters," Zogby said.
Obama's support among Democrats fell 9 percentage points this month to 74 percent, while McCain has the backing of 81 percent of Republicans. Support for Obama, an Illinois senator, fell 12 percentage points among liberals, with 10 percent of liberals still undecided compared to 9 percent of conservatives.
OBAMA NEEDS TO WORK ON BASE
"Conservatives were supposed to be the bigger problem for McCain," Zogby said. "Obama still has work to do on his base. At this point McCain seems to be doing a better job with his."
The dip in support for Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, cut across demographic and ideological lines. He slipped among Catholics, born-again Christians, women, independents and younger voters. He retained the support of more than 90 percent of black voters.
"There were no wild swings, there isn't one group that is radically different than last month or even two months ago. It was just a steady decline for Obama across the board," Zogby said.
Obama's support among voters between the ages of 18 and 29, which had been one of his strengths, slipped 12 percentage points to 52 percent. McCain, who will turn 72 next week, was winning 40 percent of younger voters.
"Those are not the numbers Obama needs to win," Zogby said about Americans under 30. The 47-year-old is counting on a strong turnout among young voters, a key bloc of support during his primary battle with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
It made little difference when independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, who are both trying to add their names to state ballots.
McCain still held a 5-point edge over Obama, 44 percent to 39 percent, when all four names were included. Barr earned 3 percent and Nader 2 percent.
Most national polls have given Obama a narrow lead over McCain throughout the summer. In the Reuters/Zogby poll, Obama had a 5-point lead in June, shortly after he clinched the Democratic nomination, and an 8-point lead on McCain in May.
The telephone poll of 1,089 likely voters had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The poll was taken as both candidates head into their nominating conventions and the announcements of their choices of vice presidential picks. The Democratic convention begins on Monday in Denver, with the Republican convention opening the next Monday, September 1, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Obama and William Ayers long association might be seeing the light of day soon:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/obamas_lost_annenberg_years_co.html
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Rosemary, thanks for the lesson. But one thing I do not know-what the heck is a doololly? Must be some Texan term.LOL I actually can do a cut and paste, but the problem was that on my new computer, the yahoo address bar is always blank. I did not install the google one like I had before, so I was having a hard time figuring out how to cut and paste on this computer. Then I put my glasses on, and low and behold, there is an adress line at the top, but because it is black and gray, I did not see it. Yeah, my eyes are really bad, congenital. So I am going to cut a little thing here about the VP choices for Obama:
Obama/Ayers: Experts in Terror
Obama/Hillary: 'We'll pretend the man is on top'
Obama/Biden: Fake on terror, fake on hair...
Obama/Kerry: One lacks metal--one throws them away...
Obama/Edwards: "I picked him when his penis was in remission..."I hope I can print that! LOL
Did anyone see the CNN reports on BO and McCain. Media bias at it's best. They of course called attention to every little issue with McCain, including his wife's addiction to pain pills, which should be a non issue since she accepted responsiblity years ago. And there where plenty of McCain critics, including Daschle espousing on McCain's temper. Then the BO bio comes on and spends 3/4 tallking about his wonderful childhood, overcoming all the odds, blah, blah,blah. No Chicago critics could be found? If they can give credence to a has been like Daschle, they could have at least interviewed Kos from the Trib, who has written extensively about Obama's shenanigans. There was a little mention about Rezko and Wright at the end, but of course, they glossed it over. They mentioned that he won the Ill senate in a landslide, but failed to mention that his campaign put out the dirt on his dem rival first, and then the rep. nominee so he had a clear path.Honestly, if McCain wins, in spite of all the help Obama gets from the media, it will be a miracle, and proof that there really is a God!
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LindaMem
I knew it was going to be bias when they used the term McCain Plantation....I am from that area of woods, I lived next to Camp McCain and my daughter lived in Carroll Co, just down from the McCain home place. Carroll County is hard scrabble hill country with red clay soil. It is not Cotton Plantation place like the Delta. It is real poor farm land, mostly timber area. But Plantation brings up the idea that the McCains must have owned slaves. In fact the movie The Reivers with Steve McQueen was shot there because the town of Carrollton had not changed in 100 years.
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Here is a whole new subject that the mainstream newsmedia will give Obama a pass on. Hope Hannity digs a little............
Took them long enough to pick up on Obama's abortion record which we discussed at the beginning of this thread.......
Of course, since it actually questions his leadership abilities it will never come to light.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/obamas_lost_annenberg_years_co.html
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Regarding O's stand on abortion---
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/obamas-falsehood/
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/08/barack_obamas_abortion_crime_a.html
And The transcript exists---
From Redstate:
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In 2002, Barack Obama Supported Infanticide and I've Got the Transcript of His Words
Posted by: Erick Erickson
Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 11:08AM
Editorial Note: People forget this issue came up more than once in Illinois. In 2001, Obama was concerned about abortion rights and the impact the Born Alive Infant Protection Act would have on abortion rights. In 2002, those concerns were addressed and fixed in the legislation. Now Obama's concerns were more clear. His views on life had no where else to hide.
What has Barack Obama said about his opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act?
Obama has made several points, which we should recount.
First, Obama claimed doctors must render the care away. As David Freddosso has regularly pointed out, that was not true.
In fact, the Illinois Attorney General determined that doctors were under no such obligation when a child, born alive, had been intended to be aborted. Doctors only had the obligation to give life sustaining treatment when it was intended that the child be born alive.
Obama, then claimed his concern related to there being no language protecting Roe v. Wade in the legislation. He told the Chicago Tribune as much in October of 2004. In fact, that has been his story the whole time.
This week, the story changed. This week, NRLC proved conclusively that the legislation did, in fact, protect Roe v. Wade.
Obama has now changed his story yet again. Now he says that, regardless of whether the statute protected Roe v. Wade based on its language, "even as worded, the legislation could have undermined existing Illinois abortion law."
But what did Obama say back then? What was Obama's excuse back in 2002? What were his words on the floor of the State Senate. Senator Obama was the only person to speak out in opposition of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
What did he say?
I've got the transcript. I've got Senator Obama's own words.
Here is what you need to know.
The legislation came up more than once. In 2001, Senator Obama was concerned about the legislation's impact on abortion. But when the bill came back in 2002, the issue about the law undermining abortion had been redressed.
In 2002, Senator Obama was not concerned about Roe v. Wade. He was not concerned with undermining abortion laws in Illinois. No, what Senator Obama today claims were his concerns were not his concerns back in 2002.
In 2002, Senator Obama stood on the floor of the Illinois State Senate to oppose the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. By this time, even the abortion rights organizations like Planned Parenthood had dropped their opposition. But Obama continued to oppose the law.
He was the only person to speak out against the legislation.
In an exchange with Senator O'Malley, the legislation's sponsor, Obama's concern was about second guessing the abortionist.
Here is what he said:
As I understand it, this puts the burden on the attending physician who has determined, since they were performing this procedure, that, in fact, this is a nonviable fetus; that if that fetus, or child - however way you want to describe it - is now outside the mother's womb and the doctor continues to think that it's nonviable but there's, let's say, movement or some indication that, in fact, they're not just coming out limp and dead, that, in fact, they would then have to call a second physician to monitor and check off and make sure that this is not a live child that could be saved.
SHORTER BARACK OBAMA: Let's trust the guy who just botched the abortion to determine whether or not he actually did botch the abortion.
That's it. If a baby comes out and is alive, Barack Obama thought it too damned burdensome to have another doctor, someone used to dealing with live babies, check to see if the baby was viable.
Don't believe me? Read the transcript here.http://www.ilga.gov/senate/transcripts/strans92/ST040402.pdf
No one else spoke out against the legislation. Only Barack Obama was so concerned about the doctor performing the abortion, he did not think it worth having a doctor used to live babies coming in to see if the baby might live. Only Barack Obama -
And now we have Yule Brenner-LOL ---Love the Pharoah touch!
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Have you heard the lates gaffe made by McCain. He was asked how many houses he owned and he said he'd have to get back with them..had to ask his (I can't remember...LOL). Anyway, Obama picked up on that one and they are making an ad. His ad will tell us how out of touch McCain really is. Oh, but McCain's campaign came back with...For a man (Obama) who made $4,000,000 and something about Ayers friendship...does Obama really want to talk about how many homes the McCains own. Something like that. We'll be hearing much more. And, I thought, GOOD..bring up Ayers. I hope McCain comes out fighting!
Shirley
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Ayres and Rezko---RNC is firing back---They put up their own website
http://www.gop.com/ObamaRezkoShadyDeal/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_duAgLWSVY&eurl=http://www.gop.com/ObamaRezkoShadyDeal/
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A little more about the Glass House issue from Richard Miniter at Pajamas Media:
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McCain’s Houses
The talking point of the day: Sen. John McCain does not know how many houses he owns.
In a classic gaffe, he tells a reporter to check with his staff; he just doesn’t know. The McCain campaign says “at least” four. Newsweek estimates seven.
Politico has the story that everyone is linking to.
Almost immediately Obama and his favorite surrogate, Gov. Kaine, went on the attack. Here’s Obama’s attack:
At a campaign appearance in Chester, Va., on Thursday morning, Obama said: “Somebody asked John McCain, ‘How many houses do you have?’ And he said, I’m not sure. I’ll have to check with my staff. True quote: I’m not sure, I’ll have to check with my staff. So they asked his staff and he said, at least four. At least four! …
“If you’re like me and you’ve got one house – or you were like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so that they don’t lose their home — you might have a different perspective. By the way, the answer is: John McCain has seven homes. So there’s just a fundamental gap of understanding between John McCain’s world and what people are going through every single day here in America.”
And the McCain response, also from Politico:
McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in response: “Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses? Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people ‘cling’ to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans?”
Okay, standard political boilerplate on both sides.
Here’s two truths that the McCain campaign can’t say: one, it is Cindy McCain’s money and not his. Therefore, he doesn’t know how she spends it. It is possible, even likely, that the senator has not even been to all of these houses. Most likely they are investment properties, which have full-time tenants. As for the homes that the senator and his wife actually use… let’s say it is three. If McCain says three and it turns out there are two or three or four more investment properties, then it looks like he lied about something he should automatically know the answer to. He is too smart a politician to guess. So the classic senatorial “check with the staff” dodge. Maybe Cindy’s accountant knows…
Second, McCain is not the richest U.S. Senator. And not the second richest either. Does John Kerry know how many houses his wife owns? What about Ted Kennedy? Or West Virginia’s senator John D. Rockefeller IV? People who lives in glass houses and forget how many glass houses they live in…
For better or for worse, the senate is a rich man’s club. This is largely due to campaign finance laws, which limits how much other people can give you but doesn’t limit how much you (or your wife) can give to you, and partly due to a kind of “House of Lords” tradition. (Of course, McCain is to blame for last two iterations of “campaign-finance reform.)
Finally, McCain had one good answer open to him when asked how many houses he owns: None. My wife owns them all.
A lot of guys can identify with that. -
Had Fox on---They are reporting McCain just recieved a death threat and an evelope containing white powder..........Staffer opened it up in Denver. They've sent all the staffers to the hospital to be checked and evacuated the office. Hazmat is there. Now another envelope has been received in the New Hampshire office.
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Glad you found the quotes.
As to the white powder....SICK, SICK, SICK!
This has got to be one of the ugliest campaigns I have ever seen. It scares the heck out of me that Obama will get into office. What does he know about anything!? NOTHING! Well, he does know about change alright...he does it every day!
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What comes to mind here, is don't throw stones. Obama, and his people, don't think for one minute that when he talked about how many houses McCain owns, the world would be thinking of Rezko (the felon) helping Obama buy his home? Is the campaign secretly wanting to give this election to McCain?
Then they have the hateful ad about McCain's past investigation about someone named Abramoff?, and what's the first thing we think of? Ayers. They're coming out with ads that are doing themselves in. Perfect. I'll go look for the video, something about don't bring a knife to a gun fight.
This is it:
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/08/obama_brings_a_knife_to_a_gunf.html
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Let him shot himself in the foot!
Obama's lied so many times he can't remember what he said.
Shirley
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Shirley--Since he is an Alinskyite in politics- the ends justify the means.
http://frontpagemag.com/articles/Read.aspx?GUID=D6E27ECE-9798-4F01-A378-3F1405F69704
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Now that it looks like Biden is Obama's VP (ABC is reporting Secret Service has been dispatched to him)--Dick Morris is suggesting that McCain make a bold choice and select Sen Kay Baily Hutchinson.-----
I wonder if the Biden choice gives McCain more options and whether he is still deciding?
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The McCain camp was ready!
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Isn't if fun to hear the Hillary people rant. I heard a guy on fox this morning comparing Obama to Bush. What a hoot! He says Obama is like Bush/Cheney '00 because he has no experience, lots of money, gives a good talk and a guy with health problemsto boot. I don't think BO is going to get these people in his corner if he promises to let Hillary move into the Lincoln bedroom.
I spent the last couple of days with my liberal uncle, visiting from AZ. I tell you, he is unbelievable. I didn't even try to change his mind. His is one of those people who would vote for an ax murderer as long as there was a D after his name. I told I loved him anyway and I will send him a nice sympathy card in Novemeber.
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Wow---Talk about glass houses-------If the Democrats continue on this tact they are going to open an even bigger keg of worms on Biden------Hope the McCain people use it.-----but maybe its better to unleash this after the convention when its official.
We all know how much the public loves credit card companies.
From National Review online
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The Senator from MBNA
From the past, a look at Joe Biden's connections.
By Byron York
Note — Barack Obama's choice of Joseph Biden as his running mate is likely to bring up lots of old stories about the long-time senator from Delaware. In 1998, someone called me to talk about the sale of Biden's house, which had been a minor issue in his re-election campaign two years earlier. But when I traveled to Delaware, I found there was more to it than met the eye, and it was just part of Biden's close, intertwined relationship with MBNA, the giant credit-card company based in his home state. (MBNA was bought by Bank of America in 2006.) This is the story from The American Spectator in 1998:
In the 1996 campaign, a Republican businessman named Raymond J. Clatworthy challenged Joseph Biden's run for a fifth term as senator from Delaware. By many accounts, Clatworthy ran a hapless, hopeless race. He tried to portray Biden as a soft-on-crime liberal. It didn't work. He tried to portray Biden as a big-government tax-and-spend liberal. That didn't work, either. He even brought in Hollywood GOP icon Charlton Heston to campaign for him in all three of Delaware's counties. Still no luck; the popular Biden maintained a strong lead in the polls going into election day.
Despite his frustration, Clatworthy stuck to the issues. He had to; early in the race, he had vowed to stay away from personal attacks. Then, less than two weeks before election day, one of Clatworthy's campaign consultants ran a so-called "push poll" in which campaign workers call voters ostensibly to learn their opinions but in truth to spread damaging information about the candidate's opponent. Clatworthy's callers said that earlier in the year Biden had sold his house to a top executive of the Delaware-based credit card company MBNA. The price, they said, was twice the home's value, suggesting that MBNA had bought off Biden as well as his house.
Biden disputed the claim and provided the local paper, the Wilmington News-Journal, with an appraisal of the house fixing its value at $1.2 million—exactly the price that the MBNA executive, a man named John Cochran, had paid. The home deal, it appeared, was on the up-and-up.
Biden called the accusation "immoral and unethical," and in short order the whole thing blew up in Clatworthy's face. The Delaware state Republican chairman called Clatworthy's campaign "crazy" to suggest that Biden had sold his house in a sweetheart deal. Clatworthy's press secretary told the News-Journal that the home sale was "not an issue we're going to deal with in this campaign." And Clatworthy was forced to fire the consultant who came up with the idea.
It is perhaps not necessary to add that Clatworthy lost big when election day came around. Biden captured 60 percent of the vote, and Clatworthy returned to his businesses in Dover. According to the pundits and pollsters, the episode left many in Delaware with a strong distaste for negative politicking; at the very least, it seems unlikely that anything like the Biden house caper will be repeated anytime soon.
But as much as he bungled the issue, it turns out Clatworthy was on to something: Biden and MBNA have indeed developed a pretty cozy relationship. John Cochran, the company's vice-chairman and chief marketing officer, did pay top dollar for Biden's house, and MBNA gave Cochran a lot of money—$330,000—to help with "expenses" related to the move. A few months after the sale, as Biden's re-election effort got under way, MBNA's top executives contributed generously to his campaign in a series of coordinated donations that sidestepped the limits on contributions by the company's political action committee. And then, a short time after the election, MBNA hired Biden's son for a lucrative job in which, according to bank officials, he is being groomed for a senior management position.
Of course, lots of members of Congress have intimate ties to corporations in their states or districts. And lots of companies encourage their employees to make big campaign contributions (MBNA has given more to some Republicans than it gave to Biden). And certainly lots of children of influential parents end up in very good jobs. But the Biden case is troubling because all those ingredients come together in one man—along with a touch of hypocrisy. After all, this is a senator who for years has sermonized against what he says is the corrupting influence of money in politics.
Joe's Money Crunch It has become a minor ritual each year in Washington: political observers scan the latest financial disclosure reports from Capitol Hill and marvel at how many members of the Senate are millionaires. The list is headed by names like Kennedy and Rockefeller, but it also includes lawmakers like McCain, Helms, and Murkowski. In all, at least 39 of the 100 members of the Senate qualify for membership in the millionaires' club.
Joe Biden isn't one of them. Even though he has an income that is impressive by outside-the-Beltway standards—a senator's salary is $133, 600 a year—Biden has struggled financially over the years. In his 1995 disclosure report, for example, Biden's liabilities appeared to outweigh his assets. On the positive side, he had between $1,000 and $15,000 in an account at the U.S. Senate credit union and another $1,000-$15,000 in the Delaware state pension plan (disclosure forms do not require senators to reveal exact figures). Biden's largest asset, valued at between $15,000 and $50,000, was six life insurance policies with the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance company.
On the liabilities side, Biden had a loan of between $15,000 and $50,000 from the Senate credit union, plus another loan of between $15, 000 and $50,000 against the cash value of those Connecticut Mutual policies. He also owed between $15,000 and $50,000 on a line of credit from the Beneficial National Bank in Wilmington (he had just that year paid off a loan of between $1,000 and $15,000 with the Delaware Trust Company). And he co- signed two loans totaling between $100,000 and $250,000 for his sons' college educations. Biden would have had a negative net worth were it not for the value of his home. Although disclosure rules do not force senators to list the value of their personal residences, Biden chose to include a letter noting his "good faith estimate" that he had between $500,001 and $1,000,000 in equity in his home. Of course, to get that money he would have to sell the house, a lovely old mansion on three and a half acres of what used to be a du Pont family estate outside Wilmington. Biden bought the house in 1975 but had been thinking on-and-off about selling it for years; he almost sold it before his disastrous run for the presidency in 1988. But the deal didn't happen until MBNA came along.
BIG SPENDERS
Not too many years ago, MBNA was a relatively minor player in the credit card business. Today, it is the second-largest issuer of Visa and Mastercards in the country, and some analysts believe it will eventually overtake Citicorp to become the nation's biggest credit-card bank.
MBNA president Charles Cawley created his company's extraordinary success by focusing on something called the "affinity card" business. The idea is simple: MBNA markets cards to people who identify with groups or organizations to which they belong. Members of the National Education Association, for example, can get an NEA credit card—issued by MBNA. Fans of the Green Bay Packers can get a green-and-gold team card. Even luxury auto enthusiasts can get an MBNA-issued Jaguar owners card. MBNA has invented hundreds of different affinity cards and is always coming up with more. "They are the affinity business," says Franklin Morton, a Chicago-based analyst who tracks MBNA's fortunes. "They created the concept, they figured out how to market the hell out of it, and before anybody else figured out how to do it, they owned it."
MBNA's success has bred an extraordinary corporate culture, almost a cult of Cawley. "Many of the people in management and skill positions work very long hours," says one observer. "They seem very committed, very dedicated to Cawley." Others note that top officers all live close to each other, and MBNA encourages them to display the outward signs of success, like houses, clothes, and cars. "There's a stress on putting your best foot forward," another observer says. "Appearances matter." But MBNA is perhaps best known for another corporate personality trait: its extravagant spending.
One recent profile in Barron's magazine called Cawley & Co. " plastic emperors." Certainly they pay themselves royal salaries. According to documents on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in 1996 Cawley received a compensation package worth about $6.6 million, a figure significantly higher than that of chief executives at other credit card firms. (MBNA's chairman, Alfred Lerner, is less active in the company's affairs than Cawley; he received $6.4 million.) John Cochran received compensation of nearly $4.3 million. Two other top executives topped the $3 million mark.
And they spend as much on their toys as they do on their salaries. According to Barron's, the company maintains an extensive collection of antique automobiles, plus four Lear jets, plus two Gulfstream jets, plus a private golf course. There's also a warm-weather hideaway in Boca Raton and MBNA's "summer headquarters" in Camden, Maine, where Cawley has bought a $2.75 million home on the waterfront. "Moored in Camden's picturesque harbor," Barron's reports, "you can see MBNA's classic yacht, Affinity; its state-of-the-art cruiser, Impatience; as well as its snazzy sportfishing boat, So Far So Good and its power launch, Deliverance."
SOLD!
MBNA was originally based in Maryland, but in the 1980s moved to Delaware to take advantage of that state's more liberal interest laws. Almost all of Cawley's team of top executives moved to the Wilmington area, but John Cochran stayed behind at his home in northern Maryland, commuting to the company's new headquarters. It appears that was not a workable long-term arrangement; by many accounts, Cawley wants his top aides close to him and to the office. According to MBNA officials, the company asked Cochran to move to Delaware.
At the same time, Biden was looking for a buyer for his house. How the two got together is not clear. When asked, an MBNA spokesman declined to offer any details, saying only, "That's a very personal question." However it happened, in February 1996 Cochran bought Biden's house for $1.2 million.
The price was not twice the home's value, as Raymond Clatworthy's pollsters claimed, but there is evidence to suggest it was a pretty darned good deal for Biden.
The appraisal that Biden gave the News-Journal during last year's campaign—showing that the house was worth $1.2 million—was done several years earlier, at the time Biden took out loans for his sons' education. In January 1996, as the purchase deal was under way, another appraisal was made, also putting the house's value at $1.2 million. A spokesman for Cochran provided TAS with a copy of that appraisal.
It is customary for appraisers to evaluate homes in relation to similar properties in the area, or "comparables." In the case of Biden's house, the appraiser compared the home to another large old house about a quarter of a mile away. That house—which was in similar condition—was judged to be worth $1,013,000. It sold in August 1995 for $800,000 (it should be noted that the house did not have a pool, which Biden's does; on the other hand the house had central air conditioning, which Biden's did not, and it was on a larger lot). The appraiser also looked at two other newer houses in the area. One was appraised at $1,230,000 and sold for $1,007,500. The other was appraised at $1,163,000 and sold for an even $1 million. In all three cases, the homes sold for a good deal less than their appraised value. In comparison, it appears Cochran simply paid Biden's full asking price. And, according to people familiar with the situation, the house needed quite a bit of work; contractors and their trucks descended on the house for months after the purchase.
A spokesman for Biden says there was nothing out of the ordinary in the purchase. "Senator Biden sold his house in Delaware at the appraised value," the spokesman said. "That's a matter of public record." An MBNA spokesman says the same thing. "There was an independent appraisal done by Mr. Cochran's mortgage company," the spokesman says. "That appraisal was equal to the sales price."
It appears that MBNA indirectly helped Cochran buy the Biden house. According to a statement in the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission—in which it is required to detail the compensation of top officers—in 1996 MBNA reimbursed Cochran $330,115 for expenses arising from the move. The statement says $210,000 of that was to make up for a loss Cochran suffered on the sale of his Maryland home. An MBNA official declined to comment on the payment.
Was the home sale a sweet deal for Biden? If you talk to people involved in real estate in the Wilmington area, you'll quickly find that few want to approach the question. "I wouldn't touch that with a ten- foot pole," said one agent. Another declined to say anything. And a third agent said only, "In my opinion, (Cochran) overpaid." None wanted to be identified by name.
BUNDLES OF JOY
A few months after the sale, during the 1996 senatorial race, MBNA cemented its ties to Biden when company employees began showering him with campaign contributions. According to Federal Election Commission records, MBNA became by far Biden's biggest single source of contributions. Company employees gave him $62,850 in the 1996 cycle, while the second-biggest contributor gave just $21,000.
Judging by the timing of the contributions, it appears that there was a concerted effort among top MBNA executives to support Biden. For example, according to Federal Election Commission records, on April 16 MBNA executive vice-president and chief technology officer Ronald Davies sent in $1,000.
Kenneth Boehl, another top executive, also sent in $1,000 on the 16th. And senior vice-president Gregg Bacchieri. And William Daiger, another executive vice-president. And David Spartin, the vice-chairman and company spokesman.
The next day, April 17, vice-chairman and chief financial officer Scot Kaufman sent $1,000, as did Bruce Hammonds, MBNA's vice-chairman and chief operating officer. And John Hewes, senior executive vice-president of MBNA's credit division. And vice-chairman and chief administrative officer Lance Weaver. On April 18, MBNA general counsel John Scheflen sent in $1,000. On April 20, group president David Nelms sent in $1,000, as did vice-chairman Vernon Wright. On April 22, John Cochran sent in $1,000. So did senior executive vice-president Peter Dimsey. And finally, on April 26, Charles Cawley sent in his $1,000.
The law allows individuals to give $1,000 to a candidate during the primary phase of a campaign and another $1,000 during the general election phase. Once the primary contributions had been made, MBNA's second wave of donations appeared in late August. On the 25th, Gregg Bacchieri gave another $1,000. On August 27, John Cochran sent in his $1,000, as did William Daiger and another top official, Robert Desantis. On the 28th, Ronald Davies sent $1,000, along with Bruce Hammonds and David Nelms. On the 29th, David Spartin sent in his $1,000, as did Vernon Wright and Kenneth Boehl (Boehl's wife Kathleen also sent in another $1,000 on the 29th). On the 30th, John Scheflen sent his $1,000.
The contributions fit an established MBNA pattern. In 1995, the Wilmington News-Journal reported that Scheflen wrote a memo to top staffers advising them to make specific contributions during the 1994 campaign. According to the paper, the memo "advised MBNA executives which candidates to give to, how much to give and when to give it—and to send photocopies of their checks to the bank's general counsel." Scheflen reportedly sent a follow-up memo asking to be informed in writing if an employee decided not to give. If you do not plan to make any suggested contributions," Scheflen wrote, "I would appreciate it if you would so note."
The practice is known as "bundling," and it is something that troubles campaign finance watchdogs. "When you bundle the individual contributions," says Ellen Miller of the public interest group Public Campaign, "you can give more than with a political action committee." And the practice raises another question: Are the contributions truly voluntary? " When you do it in the workplace, many people feel there are unwritten rules, and certain pressures that can be applied with a wink and a nod," says Kent Cooper of another public interest group, the Center for Responsive Politics. " You might feel coerced into giving."
MBNA officials say there was no such coordination or coercion in the 1996 Biden contributions. When asked why many top executives contributed the same amount at the same time, spokesman David Spartin responded, "We all know each other very well. We all talk among each other, and made our contributions."
Such help is particularly valuable for Biden, a longtime advocate of campaign finance reform, because Biden does not accept money from political action committees. He has also been a vocal critic of bundling. The practice makes a politician beholden to rich companies, Biden said during a debate on finance reform in 1993. "You are much less indebted to the 200 electricians who gave you two bucks apiece," Biden said, "than you are to the 50 du Pont family members who gave $2,000 apiece." (In 1996, du Pont contributions to Biden were dwarfed by those from MBNA.) When asked about Biden's acceptance of MBNA contributions, a spokesman for the senator would say only that Biden "is proud of the support he has received from the business community in Delaware."
MYSTERY JOB
A few weeks after Biden was re-elected in November 1996, there came yet another tie between the senator and MBNA when the company hired Biden's son Hunter (the younger Biden is a Yale Law School graduate who was admitted to the bar this year). MBNA officials seem delighted with their new executive.
"Hunter Biden is an outstanding young man," a bank spokesman says. "We're very fortunate to have him here at MBNA."
Beyond that, the company is not eager to talk. First, a spokesman declined to discuss Biden's salary. Then, when asked what young Biden is doing for the bank, the spokesman paused and said, "That's not something we get into details on." When pressed, the spokesman said, "He's a talented young guy that we are grooming for a management position." The spokesman said Hunter Biden has been "moving around the bank" as part of his introduction into the business. Hunter Biden himself declined to discuss his salary or his job.
REFORM? ME?
In 1993 Joe Biden, along with fellow senators John Kerry and Bill Bradley, sponsored a campaign finance bill that would have, among other things, sharply limited the influence of political action committees and the practice of bundling. In March of that year, Biden appeared before the Senate Rules Committee to testify on behalf of his proposed reforms. He was openly critical of other bills that would have imposed less severe restrictions. Such moderate measures, Biden said, were "like moderate chastity. There ain't no such thing."
Then Biden told the committee about an experience he had in 1972, during his first run for the senate. He was just 29, with a chance to become the second-youngest senator in American history. But he needed some quick cash for campaign ads. Looking for support, he visited a group of rich businessmen.
Biden said they asked him, "Joe, what's your position on capital gains?" Biden said he knew what to say to get the donations he desperately needed. I knew the right answer for $20,000," Biden said. "I knew the right answer for $30,000. I knew the right answer for $40,000." But as Biden tells the story, he wouldn't say what the fat cats wanted to hear, and went away with nothing. It was a tough call, one that could have cost him the election. But Biden said he learned an important lesson about "the manner in which money corrupts."
It might be interesting to hear the young Joe Biden's reaction to a case that would arise twenty-five years later. A top executive of a rich and spendthrift company buys the home of a financially strapped senator, paying a generous price. After that, virtually the entire top management of the company gets together in a coordinated campaign to donate money to the senator, getting around campaign contribution limits. And then, after the senator is re-elected, the company hires the senator's son.
What's the right answer for that?
—
Byron York, NR’s White House correspondent, is the author of the book The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President — and Why They’ll Try Even Harder Next Time. -
Susie you are the best...........I think that if McCain will pick Kay Bailey Hutchinson as his VP he may get some of those Hillary women that are so upset about Obama and his shaft of Hillary.......Senator Hutchinson or as we call her in Texas Kay Bailey she is a true conservative.....smart as a whip........has adopted twin daughters.........knows her stuff...........anyway we shall see..............Shokk
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Shokk--I'm one of those Hillary women and, honestly, Hutchnson is so far away from what I would want in a woman president that I might even be inclined to vote for Obama if Hutchinson were McCain's veep, considering that with his health issues and age, she might actually become president. Now if he picked Snow, who knows! Of course, he won't as she's considered by both Republicans and Democrats to be one of the ten most competent leaders in the Senate. And, as we all know, Americans hate competence! Not LOL!
It would almost be impossible for any one, including Biden, to speak negatively of Snow. But then, I doubt she'd take the spot. Snow's actually a Democrat in wolf's clothing.
Susie--if Biden's home is the best the Republicans can do, they're in sorry shape. McCain has far far worse in his background. Biden also has worse in his background (his plagarism of someone else's words) but then as a former university teacher who spent far too much time reading plagarized term papers, I don't think Americans get terribly upset concerning plagarism. If they did, Obama would not be the Democratic nominee. All in all, Biden is cleaner than most on Capitol Hill.
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Ahhh Anne--They haven't started.......Obama's been carrying on about lobbyists---Biden has recieved over 5 million from lobbyists and lawyers since 2003. Even Biden's son is a lobbyist on the hill......
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Just paid $3.17 a gallon for gas, never thought over 3 dollar a gallon would sound cheap, but feel like dancing.
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