Phil Graham had direct influence on many US legislative bills that
benefited banks, especially FOREIGN banks.  Let's hear the spin - it
is always so entertaining.

In message news:483d6fe4$0$31737$4c368faf@roadrunner.com, "Graybeard"
<graybeard32@cfl.rr.com> burned some brain cells writing:

Who said this:

"If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us.  If we're a humble nation,
but strong, they'll welcome us".

A lobbyist is someone who argues a particular point of view before Congress
or the President. For example, on the issue of global warming, there are
lobbyists who argue that it is not a big problem, there are lobbyists who
argue for nuclear energy (which does not produce much green house gases),
and there are lobbyists in the environmental movement who argue for a
reduction in energy consumption.

It is ridiculous to suggest that legislators or the President would vote on
legislation without hearing all sides of an issue. The only effective way to
do that in most cases is to let the lobbyists state their case. A
Congressman or President with an open mind who is willing to listen to all
sides will always agree with a least one of the lobbyist on an issue. It is
a witch hunt to claim there is something inherently sinister about that.

Nothing compares to the republican loggyists.  They write legislation
for the credit card industry, bank bailouts, bankrupcy law changes
that benefit the CC companies.  No comparison.  Half of McNasty's
advisors are gone, with more to go.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/28/mccains-cronies-phil-gramm-r-enron-and-his-ubs
-lobbying-problem/

McCain Money Man Randy Altschuler Renowned For Outsourcing U.S. Jobs
»
McCain’s Cronies: Phil Gramm (R-Enron) And His UBS Lobbying Problem

By: Christy Hardin Smith Wednesday May 28, 2008 7:02 am

For a Presidential candidate whose own allies say a McCain presidency
would be another Bush economic term (oh, doesn't that fill the country
with glee...), the further exposure of self-serving, curmudgeonly Phil
Gramm as McCain's main economics guru is timely. The YouTube is from
last night's Countdown report on Gramm's lobbying activities for
banking giant UBS -- if you missed it, it's worth a watch.

But who exactly is Phil Gramm? Let's take a peek:

According to the lobbyist filing records MSNBC produced in its report,
Phil Gramm has taken McCain's "Charlie Black Sweet Talk Expressway
bus" to Lobbying Town all the way to the bank...literally.

Gramm only stopped lobbying for international banking giant UBS
officially on April 18, 2008, well after McCain clinched the GOP nod
-- but also well after Gramm had written and shaped the McCain
campaign's banking policies in response to the subprime mortgage
crisis...in which UBS is also embroiled, and for whom Gramm continues
to be employed as a UBS vice chairman regarding investment banking.
Yes, you read that correctly.

Who is UBS, exactly, that they have now restricted their international
banking staff from traveling to the US during their pending SEC
investigation? And why are they in legal trouble for allegedly running
a tax-evasion arm out of their US branch? Josh has some background,
including this link on McCain's speech on banking policy fully a month
before Gramm quit lobbying for UBS. Funny how that speech calls for
banking folks to decide how to handle things amongst themselves rather
than tightening regulation -- wonder whose idea that was? Things that
make you go "hmmmmm," indeed. Hilzoy has a good thumbnail sketch.

Why on earth would John McCain think this man was remotely appropriate
to be his economic adviser? Because McCain knows nothing about
economics. And just like his "pick a winner" foreign policy hodge
podge, it's all about who might have a "reputation" among his pals
who...quite coincidentally, I'm sure...also happen to be lobbyists for
the very same industries would help to shape policy in a McCain
Administration.

Cozy, isn't it? It clearly is for Phil Gramm. But it gets even cozier
when you peek below the surface.

Think your energy bills are high now? Meet Phil Graham, Enron's
Senator from Texas, who makes self-dealing for pals and cronies a
family affair:

The one person in the Enron scandal whom congress is not likely to
subpoena is its own revered Phil Gramm, the retiring Republican
Senator from Texas. Gramm and his wife, Wendy, have tight links to
Enron, Wendy being a director and Gramm the pusher of legislation that
assisted the company during its troubles last year....

Read that entire article. The entire sordid tale of Gramm family
entanglement in the Enron mess has to be read to be believed. Take the
Bush/Cheney Administration policies...and then add some zeroes to what
you could expect from Gramm at the helm of the nation's economic
policy decisions. This snippet from a Molly Ivins column sending him
out of the Senate with appropriate fanfare sums it up nicely:

...Gramm, the great crusader against government spending, has spent
his entire life on the government tit. He was born at a military
hospital, raised on his father's Army pay, went to private school at
Georgia Military Academy on military insurance after his father died,
paid for his college tuition with same, got a National Defense
Fellowship to graduate school, taught at a state-supported school, and
made generous use of his Senate expense account. In 1987, a Dallas
developer named Jerry Stiles flew a construction crew to Maryland to
work on Gramm's summer home. Stiles spent $117,000 on the project but
was kind enough to bill Gramm only $63,433. When Stiles got in trouble
for misusing funds from a savings and loan he owned, Gramm did him
some "routine" favors with regulators. Stiles was later convicted on
11 counts of conspiracy and bribery.

As a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the recipient of
enormous banking contributions, Gramm did an even bigger favor for the
financial industry in 1999 when he sponsored the Financial Services
Modernization Act allowing banks, securities firms, and insurance
companies to combine. The bill weakened the Community Reinvestment
Act, which requires banks to help meet the credit needs of low- and
moderate-income neighborhoods. Gramm described community groups that
use the CRA as "protection rackets" that extort funds from the poor,
powerless banks. The bill is also a disaster for the privacy of bank
customers and weakens regulatory supervision. As Gramm proudly
declared, "You're not going to find a single bank, insurance company,
or securities company that will say they were hurt financially by this
bill."

To be fair, Gramm occasionally found it in his heart to assist the
poor -- like the time he suggested that mothers on welfare would be
better off working for $2.50 an hour. A more typical Gramm vote,
though, came on an energy bill that benefited oil and gas companies at
the expense of consumers. "There are winners and losers in every
economic decision," Gramm said portentously. He was then getting more
oil and gas money than any other member of the Senate....

Nice company you keep, Sen. McCain. Telling. As Mark Kleiman astutely
puts it:

All of this reminds me of a story I first heard, I think, from Tom
Edsall. Back in the 1960s, the chairman of the insurance committee of
the Maryland House of Delegates was also the owner of an insurance
brokerage. Asked about the potential conflict of interest, he said,
"No, being chairman don't conflict with my interest at all."

That about sums it up, doesn't it?

Phil Graham deregulated the energy industry and we got the California
energy crisis and Enron.  Phil Graham deregulated the banking industry
and we got the mortgage crisis.  McCain said the way to fix the
mortgage crisis is MORE deregulation of the banking industry.
This isn't a republican thing.  This is a greed thing and Phil Graham
is cashing in.