HOOKERS IN SUITS Here’s what Good Will Bunch has dug up on Biden and MBNA:
Biden’s been carrying MBNA’s water on this issue for years. In 2000, when the plan was effectively stalled because a real Democrat named Bill Clinton was in the White House, he even tried to attach the bankruptcy changes to a foreign aid bill. Why is Biden such a big fan. Those less cynical than us might argue that, well, MBNA does employ a lot of people in Delaware. True — but could it also be because MBNA is Biden’s biggest contributor — by a good margin. According to Opensecrets.org, Biden raised some $147,700 in contributions from MBNA employees from 1999-2004, his biggest source of campaign cash.
Who is that in second? A law firm named Pachulski Stang Ziehl Young Jones & Weintraub, which gave $127,625 over the same period. And who are they, might one ask? Pachulski Stang is the nation’s largest bankruptcy law firm with one of the most highly regarded bankrupty practices in the country. The firm’s client list includes some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry as well as many of the most well-known businesses in the world.
While we’re at it, guess who Tom Carper’s biggest donor is. By now, you should be shocked to learn that his No. 1 contributor is also MBNA Corp. at $127,447, dwarfing the next closest donor.
But let’s return to Biden, shall we? If you’re not troubled by campaign contributions, there’s more. Eyebrows were raised in 1996 when Biden sold his house for $1.2 million — his asking price and more than a couple of a similar neighboring homes went for around the same time — to an MBNA executive named John Cochran.
In 2003, the New York Times reported this:
The company also has ties to Senator Biden’s son, R. Hunter Biden, a lawyer in Washington. Hunter Biden joined MBNA as a management trainee after graduating from Yale Law School and rose to be an executive vice president. Now a partner in Oldaker, Biden & Belair, a lobbying and law firm, he receives a $100,000 annual retainer from MBNA to advise it on “the Internet and privacy law,” Mr. Freeh said. He added that Hunter Biden was not a registered lobbyist and did not lobby on legislation for the company.
This is a perfect example of what has killed democracy in this country – money from corporations that funds the careers of our congressmen and our executive. The result is there for all to see – laws that favor special interests and corporations at the expense of we, the people.
We have all but completly lost control over this government. It does not respond to our demands, to our needs, to our reality. Do I even need to remind you that this is not what the founders intended?
thanks to TJ at Eschaton for the tip.