Booman Tribune

The Real Reason For McCain's Friday Night Phil Gramm Dump

by Connecticut Man1
Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 05:00:10 PM EST

Stephen D reports on what is likely just the cover reason for the Phil Gramm Friday night dump attributing Gramm's resignation to the "Americans are whiners!" comment. I think that is just cover for the more likely real reason:
UBS, LGT Helped Hide Assets, Evade Taxes, Senate Says
By David Voreacos and Carlyn Kolker

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG and Liechtenstein bank LGT Group aided rich U.S. clients who wanted to disguise ownership of accounts and evade taxes on hidden assets, a Senate subcommittee said.

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, hid as much as $17.9 billion for 19,000 Americans who didn't declare assets to the Internal Revenue Service, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a report released in Washington late yesterday. LGT, owned by Liechtenstein's ruling family, fostered a ``culture of secrecy and deception'' while assigning code names to U.S. clients, the panel said.


Remember that Phil Gram works for and lobbies for one arm of UBS in the USA. More below...

 

Interesting side note from similar article ABC story posted earlier:


A former UBS private banker, Bradley Birkenfeld, has agreed to a plea deal and is reported to be cooperating with US authorities in bring charges against American citizens on tax evasion charges.


As soon as I read that article linked out by jimstaro at ePM I figured there might be a link.

UBS is still Phil Gramm's gig, isn't it? So sayeth his Wiki:


Gramm is a vice-chairman of UBS Investment Bank.


And we all know about McCain's lobbying troubles because of Gramm:

U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign faces questions regarding a top economic adviser's work for Swiss banking giant UBS Warburg.


Economist and former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm is vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank and has lobbied Congress on the company's behalf.


UBS has been hit hard by the U.S. housing and mortgage meltdowns.


Smoke >>>> Fire? Might be worth fanning the flames a little? Face it... Calling Americans whiners is nothing compared to things that republican criminals typically do.


It would be interesting if Cindy McCain's (or one of her trusts') name was on that list of IRS tax dodgers, eh? That would clearly typify a republican circle jerk we have come to expect from the GOP these days. Nevermind the fact that Cindy has McCain has a proven track record of not paying her taxes. And when there is a Friday Night Dump involving corrupt republicans and meant to distract the candy coated media from the real story, timing is everything.

idredit, over at Booman Tribune where this is x-posted, as well, chunked in the last piece I was about to go looking for.

you may be on to something here...

but it depends on the meaning of resign Gramm remains in the background as an advisor. But coupled with the UBS naughty naughty, there's the deep in the poop sub-prime debacle.

The Carpetbagger Report

Is Gramm gone, or is he only kinda sorta gone?

Yesterday, the McCain campaign disputed part of Novak's report, saying that Gramm would no longer be a surrogate. But the report also said Gramm would advice McCain on economic matters, and on this, the campaign said nothing.

Gramm's decision comes after word that, in his weekend column, Robert Novak was to report that the Gramm and McCain had talked subsequent to the ill-time remarks and that he'd stay on as a surrogate and adviser.

But McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said earlier today that Gramm would no longer represent the campaign.

Gramm's move tonight appears to be a move to clarify his status. But when asked whether this meant he'd no longer advise or represent McCain, Bounds only said that it was Gramm's decision to step down from his co-chair post.

So, it's just another round of double-talk from McCain. First the campaign agrees with Gramm, then it doesn't. Gramm is a surrogate, then he isn't, then he is, then he isn't. Gramm is an advisor, then he isn't, then he might be.

I can understand the campaign's embarrassment, but this is ridiculous. Gramm not only thinks we're a "nation of whiners," he's also, more importantly, the man whose financial deregulation efforts made the market meltdown possible.

While Gramm's help in advancing banking deregulation is widely considered partially responsible for the Mortgage Crisis, deregulation also helped UBS move into the markets where it set up these illegal tax havens.


Display:
you may be on to something here...

but it depends on the meaning of resign Gramm remains in the background as an advisor. But coupled with the UBS naughty naughty, there's the deep in the poop sub-prime debacle.

The Carpetbagger Report

Is Gramm gone, or is he only kinda sorta gone?

Yesterday, the McCain campaign disputed part of Novak's report, saying that Gramm would no longer be a surrogate. But the report also said Gramm would advice McCain on economic matters, and on this, the campaign said nothing.

    Gramm's decision comes after word that, in his weekend column, Robert Novak was to report that the Gramm and McCain had talked subsequent to the ill-time remarks and that he'd stay on as a surrogate and adviser.

    But McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said earlier today that Gramm would no longer represent the campaign.

    Gramm's move tonight appears to be a move to clarify his status. But when asked whether this meant he'd no longer advise or represent McCain, Bounds only said that it was Gramm's decision to step down from his co-chair post.

So, it's just another round of double-talk from McCain. First the campaign agrees with Gramm, then it doesn't. Gramm is a surrogate, then he isn't, then he is, then he isn't. Gramm is an advisor, then he isn't, then he might be.

I can understand the campaign's embarrassment, but this is ridiculous. Gramm not only thinks we're a "nation of whiners," he's also, more importantly, the man whose financial deregulation efforts made the market meltdown possible.



Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"
by idredit on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 06:12:10 PM EST
Thanks for adding that... I am editing on the run here and was about to look for that story.

Support BooTrib
by Connecticut Man1 (connecticutman1 AT gmail DOT com) on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 06:15:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You have to remember that his deregulation also made it easier for UBS to enter into all kinds of schemes that helped along their offering these illegal tax havens.

The deregulation is much bigger than just mortgages when you look at Gramm.

Support BooTrib

by Connecticut Man1 (connecticutman1 AT gmail DOT com) on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 06:19:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Swissy and other tax havens have been around forever.

And I'm surprised at UBS.

For at least 29 years it was a rule that Swiss banks refuse to open accounts for anyone with American citizenship, residency  or holding a U.S. passport. Verboten.

But greed does choke...and some ignore the rules at their peril.  Trillions in U.S. OTC derivatives contracts and sub-prime profits just too much to pass up.

There's an old commandment: In life, greed catches up and the greedy shall not be fed...sometime around year 2009-2011.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

by idredit on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 08:04:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And here... the McSame crime family has handed us an anvil to beat the crap out them with, IMHO.

Support BooTrib
by Connecticut Man1 (connecticutman1 AT gmail DOT com) on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 08:42:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Much more likely and that's what I was referring to in my comment and link to StevenD's post.. Thanks for fleshing it out

by mainsailset on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 06:18:54 PM EST
Sorry... I didn't have time to read the links there. I had posted the heart of this idea as a comment over at ePM when jimstaro brought this to everyone's attention.

Will the media accept the whiner comment as the reason OR will they at least dig a little on this?

I am thinking the answer is the same old same old and the media will be silent...

Support BooTrib

by Connecticut Man1 (connecticutman1 AT gmail DOT com) on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 06:22:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
exactly. Heartening that my link was a CBS report. My hope is that this investigation, with Gramm as the kingpin, exposes a whole huge slew of Rep PIONEERS. It's bound just by the numbers to include dems as well, but it's much bigger than we can imagine.

by mainsailset on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 06:34:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
this is incredible

by mainsailset on Sun Jul 20th, 2008 at 12:58:02 AM EST
.
The Subprime Mess and Phil Gramm: An Experiment in Deregulation

In 1999, former Senator Phil Gramm set out to completely gut the Glass-Steagall Act, and did so successfully, replacing most of its components with the new Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: allowing commercial banks, investment banks, and insurers to merge (which would have violated antitrust laws under Glass-Steagall). Sen. Gramm was the driving force behind the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, as he had received over $4.6 million from the FIRE sector (Finance, Insurance and Real Estate donations) over the previous decade, and once the Act passed, an influx of "megamergers" took place among banks and insurance and securities companies, as if they had been eagerly awaiting the passage of Gramm's Act. Everything in between Glass-Steagall and Gramm-Leach-Bliley (i.e. Savings and Loan crisis/bust) was, in large part, the incubation period for what would take place over the nine years that would follow the passage of Gramm's Act: an experiment in deregulation.

Shortly after George W. Bush was elected president, Congress and President Clinton were trying to pass a $384 billion omnibus spending bill, and while the debates swirled around the passage of this bill, Senator Phil Gramm clandestinely slipped a 262-page amendment into the omnibus appropriations bill titled: Commodity Futures Modernization Act. It is likely that few senators read this bill, if any. The essence of the act was the deregulation of derivatives trading (financial instruments whose value changes in response to the changes in underlying variables; the main use of derivatives is to reduce risk for one party). The legislation contained a provision -- lobbied for by Enron, a major campaign contributor to Gramm -- that exempted energy trading from regulatory oversight. Basically, it gave way to the Enron debacle and ushered in the new era of unregulated securities. Interestingly enough, Gramm's wife, Wendy, had been part of the Enron board, and her salary and stock income brought in between $900,000 and $1.8 million to the Gramm household, prior to the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act.

In 2003, Gramm left the Senate to join UBS, which had acquired investment house PaineWebber due to his deregulation bill. At UBS, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Fed and the Treasury Department. During Gramm's tenor at UBS and as a lobbyist, Congress passed the Responsible Lending Act, billed as an anti-predatory-lending measure, but was called the "Loan Shark Protection Act" by consumer advocates ...

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

by Oui on Sun Jul 20th, 2008 at 02:36:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think this reason might make a lot more sense than just another republican insulting Americans. They do that all the time.

Support BooTrib
by Connecticut Man1 (connecticutman1 AT gmail DOT com) on Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 05:07:44 PM EST
.
John McCain: Are His Backers Out of Prison?

On Oct. 15, 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, otherwise known as "Garn-St Germain," after the principal Congressional sponsors. As a direct result of this disastrous deregulation legislation, within the span of a decade, a small tightly organized network of financial pirates--many with close ties to the Meyer Lansky National Crime Syndicate--would pull off the biggest heist in American history. By the early 1990s, the U.S. savings and loan industry (S&Ls)--once the backbone of the home mortgage industry and the preferred safe depository of household savings--was wiped out.

A handful of the crooks--including Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, and Charles Keating--were imprisoned for their roles in the looting scheme.

The biggest political beneficiary of the public's amnesia is John McCain. With the exception of Sen. Joseph Lieberman's (D-Conn.) own ties to hedge fund bandit Michael Steinhardt, no American politician is as beholden to organized crime as the senior Senator from Arizona.  

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

by Oui on Sun Jul 20th, 2008 at 04:34:35 PM EST
Wasn't a Bush brother mixed up in this mess?  I know that McCain was one of the Keating Five and probably should have been imprisoned along with Charles.

One way or the other, this darkness has to give....
by Denim Blue on Sun Jul 20th, 2008 at 07:42:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by Oscar In Louisville on Sun Jul 20th, 2008 at 11:56:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I swear Oui... You are one of the few Bloggers I know that must read even more of what is out there on the internet than I do. :)

Support BooTrib
by Connecticut Man1 (connecticutman1 AT gmail DOT com) on Mon Jul 21st, 2008 at 12:16:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]


Display:
Go to: [ Booman Tribune Homepage : Top of page : Top of comments ]
Menu
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password





Find textbooks at Alibris!

NOTE: Overstock bests Amazon's prices and is "blue."

THE BOOKS WITH "BUZZ":
______________

Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his extraordinary personal story:

True Compass: A Memoir
by Edward M. Kennedy.

Read Barack Obama's vision for America:

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

Boran2 and maryb2004 recommend:

The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
by Jasper Fforde

Must-have information for all presidents-and citizens-of the twenty-first century?

Physics for Future Presidents: The Science behind the Headlines
Richard A. Muller

rae recommends:

Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire
by Morris Berman.

On BooMan’s shelf:

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This looks interesting:

Adventure Divas
by Holly Morris

Here’s a good one from
Elizabeth Gilbert:

Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Crash" * Best Motion Picture, Academy Awards * Only $11.79 at Overstock * 2006 SAG Winner, Best Ensemble

Check out
Powell's new section:
NEW FAVORITES

Selected new arrivals at 30% off

Recommended by Indianadem and ejmw:
The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Wellstone

From northcountry’s bookshelf:

The New Golden Age:
The Coming Revolution Against
Political Corruption and Economic Chaos
by Ravi Batra

A novel about contractors in Iraq from the woman that runs The Spy That Billed Me:

Outsourced: A Novel
from RJ Hillhouse.


Great Deals
----- * ^ * -----

Find mystery novels by Nancy Pickard ("Kansas")



Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power by Phyllis Bennis (interviewed on DN!)


Featured by Keith Olbermann, New (Powell's Sale): Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum (whose other books merit serious consideration)


"Explosive" State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen


The book the CIA doesn't want you to read: Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Larry Johnson's review


BT's all-time best seller:

PERMACULTURE:
A Designers' Manual

$79.95 * Sale: $59.95


Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (Third Edition)


The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!


The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan


Green Press Initiative
----- * ^ * -----


Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists by Eleanor Mills * NYT review


Bury Me Standing: the Gypsies & Their Journey


1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus



Brokeback Mountain
by Annie Proulx
----- * ^ * -----
Check out Powell's
"At The Movies"


Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky (Power & Terror: Post 9-11 Talks)


The Price of Privilege:

How Parental Pressure and
Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of
Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

by Madeline Levine


Save 35-70% on
name brand clothing,
footwear, and outdoor gear
at SierraTradingPost.com

:





We listened to PEN American Center's "State of Emergency" and found 1940s books by Curzio Malaparte only at Alibris. (Selection (MP3) excerpted from "The Skin.")

Alibris - Books You Thought You'd Never Find
Banned Books * Are you a fan of Film Noir, Art House, Documentaries or Hong Kong Action? * Searching for a long-lost children's book or a first printing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on vinyl? Find it at Alibris!

:
:
www.Patagonia.com


Listed on BlogShares

© 2009 Booman Tribune