Former Senator turned banking lobbyist Phil Gramm and McCain economic adviser was still on Swiss Bank UBS’ payroll as late as last December. Widely known for his push to deregulate banking he is sometimes regarded as the father of lending policies which led to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
Gramm joined the bank in 2002 and had registered as a lobbyist by 2004. UBS filed paperwork deregistering Gramm on April 18 of this year. Gramm continues to serve as a UBS vice chairman.News of Gramm’s involvement as a paid advocate for the banking industry, simultaneous with his unpaid work on McCain’s economic policies, comes as McCain’s campaign continues to reel from the purge of four other lobbyists. Two weeks ago, McCain banned lobbyists from advising him on the same subjects covered by their lobbying work.
Once again, McCain seems to be surrounded by lobbyists, this marks the fourth such revelation.
When Gramm chaired the Senate Banking Committee, he wrote and passed deregulatory legislation in more than one industry, establishing himself as a pre-eminent foe of government regulation. McCain’s March 26 speech recommended further deregulation of the banking industry as his response to the mortgage crisis.
Gramm has been a staunch advocate of deregulation not just in banking but in energy.
After Gramm passed a law easing regulation of energy-commodity trading, California experienced a sharp run-up in energy costs. The energy-trading company Enron was blamed and soon collapsed.
These are the types of disastrous policies McCain thinks are good for the average citizen.
