Does McCain Have A Subprime Problem? Probably Not

The sharp-as-a-tack Politico is my go-to for politics these days, but a recent article entitled McCain guru linked to subprime crisis really misses the mark. The "guru" is ex-Texas Senator Phill Gramm, a doctor of economics that advises McCain on econ issues. Apparently he was lobbied heavily during his years in the Senate (duh) and then after he retired, he went to work for UBS as a lobbyist on deregulation issues, including regulations specifically tied to lending.

Hence:

For his work, Gramm and two other lobbyists collected $750,000 in fees from UBS’s American subsidiary. In the past year, UBS has written down more then $18 billion in exposure to subprime loans and other risky securities and is considering cutting as many as 8,000 jobs.

A bit of a broadside, but it's not like UBS/Gramm weren't given a chance to comment on their side of the story:

Gramm did not respond to an e-mail, and was unavailable for comment, according to a UBS spokesman. The bank has no official position on the subprime crisis, the spokesman said, but is a member of the Financial Services Roundtable and other industry groups that are actively lobbying Congress on the issue.

What's an "official position on the subprime crisis" supposed to sound like?

Now some are seeing Gramm's thumbprints all over McCain's speeches and policy -- Sounds all conspiratorial, but then again, he is an econ adviser.

McCain delievered an economic speech Tuesday that had Gramm's input, but it was written by domestic policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

“Sen. Gramm was one of dozens of folks who Sen. McCain has consulted on the housing issue, including Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman from eBay," said McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers. "They've been friends for years and he values Sen. Gramm's advice."

In the speech, McCain rejected the type of aggressive government intervention in the economic meltdown that has been embraced by his Democratic opponents — and even some Bush advisers.

Obviously, Gramm has some sort of Svengali like influence of McCain, or he'd never have argued against bailouts. Either that or McCain is just sort of a standard Republican and used to being opposed to such things.

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