Thank God for Ohio!

D.C. CONFIDENTIAL

JOE BIDEN’S FAILED ATTEMPT TO DISLODGE BRATTY SON FROM LOBBYING BIZ

K STREET HOLE Joe, Hunter
Vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and his lobbyist son got nailed yesterday for being rich and insider-y and basically exactly like every other well-connected political clan you’ve ever heard about. “Biden’s Son a Well-Paid D.C. Insider” advises the headline of a story detailing how Hunter Biden has personally billed clients $3.8 million for his lobbying services, and how the firm he co-founded with one of his dad’s buddies excels in a particularly scummy niche of the lobbying trade that involves coercing a small group of congressmen and staffers to slip earmarks into monstrous spending bills.
That article makes no mention of the jobs and large consulting fees Hunter earned from his dad’s biggest contributor (but this one does!) or Sen. Biden’s staggeringly unsuccessful effort to avoid exactly these kinds of stories by getting his son out of the lobbying business altogether. Many of the alleged details on that can be found in a lawsuit filed last year against Hunter and his uncle James Biden, Joe’s brother.
According to a claim filed by pissed-off business guy Anthony Lotito, “In early January 2006, James Biden called Lotito to inform him that his brother, Senator Joseph P. Biden, was concerned with the impact that Hunter’s lobbying would have on his expected campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.” James allegedly said that “his brother had asked him to seek Lotito’s assistance in finding employment for Hunter in a non-lobbying capacity.”
This supposed ploy worked out just fine at first, assuming that hedge fund work was somehow less of a political liability than lobbying. Lotito partnered with the two Bidens and bought controlling interest of a hedge fund called Paradigm Global Advisors; despite having no hedge fund experience, Hunter was made CEO and given an annual salary of $1.2 million as a way of “fulfilling Senator Biden’s wish that Hunter secure employment in a non-lobbying capacity.” But soon the bottom fell out. Lotito’s lawsuit claims that the Biden boys began “repeatedly citing their political connections and family status” to avoid paying him, and threatened “to use their alleged connections with a former United States senator to retaliate against [Lotito's lawyers] for insisting that his bill be paid.”
The Bidens deny all of this and say Lotito was the bad actor in the deal, but whatever happened, it’s clear that the hedge fund foray was not a success. Hunter quickly returned to lobbying and ostensibly tried to establish some degree of political cover for his dad’s presidential run by playing up his selfless work on the Amtrak Reform Board, a do-nothing patronage gig given to him, of course, by his dad.
Still, the drama continues; the Biden boys were recently slapped with another lawsuit by a different investor who claims they “engaged in an elaborate scheme to defraud” him. It’s unclear how exactly all of this might figure into Barack Obama’s crusade against business-as-usual in Washington, but here’s hoping that some wise journalist covering this week’s Democratic convention will take a look at the impact of Washington establishment brats on Obama’s message of change. We’re looking at you Luke Russert!
By Nick Curran 08/25/08 9:30 AM
Related: D.C. Confidential, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, Politics, Scandal

K Street Files: Wither Biden?
It didn’t take long for Hunter Biden, the son of vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, to come under the spotlight for his lobbying career.
From rss.topix.net via Topix. (August 31, 2008)
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BIDEN’S SON IN FUND SUIT
Hedge fund executive Hunter Biden has had anything but a quiet introduction to his career in finance. The 38-year-old son of Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden is caught up in several lawsuits regarding the acquisition and…
From news.search.yahoo.com via Yahoo News. (August 31, 2008)
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Lobbying, financial dealings in Biden family face scrutiny
When Sen. Joe Biden’s son Hunter needed investors to help buy a New York-based hedge fund, the first financier to step forward was a Chicago lobbying firm and one of the senator’s top campaign contributors.
From news.search.yahoo.com via Yahoo News. (August 29, 2008)
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The Bidens And The Law Firm
Family’s Financial Ties Could Prove Troublesome For VP Hopeful When Joe Biden’s brother and son wanted to buy a hedge fund company two years ago, they turned for financing to a law firm that had lobbied the Delaware senator’s office on an important piece of business in Congress — and in fact…
From news.search.yahoo.com via Yahoo News. (August 28, 2008)
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Jayne Lyn Stahl: Timed Release
Understood that there was no accusation of fraud, or embezzlement; nevertheless, explain why this story about Hunter Biden is getting more coverage than the resignation of Andrew McCain.
From news.search.yahoo.com via Yahoo News. (August 26, 2008)
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VP pick Biden’s son was a CNMI lobbyist
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), the newly named running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL), has family ties-sort of-to the CNMI: His son, R. Hunter Biden, served as a lobbyist for Gov. Benigno Fitial’s administration on the minimum wage and immigration issues.
From news.search.yahoo.com via Yahoo News. (August 26, 2008)
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Biden son’s job with credit giant MBNA draws scrutiny
Hunter Biden was paid an undisclosed amount of money as a consultant for MBNA, the largest employer in Delaware, during the years Joe Biden supported legislation that was promoted by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups.
From news.search.yahoo.com via Yahoo News. (August 25, 2008)
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Biden’s son a registered lobbyist since 2001
As it stands now, Sen. Joe Biden’s younger son, Hunter Biden, wouldn’t be allowed to contribute money to his father’s vice presidential effort.
From news.search.yahoo.com via Yahoo News. (August 25, 2008)
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Palin understands the game. She gave this Newsweek interview last Friday;

“NEWSWEEK: Sarah Palin, you are a Republican and a conservative one at that. It’s unlikely that you and Hillary would agree on too many issues. But, yet, as a woman, chief executive—someone who’s been through the grinder—when you look at the coverage and you listen to the conversations, what do you see?

Sarah Palin: Fair or unfair—and I do think that it’s a more concentrated criticism that Hillary gets on so many fronts; I think that’s unfortunate. But fair or unfair, I think she does herself a disservice to even mention it, really. You have to plow through that and know what you’re getting into. I say this with all due respect to Hillary Clinton and to her experience and to her passion for changing the status quo. But when I hear a statement like that coming from a women candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism or a sharper microscope put on her, I think, man, that doesn’t do us any good. Women in politics, women in general wanting to progress this country, I don’t think it bodes well for her, a statement like that. Because, again, fair or not fair it is there. I think it’s reality and it’s a given, people just accept that she’s going to be under a sharper microscope. So be it. Work harder, prove to yourself to an even greater degree that you’re capable, that you’re going to be the best candidate. That’s what she wants us to believe at this point. So it bothers me a little bit to hear her bring that attention to herself on that level….”

http://www.newsweek.com/id/156288/page/1

seriously, nobody is being fooled…

you just make Obama look like a desperate coward…

a. hillary
b. mccain

america first!

Where were the republicans when Hillary was being smeared? Did they speak out? No, they were doing the smearing also.

love it.

Obamamilli?

When a ship is sinking, you get out of the way.

I want all of the focus to be on Obama and his campaign’s thug tactics and Obama’s lack of judgement.

anyone else agree??