#90. Exxon-Mobil

90. Exxon-Mobil

Like Bush, McCain is surrounded by advisers and fundraisers with ties to Exxon-Mobil - and has taken tens of thousands of dollars from Exxon-Mobil donors.

BUSH:

Bush and Cheney Reward Donors Affiliated with Oil and Gas Industry, Including Exxon-Mobil, with Access. As reported by TIME with regard to Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force, "Nearly 50 energy producers or associations had contact with the White House while Cheney's task force was working. Many had a chance to press their case directly with the Veep or his staff, sources say. Records show that all but a handful gave to or solicited for the R.N.C. around the time of the gala. Among them was Rick Shelby of the American Gas Association, who raised at least $250,000 for the gala at the same time he was getting the task force's blessing for incentives to build 38,000 miles of new pipeline. Nuclear-industry officials gave $150,000 while landing support for a waste-burial site--Bush later chose Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Former Representative Bill Paxon and another lawyer whose firm works for Exxon Mobil raised at least $100,000 apiece as the oil giant was persuading the panel to back a review of trade sanctions." [TIME, 3/24/02]

Bush Economic Adviser in 2000 Was a Director of Exxon-Mobil. As reported by the New York Times, "Michael J. Boskin, an economist advising Bush, has been a director of Exxon Mobil Corp. since 1996. And the campaign's chief economic advisor, Lawrence B. Lindsey, is on a panel of consultants to the Enron Corp., a Houston-based natural-gas and electricity marketing firm that has close bonds with Bush and is one of his biggest financial backers." [New York Times, 9/23/00]

Bush Won Unprecedented Donations from Oil and Gas Industry. As reported by the New York Times, The industry has rallied behind its own: Energy executives and companies are contributing as never before to the Republican's run for the White House. Oil and gas interests, which gave $ 2.36 to the Republicans four years ago for every $ 1 they gave to the Democrats, have boosted that ratio during this campaign to nearly 4 to 1, according to an analysis for The Times by the Campaign Study Group of Springfield, Va. The flow of oil and gas money to the Republican National Committee increased by 24% by the end of June over the same 18-month period in 1996, while the industry's donations to the Democratic National Committee declined by about the same amount. As of June 30, the RNC had taken in $ 7.5 million from energy interests, its third-largest benefactor after financial services and real estate." [New York Times, 9/23/00]

In June 2000, Bush's Campaign, Backed by Oil and Gas Industry, Had Received $30,575 From Exxon. As reported by the New York Times, "In his current campaign, Mr. Bush has received $1.54 million from people employed in the oil and gas business and related industries. According to Federal Election Commission filings compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, individuals from 670 oil-related interests contributed to the Bush campaign, from $250 contributions from Texas gas station owners to scores of $1,000 donations from executives of the nation's biggest oil companies, gas pipeline concerns and oil field service companies. Among the largest contributors are Enron ($92,250), El Paso Energy ($39,834), Koch Industries ($32,200), Exxon Mobil ($30,575), Coastal Corporation ($22,475) and Bass Brothers Enterprises ($21,000)." [New York Times, 6/22/00]

MCCAIN:

McCain Received Almost $55,000 in Contributions from Exxon Employees and Exxon's PAC. McCain received $54,336 in contributions from Exxon Mobil employees and its PAC. [Political Moneyline, Accessed: 8/5/08]

McCain Staffer-Turned Lobbyist-Turned McCain Senate Chief of Staff Mark Buse Lobbied for Exxon. In early 2008, McCain hired as his Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, who had served as McCain's staff director on the Commerce Committee "in the late 1990s and early 2000s," and who was until fall 2007 "a lobbyist for ML Strategies." From 2006 until 2007, Buse lobbied the federal government on behalf of Exxon Mobil, earning his firm $560,000 in lobbying fees from the oil giant. Buse lobbied on issues pertaining to renewable fuels, the energy savings act, climate stewardship act, climate change, cap & trade, and S.3711, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. [ML Strategies/Exxon Lobbying Disclosures, Senate Office of Public Records; Washington Post, 2/22/08]

Donatelli Lobbied on Behalf of Exxon in 1999. Donatelli lobbied for Exxon in 1999 on "educational efforts pursuant to merger activities." At the time Exxon was in the middle of an $82 billion merger with Mobil Exxon paid his firm $780,000 in lobbying fees for the year. [Exxon Lobbying Disclosures, Senate Office of Public Records]