John McCain and Charlie Black

In the wake of the scandal involving the ties of then-Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, the Arizona senator said on February 21, 2008of the chief political adviser to his presidential campaign "I'm proud of the record of many of my advisers. One small example, Charlie Black. Charlie Black was involved in the first Reagan campaign, and he's been involved in every national presidential campaign since."

Charles R. Black Jr. is chairman of BKSH & Associates. According to information reprinted by a blog of Mother Jones magazine, the Center for Responsive Politics lobbying database, opensecrets.org, has compiled the following list of lobbying clients, along with the total value of the contracts, since 1998 of this public relations giant:


Accenture - $780,000
ACCURAY- $120,000
Accuray Inc - $60,000
Accuray Incorporated - $60,000
Advertising Co Art-Eria - $200,000
Agency for Humanitarian Technolgoies - $120,000
Alcoa - $100,000
Amerada Hess Corp - $80,000
American Financial Group - $80,000
American Hotel & Lodging Assn - $460,000
American Hotel & Motel Assn - $240,000
American Kidney Fund - $20,000
American Management Systems - $80,000
American Medical Response - $840,000
American Psychological Assn - $940,000
AMR Corp - $280,000
Arc Enterprises - $40,000
Asoex Chilean Exporters Assn - $40,000
Assn of American Medical Colleges - $420,000
AT&T - $1,185,000
AT&T Inc - $720,000
Authentix - $210,000
Baxter International - $60,000
Bethlehem Steel - $540,000
Biochem Resources - $20,000
Bristol-Myers Squibb - $690,000
California School Employees Assn - $40,000
Carlton Co - $20,000
Cavendish Digicom - $40,000
Center of the Development of Information - $50,000
CGI Group - $80,000
Chenega Corp - $120,000
ChevronTexaco - $140,000
Childrens Memorial Medical Center - $470,000
Chilean Salmon Farmers Assn - $100,000
Cintas Corp - $95,000
Citizens for Liberty in Cuba - $40,000
City of Chesapeake, VA - $10,000
City of Muncie, ID - $60,000
City of Muncie/Delaware County, ID - $160,000
City of Napoleon, OH - $120,000
City of Sunnyvale, CA - $70,000
Coca-Cola Co - $380,000
Colombian Textile & Apparel Industry - $80,000
Comasa, de la Optica - $80,000
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico - $2,400,000
Compusa - $60,000
Conservation Trust Fund of Puerto Rico - $240,000
Contran Corp - $505,000
Cook Childrens Health Care System - $660,000
Cummins Engine - $140,000
Cummins Inc - $1,300,000
DaimlerChrysler - $20,000
Dairy Fresh - $20,000
DARE America - $80,000
Dayton Advocacy Consortium - $120,000
Dayton Chamber/Miami Valley Reg Commis - $160,000
Delaware North Companies - $580,000
Digene Corp - $815,000
Dominican Republic-US Business Council - $40,000
Education Finance Council - $100,000
Egan & Assoc - $20,000
Eistream - $56,000
El Pomar Foundation - $50,000
Emergent BioSolutions - $80,000
Energy Finance Team - $10,000
Entergy Corp - $60,000
Featherlite Inc - $70,000
Federation of State Medical Boards - $420,000
First Transit - $60,000
Fort Lauderdale Downtown Devel Authority - $180,000
Freddie Mac - $820,000
General Electric - $680,000
General Motors - $570,000
Geovox Security - $20,000
Glaxo Wellcome Inc - $40,000
GlaxoSmithKline - $590,000
Global Strategies Group - $180,000
Goodman Corp - $20,000
GTECH Holdings Corp - $980,000
Harper, Meyer et al - $180,000
Harris Corp - $40,000
Health Industry Manufacturers Assn - $80,000
Honeywell International - $220,000
Importers Service Corp - $540,000
Impulso 2000 - $80,000
Indiana Dept of Transportation - $20,000
Insors - $330,000
Instinet - $440,000
Institute for Democratic Strategies - $10,000
International Franchise Assn - $290,000
International Org/Masters/Mates/Pilots - $80,000
International Steel Group - $20,000
International Tire & Rubber Assn - $50,000
Intl Assn of Convention & Visitor Bureau - $20,000
Intl Council of Shopping Centers - $680,000
Ion America - $80,000
Iprivacy - $20,000
Johnson & Johnson - $280,000
JP Morgan & Co - $140,000
JP Morgan Chase & Co - $724,000
Kosmos Energy - $40,000
Lincoln Group - $40,000
Liquidnet Inc - $60,000
Lockheed Martin - $487,500
Lucent Technologies - $20,000
Lumenos - $100,000
MacAndrews & Forbes - $180,000
Magellan Systems International - $350,000
Mariner Post Acute Network - $20,000
Maxxam Inc - $430,000
McTigue & Brooks - $20,000
MDA International - $320,000
Medactinium Inc - $40,000
Medtronic Inc - $40,000
Methodist Health Care System - $500,000
Michigan State University - $320,000
Microbran Products - $140,000
Mortgage Bankers Assn of America - $140,000
Morton International - $180,000
Mtbe Litigation Inc - $20,000
M-unit - $20,000
National Assn of Home Builders - $20,000
National Assn of Mortgage Brokers - $60,000
National Assn of Rocketry $50,000
National Assn of Trailer Manufacturers $60,000
National Auto Dealers Assn - $320,000
National Automobile Dealers Assn - $200,000
National Football League - $100,000
National Foreign Trade Council - $40,000
National Mentoring Partnership - $150,000
National Propane Gas Assn - $80,000
National Renal Administrators Assn - $640,000
National Restaurant Assn - $760,000
National School Transportation Assn - $400,000
Natl Assn of Classified School Employees - $300,000
Natl Assn of Passport & Visa Services - $60,000
Natl Center For The American Revolution - $30,000
Natl Conf of State Historic Preser Offcs - $360,000
Nec Corp - $695,000
Neopath/Tripath Imaging - $140,000
Nielsen Media Research - $240,000
North Americas Supercorridor Coalition - $440,000
Northeast Utilities - $40,000
Occidental Petroleum - $1,650,000
Occidental Petroleum - $1,650,000
Ocean Duke Corp - $20,000
Oryxe Energy International - $170,000
Osmose Holdings - $40,000
Pacific Supreme - $20,000
Par Technology - $70,000
Partners for Democratic Change - $40,000
Payne Shea & Assoc - $180,000
PCS Health Systems - $20,000
Peter NG Schwartz Management Co - $100,000
Pharmanex - $20,000
Philip Morris - $1,292,500
Policom Inc - $140,000
Popular Democractic Party - $260,000
Psi International - $20,000
Public Broadcasting Service - $385,000
Puerto Rico Highways & Transp Authority - $270,000
Radio Sedaye Iran - $37,500
Repeal PUHCA Now Coalition - $160,000
Rhoads/Weber Shandwick Govt Relations - $10,000
Roaring Fork Railroad Holding Authority - $220,000
Roaring Fork Transportation Authority - $200,000
Roche Group - $360,000
Rolls-Royce - $320,000
Safety-Kleen Corp - $810,000
SafeView Inc - $80,000
Sanborn - $165,000
Santa Clara County - $100,000
Santa Clara County, CA - $1,403,752
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Auth - $1,070,000
SAP America - $440,000
Screening for Mental Health - $30,000
Securicor Gray - $40,000
Shaw Group - $20,000
Silverleaf Resorts - $30,000
South Carolina Dept of Health/Human Srv - $40,000
South Carolina Judicial Dept - $20,000
Space Imaging Inc - $605,000
Stand Up for Steel - $120,000
State of Indiana - $120,000
Strategy Group International - $40,000
Sybase Inc - $100,000
Tam Bay Partnership - $20,000
Teck Cominco American - $100,000
Texas Childrens Hospital - $320,000
Thales - $1,055,000
Tobacco Quota Warehouse Alliance - $120,000
Travel Business Roundtable - $1,860,000
Travel Industry Assn of America - $180,000
Trilogy International Partners - $40,000
Tripoli Rocketry Assn - $50,000
United Motorcoach Assn - $20,000
United Network for Organ Sharing - $460,000
United Parcel Service - $50,000
United Technologies - $570,000
US Airways Group - $180,000
USEC Inc - $240,000
UST Inc - $1,360,000
Ust Public Affiars - $60,000
Values First - $30,000
Values Government Relations - $20,000
Vietnam Assn of Seafood Exporters & Prod - $340,000
Viohl & Assoc - $220,000
Visiting International Faculty Program - $40,000
Vladeck, Waldman et al - $20,000
Washington Group International - $20,000
Washington Metro Area Transit Authority - $440,000
Washington Mutual - $20,000
Webb County, TX - $40,000
Western Wireless Corp - $435,000
Williams Companies - $140,000
Wolf, Block et al - $60,000
WPP Group - $200,000
Wye Oak Technology - $10,000
Yukos Oil - $155,000

Total - $57,426,252

(My favorite: Phillip Morris, which comes in 5th in total value of the arrangement.)


Now the Washington Post reports "Black said he is still being paid by his firm and does work for clients in his 'spare time' (and) said he does a lot of his work by telephone from McCain's Straight Talk Express bus." That's the same John McCain who has striven to make hostility toward lobbyists and special interests a hallmark of his image as a "maverick." Conveniently, some of the companies represented by Charlie Black's lobbying firm have business before the Senate- and the Commerce Committee, of which John McCain still is a member.