Lobbying and The Maximum Contribution

Lobbying and The Maximum Contribution

“Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted”

-Bruce Springsteen

Lobbying is not fashionable these days. I called a lobbyist friend and asked him if the media bashing was bothering him. He said, "no matter how much they complain, the lawmakers need us around."

He is probably right. Lobbyists know their way around government.

Rick Robinson knows about lobbyists and knows the political game. For the past 30 years, he's been a big time player in Washington and Kentucky. Rickwas legislative director for Congressman Jim Bunning and ran for Congress when Bunning moved up to the Senate.

Now he is a novelist. The Maximum Contribution (Headline Books publisher) is loosely based on Rick's experience as a candidate and inside player.

Rick and I go back a long ways. We became friends in student government at Eastern Kentucky University and shared an office when he was the student member of the Board of Regents.

He had pictures of Reagan on his desk. I had pictures of Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy. We became close anyway.

His run for Congress was a rare time when I campaigned for a Republican. In fact, I think it was the only time.

I asked him to add a note for my book about Ernie Fletcher. He wrote, "I'm glad that SOB wasn't writing when I ran for office."

I printed it. It's on the back cover of the book.

He asked me to give a quote for his book. A no win situation for me. I didn't want to give the same style of quote that he did and I don't really like to read novels. I'm a non fiction kind of guy. I live in a reality show world.

I liked his novel. A lot.

Once I started, I literally did not put down The Maximum Contribution. I stayed up half the night to finish it.

It is a political thriller and an insider's guide to how Washington works. I don't want to give away the plot but Rudy Maxa, a former investigative reporter for the Washington Post, said, "Rick Robinson has vividly captured the essence of the deals that make or more than likely... break so many DC politicians."

Rick's gritty but realistic insight is how the game is played.

Lobbyist bashing has become a popular sport. I'm not sure who to blame. I don't know if I blame the lobbyists for trying to influence legislation or the elected officials for allowing themselves to be influenced.

Your view on lobbying probably depends on what the lobbyist is asking for.

I don't like the payday loan industry and think their lobbyists are probably slime. I make most of my income from setting up structured settlement annuities for injured people. I view their lobbyists as outstanding legislative representatives who are doing God's work.

It's all a matter of where you sit and where you draw your income.

Some lobbying groups are completely out of control. The groups that represent credit card companies have had their way in Washington. They passed "bankruptcy reform" which was a classic case of reverse Robin Hood. It took from the poor to give to the rich.

The Maximum Contribution's subplot revolves around an obscure tax break allowing businesses to set up off shore operations. I don't know why big corporations should be rewarded for taking jobs and resources OUT of the United States but I am sure some high powered lobbyist can tell me why.

Read the book. It is a fun read and gives insight into political lies that can leave us lost and brokenhearted.

Don McNay is the author of Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com

Sunshine Laws & The Town Crier

"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy."

-John Denver

March 16 to 22 was 'Sunshine Week." It was a week to focus on open government and freedom of information.

I am for all freedom of information, expect when it applies to me. It is the same sentiment that many public officials have.

I learned about public disclosure at a young age.

When I was 16, I got a speeding ticket. I did not fear the justice system. I feared my mother.

The Northern Kentucky Post had a section called the Town Crier. It listed people's secrets and dirty laundry. If you went to court for any reason, it wound up in the Town Crier.

Like my neighbors, my family denounced the Town Crier as a horrible invasion of privacy. Like my neighbors, my family read it every day.

I knew my mom would see my Town Crier debut.

I tried a cover up. For two weeks, I watched for the news carrier and rushed to catch the paper. I stood in the yard, read the Town Crier and brought the paper in after vetting.

I eventually found my name and proceeded to "lose" that section of the paper. The next day, mom was waiting in the driveway.

She had read the missing section at work.

She grounded me for the rest of my life but I eventually got probation.

The Town Crier was a better security measure than the police. I prayed I would never be in it again.

Joe Hackett, one of my high school teachers, took the Town Crier to a new level. He would read the list of offenders to the study halls and embarrass the student in front of everyone else.

Public humiliation worked. Few classmates made more than one appearance.

The Kentucky Post shut down last year. As papers decline in circulation, the Town Crier sections are the first to go. Few papers print minor traffic violations. If they do, few people read them.

We don't know our neighbors like we once did. That is ironic as our every move is being recorded.

I assume I don't have any privacy. I suspect all of my phone calls are listened to and someone is reading my mail. Someone knows what web pages I view and what television shows I watch.

I don't like it but I don't know what to do about it.

There was a comfort level when my neighbors were doing the watching. They had standards I wanted to meet.

Peer pressure and social acceptance shape a person's character.

Almost every president, with the exception of Theodore Roosevelt, came from a small town. A reason has to be that they grew up with a formal or informal version of the Town Crier.

They learned that it was hard to get away with doing something wrong. They learned it was even harder to cover it up.

A couple of years ago, I wrote that Eliot Spitzer might be president. I'm embarrassed that I said it but I missed a key element. Spitzer had grown up in New York City.

Elliot didn't have the Town Crier style of indoctrination.

Spitzer never experienced his mother waiting for him with the newspaper in her hand. I doubt he was ever grounded for the rest of his life. He never had to live up to his neighbors expectations.

He grew up thinking that he could get away with something.

I'm sure public officials hate the concept of freedom of information. If they screw up, they don't want the world to find out. They would rather us not know about insider deals.

Sunshine laws work like my mother waiting in the driveway. They ensure that people will be exposed and they keep public officials in line before they make a poor decision.

If you can't defend your actions in the newspaper, don't do it. Someone is going to find out.

Sunshine laws make me happy and make for better government.

Don McNay is the Chairman of McNay Settlement Group. He is the Secretary for the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. You can read his award winning syndicated column at www.donmcnay.com or write to him at don@mcnay.com

Peter Lynch & The Culture of Greed

Fidelity Vice Chairman Peter Lynch recently settled a complaint against him filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lynch was fined for receiving free trips and tickets.

Since Lynch likes freebies, I am surprised that he did not respond to my longstanding offer.

A one way ticket to Iraq.

I've written numerous columns bashing Lynch. His company peddled high commissioned products to soldiers during a time of war.

Fidelity sold contractual mutual funds. They had huge upfront loads. The funds were so bad that Congress finally outlawed them.

Fidelity pushed them in the military market and almost nowhere else.

When the sales practice was exposed, I offered Lynch a deal.

I offered to pay for Lynch to go to Iraq and take the place of a soldier who bought a Fidelity contractual fund.

I'm waiting for Lynch to respond.

Lynch might be inclined to grab my freebie if I were a Fidelity vendor. His lack of response may be because I'm not doing business with Fidelity and unlikely to be in the future.

There was a time when I sent Fidelity lots of business. When Peter Lynch managed the Fidelity Magellan fund.

Peter Lynch was the best mutual fund manager in the world. He had a reputation for integrity and honesty.

Something changed. Lynch retired as Magellan's manager and became Fidelity's Vice Chairman. He started hanging out with Hollywood pals like Lily Tomlin. He was in a position to know that Fidelity was peddling contractual funds to the military. He did nothing to stop it.

Squeezing profits out of soldiers never made sense. Fidelity is a huge company and the military is a small market. Fidelity sold the funds long after the unsavory practice was uncovered by the media.

In light of the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against Lynch, I now understand.

Lynch and Fidelity were blinded by a culture of greed.

Lynch set a poor example. As Walter Ricciardi, deputy director of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission, said after Lynch's settlement, "the tone is set at the top."

Vice Chairman is as close to the top as you can get.

Fidelity's traders received more than $1.5 million in gifts, travel and entertainment. A 2005 Wall Street Journal article described a party in Miami that included Fidelity traders.

Party goers were supplied with private jets, female escorts and illegal drugs (Ecstasy). The vendors paid for a party activity called dwarf tossing.

After you done some Ecstasy and thrown a dwarf across the room, you can probably rationalize peddling high priced funds to soldiers.

As far as I know, Lynch was not at the bash in Miami but the Fidelity culture was set when Lynch started bumming free tickets.

When a top dog starts hustling freebies, it easy for others to justify it too.

It becomes also easy to forget that soldiers buying contractual mutual funds are being sent off to war.

Even though the SEC fined Fidelity $8 million, I still don't think that Lynch gets it.

Doug Bailey, a spokesman for Lynch, told the Wall Street Journal that the 14 Ryder Cup tickets Lynch improperly received, "had some real historical significance to Mr. Lynch because he used to caddy" at the course where the event was held.

I used to work on the clean up crew at the Kentucky Horse Park. I wonder if Lynch can get me 14 tickets to the 2010 World Equestrian Games? That would have some historic significance for me.

To help my sense of history, I would like a private jet. I can skip the drugs, "escorts" and dwarf tossing.

If Lynch can rationalize his Ryder Cup freebies, I can justify jetting with the rich and famous. I used to clean up after them.

And their horses.

Peter Lynch's grubbing sent a signal that everyone at Fidelity might look for handouts too. Or push improper products to soldiers.

As Mr. Ricciardi said, "it sets a tone."

I wish the SEC would have put me in charge of Lynch's punishment. He would have gotten his one way ticket to Iraq.

That would definitely set a tone. A tone that would snap Fidelity's managers in line . They would stop taking advantage of soldiers.

And tossing dwarfs.

Don McNay is the author of Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read his award winning column at www.donmcnay.com

The Anti Lottery Outing Bill

The Anti Lottery Outing Bill

“Take your mama out all night and show her what it’s all about.”

-Scissor Sisters

I tell lottery winners to keep quiet. Someone getting money should keep their mouth shut. The more people who know, the more problems you have.

There are ways for lottery winners to protect their identity. It means consulting a lawyer or advisor. Winners can set up a trust or corporation.

It is unlikely I will ever win the lottery. The odds are a zillion to one and I rarely buy tickets.

If I win, my first stop is will be a bank safety deposit box. The ticket will sit there while my advisors and I develop a plan.

I’ll set up a trust and the assets will quietly stay in my family.

People running lotteries want winners to preen for the cameras. It’s good publicity and gets more people to buy tickets. Two Kentucky legislators proposed keeping names of lottery winners private.

They also want to stomp on the public’s right to know.

The Kentucky lottery, like most states, is subject to open records requests. For obvious reasons. The temptation to fix a lottery jackpot is huge.

I’ve never heard of a problem with an American lottery. There are many security features and they operate on the up and up.

A key is media as watchdog. Lottery employees know that any citizen can do an open records request and expose fraud.

The proposed legislation takes away that protection. It would ban open records requests.

If Kentucky passed the proposal, we wouldn’t know if a government official or lottery insider suddenly “hit” the Powerball. We would only suspect if they started carrying $600,000 to strip clubs like Jack Whitaker did.

Lottery winner can keep their privacy with a trust. Someone bought a $140 million ticket near Cincinnati. A trust officer cashed the ticket.

We know what bank has the money. The bank vouched that the recipient was an eligible winner. .

Which means it wasn’t a lottery director’s brother in law.

The Kentucky flap started when Linville Huff won $16 million a few months ago. He cashed his ticket and asked the Kentucky lottery to keep quiet.

They can’t. They are subject to open record laws.

Mr. Huff apparently didn’t set up a trust. He is now a public figure.

He wanted to keep his winnings quiet but I wish he had gotten legal or financial advice.

I work with a lot of injured people. Those who have special needs trusts can protect their assets and government benefits. Those without a trust lose them.

Nothing is more horrible than watching a person lose everything because they didn’t get good advice.

If Kentucky wants to tinker with legislation, they should figure out ways to make it easier on injured people. Victims should be in line before a lottery millionaires.

The legislators didn’t look at the overall picture.

Open record laws allow misbehavior to be outed.

Don McNay is the author of Son of Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What To Do When You When The Lottery. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read his award winning column at www.donmcnay.com

Surviving the Current Recession

Surviving the Current Recession

"America needs you, Harry Truman"

-Chicago

Harry Truman said that a recession is when your neighbor loses his (or her) job. A depression is when you lose your job.

A 21^st century version of Truman's theory is: A recession is when your neighbor is foreclosed on. A depression is when you are foreclosed on.

Managing debt and wealth are how we now measure the economy. Unemployment is low. There are plenty of minimum wage jobs but minimum wage does not net enough to make a sub prime house payment.

We are in a recession. The economy has been lousy for months.

Some lame brain economists, like Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, try to convince us otherwise. They point to obscure economic indexes and try to cheer us up.

You can't be in good cheer when they are hauling off the neighbor's furniture.

Politicians have a tough balancing act. They need to present a positive spin.

Consumer confidence drives the economy. If people get into a negative mindset, the economy spirals further down.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt turned the tide on the great depression by saying, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He gave people hope.

FDR offer more than a great slogan. He spent the first 100 days of his administration putting spending programs in place.

Things got better. Those who lived through that era learned the value of saving over spending.

A lesson this generation forgot.

Our recession was caused by out of control borrowing. People bought things they couldn't afford. They ran up the mortgages, car loans and credit cards until they were completely maxed out. Life has been a party and like any out of control party, there is a hangover the next day.

When someone is recovering from a hangover, I give them Gatorade. I survived pneumonia on Gatorade. I swear by its magical powers.

My economic Gatorade comes in three parts.

1. Don't panic. FDR was right when he said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Lately, I've have tons of people call in panic. They tell me they want to dump their stock, sell their house or become a survivalist and stockpile canned food and guns.

I tell them to take a deep breath.

Panic is what causes a recession to become a depression. It is also stupid. The economy works like seasons of the year. If you hunker down in winter, spring will eventually be here.

2. If you do have money, make some financial moves. Great fortunes are made in the bad economic cycles. A recession is the perfect time to get rich.

There are real estate bargains and a lot to choose from. People are dumping stocks and bonds. If you do your homework, there are buying opportunities.

If you have money hidden under a mattress, take it out and start investing.

If you have manageable debt but a good credit rating, now is the time to refinance. If you have a variable mortgage, you need to get a fixed one. Today.

People can call their credit card lenders and get better rates. Try it. All they can tell you is no.

I would prefer you tear up your credit cards completely but if you hang on to them, get the best deal you can.

3. You need a budget and an emergency fund. A budget gives you an accurate measure of where you are. Like starting a diet, you need monitor progress. A budget is the economics equivalent of getting on the scale.

People who budget and plan, have money. People who write down what they are eating lose weight. It's not magic. It is developing good habits.

If you are in debt, you need to figure out where you spent it and how to start paying it back.

A recession is the economy's reminder to have a savings plan. People with savings, diversified investments and no debt can survive any economy.

Even if they lose their job.

All goes back to living beneath your means, like Harry Truman did. It's fun to show the neighbors your new house and fancy car.

It is not fun to face them when those items get repossessed.

Don McNay is the author of Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win The Lottery. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read his award winning column at www.donmcnay.com

Jim Bunning, the lone vote against Bernanke

Jim Bunning, the lone vote against Bernanke

“You play a pretty good fiddle boy but give the devil his due.”

-Charlie Daniels

It would be easy for me to avoid saying something positive about Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning. We differ on many issues. We rarely support the same candidates. His prickly personality does not make him a media darling.

Having said that, I would be remiss if I did not give Senator Bunning his due.

On one of the important decisions facing the country, Bunning was right and every other United States Senator was wrong.

In 2006, Bunning was the only Senator to vote against Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

There were 20 members of the Senate Banking committee. Only Bunning said no. Bernanke then breezed through the full Senate on a voice vote.

Bunning took some serious heat. He was voted one of the nation’s “Five Worst Senators” by Time Magazine.

I wonder if Time Magazine will allow a recount.

If other Senators had listened to Bunning, we might have avoided a recession.

An economic downturn is the result of many events but the Federal Reserve Board can make it less painful.

The Federal Reserve Board is a risk manager for the nation’s economy.

A fire fighter puts out a fire but a risk manager keeps a fire from starting.

Bernanke hasn’t been a risk manager, he’s been an arsonist.

My high school history teacher said that the Federal Reserve Chairman was more important than the President.

My teacher grasped something that 99 United States Senators did not.

Before entrusting our economy to a Federal Reserve Chairman, the Senate needed to perform due diligence. They needed to make sure we had the best person for the job.

Bernanke’s confirmation “hearings” were a love fest with a minimum of vetting.

Only Bunning noticed that Bernanke had never worked in the private sector. Ben had never met a payroll or earned a return for stockholders. Bernanke only accomplishment had been hanging out at the Princeton faculty club.

Real world economics differ from the textbook models. A great Federal Reserve Chair, Paul Volcker, understood both.

I’m not sure Bernanke understands either.

Bernanke breezed through confirmation hearings and people hooted at Bunning.

I doubt Time Magazine’s editors are laughing at Bunning now. If they are in good spirits, they haven’t checked their stock portfolio lately.

There are hoards of people calling for Bernanke’s head. Even those who suck up to Ben admit that “he made a few mistakes.”

Those “few mistakes” put us in a recession.

If Bernanke had dealt with sub prime mortgages before they became a crisis, we would have avoided a recession.

If Ben had been aggressive in cutting interest rates before the stock market went into free fall, we would have avoided a recession.

If Bernanke had not appeared completely clueless, he would have given the business community confidence. Instead, we got a recession.

Bunning’s fellow Senators don’t want to admit they screwed up. They want to cover their tracks by handing out $150 billion in tax rebates.

Our grandchildren and great grandchildren will be paying for the ill advised rebates. We are currently paying for Bernanke’s mistakes.

Since the United States Senate gave Bernanke a 14 year term, we can’t get rid of Ben until 2020. I wonder what the economy will look like then?

Going against the crowd is a lonely position.

In 1964, Oregon Senator Wayne Morse was one of two Senators who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that authorized America’s further involvement in the Vietnam War.

I don’t know if Time listed its “five worst senators” in 1964 but Morse would have been on their list. Four years later, the people of Oregon voted him out of office.

It took awhile but history has given Wayne Morse his due.

I’m giving Senator Jim Bunning his due now.

Don McNay is Chairman of the Board for McNay Settlement Group and author of Winner, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read his award winning column at www.donmcnay.com

Notes from Don McNay

My first nationally syndicated radio appearance happens on Thursday, when I appear on the Mike McConnell show at 10 a.m. eastern time. Mike is based at WLW (700) in Cincinnati but broadcast all over the United States. You can also download the podcast on ITunes. Also on Thursday, I am a guest on Pat Crowley's television show on Insight Cable in Northern Kentucky. It repeats 16 times so everyone in my home town should be able to catch it several times. With my book and the economy in flux, I've been keeping doing a slew of media appearances while keeping on the road with the structured settlement business. Anyone trying to find me can reach me at 888 676-2629 (888 Mr. McNay) or at don@donmcnay.com I have a structured settlement and Kentucky Press Association items below. Don Structured Settlements and Medical Malpractice article Enclosed is a link to an article entitled Structured Settlements and Medical Malpractice. It links to a great article in Trial Magazine by Dov Apfel, titled, Settling the cerebral palsy case. Dov is a great trial lawyer and great human being. He is based outside of Washington DC in Greenbelt, Maryland and is one of the nation's leading authorities of birth injury litigation. I was thrilled to see that Dov cited an article that Bill Garmer (w and I wrote for Trial Magazine called, Is a Qualified Settlement Fund right for your client?. I've written a lot of things for a lot of publications but I am particularly proud of the Qualified Settlement Fund article. It was the first QSF article in a major publication like Trial Magazine. It made McNay Settlement Group one of the nation's leaders in Qualified Settlement Funds, a position we have never lost. I have links to the Structured Settlements and Medical Malpractice article and the original article that Bill Garmer and I wrote. (Please note that Garmer, is also a great trial lawyer, great human being and great author.) Structured Settlements and Medical Malpractice article Trial Magazine: Is a Qualified Settlement Fund right for your client? by Don McNay & Bill Garmer
KENTUCKY PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARDS The Kentucky Press Association handed out their 2007 awards last week I was given a second place award in the best column category. To paraphase Governor Williard "Mitt" Romney, I've gottten two silvers and a gold in the past three years. Even better was that my home newspaper, The Richmond Register, was named best newspaper in its size category for the second time in three years. Jim Todd has done an incredible job in his three years as editor. I am very proud of him. I'm also proud of associate editor Lorie Love, who came in third in the best column category and diplomatically deals with my demands on a weekly basis. Richmond tied with the Corbin Times Tribune for first place and the Corbin editor, Samnatha Swindler, was named best columnist. Sam is a rising star in the journalism field and a talented and insightful writer.