New York City, February 13, 2006

Senator Barack Obama (D, Illinois) walked into the hearing room for a session attempting to reduce special interest influence on Congress, and put his arm around Senator John McCain’s shoulder (R, Arizona). Senator McCain is very active now on matters showing real difference with his party. Also today I received in the mail a letter from Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund on the subject of global warming. That letter included an insert by Senator McCain.

Senator McCain writes: “We have a growing crisis on our hands … one that seldom gets the attention it deserves. I am speaking about global warming. Left unchecked, we can expect glaciers and polar ice caps to melt, severe storms to become more frequent, prolonged draughts to devastate agricultural lands, sea levels to rise, and entire ecosystems to be thrown out of balance.”

“That is why I am co-authoring bi-partisan legislation in the Senate that will engage America in solving this problem. The bill is called the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act, and its foundation lies in a revolutionary, market-based approach to reducing pollution that was first developed by an innovative group named Environmental Defense.”

When Senator Joe Lieberman and I introduced the Climate Stewardship Act in 2003, the Washington pundits and insiders didn’t give it much of a chance. But when the Environmental Defense Global Warming Action Network swung into action, 42 of my fellow Senators stood with me. The insiders and special interests were shocked. However, to enact this critical legislation, we need 51 votes, and probably 60 in case of filibuster. And that’s where you can make a difference.”

Senator McCain asks us to work with him in order to achieve “a FIRST- EVER NATIONAL CAP ON GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION” by petitioning our Senators to vote “aye” the next time he brings the bill to the floor for a vote. He clearly does not believe in the fairy tale of voluntarism propagated from the White House. He wants that the Senators get … “bags and bags of mail with citizen’s petitions.” This is one way to impress them - it tells them that they may have to look for other jobs if they do not listen to the petition writers. We know also of another way - and that other way is where Senators McCain and Obama fight by other means.

On the global warming issue Senator McCain feels that teeming up with Environmental Defense, and leading to a letter writing campaign, will eventually do the trick, and brake the 51 votes threshold. Fred Krupp attached to the McCain letter to me further two ready made letters addressed to the two Senators from New York State asking just for my signature.

This sort of lobbying, funded from $15 - $25 contributions (for this higher amount you get a free tote bag) should be the only level of lobbying allowed. Larger industry bribes under the disguise of contributions should be totally disallowed - for that one needs much stronger bills for controlling the lobbying business. The Metropolitan area of Washington has whole streets that have collapsed under the weight of lobbying money - only the tip of this underground economy has surfaced lately with the indictment of just a few lobbyists, and the disclosure of the names of just a few corrupt legislators.