McCain's friends just keep getting richer

post from Daily Kos on 16 May 2008 01:55:05 PM. © Daily Kos

I've never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special interest group — that's a clear, 24-year record. - John McCain

That clear, 24-year record keeps getting muddier:

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that provided a windfall for an Arizona developer whose executives were major campaign donors, according to a USA Today report.
McCain, an Arizona senator, inserted $14.3 million in a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona, in a provision sought by SunCor Development, the largest of 50 landowners near the base, the newspaper reported on its Web site Thursday, citing public records.

Upset with a state law that restricted development around the base, SunCor representatives met with McCain's staff to lobby for funding, USA Today reported, citing the company's president at the time, John Ogden.

The Air Force later paid SunCor $3 million for 122 acres near the base -- three times its assessed value and twice the military's estimated value, the newspaper said.

Of course this isn't the first time John McCain has helped provide a windfall for SunCor Development, a company headed by Steven Betts, who also happens to be a Trailblazer for McCain's presidential campaign. But thank God for that clear record of never doing favors for anyone.