squeaky-clean senator harry reid
since the dingy people are offended at being constantly associated with harry reid, i’ve bestowed upon him a new title. it is a bit tongue-in-cheek, given his history:
read a nice summary of squeaky’s latest troubles:
The more he tries to explain away his lapses, the more Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., comes across as ethically tone deaf. The latest example in what is fast becoming a litany of oversights is the disclosure that Sen. Reid had been dipping into campaign donations to pay Christmas bonuses for the staff at Washington’s Ritz-Carlton, where he owns a $750,000 condominium.
While it’s good to know that Sen. Reid wants to spread a little cheer to the folks who work around his home, the fact is that federal election law prohibits candidates from using political donations for personal use. And that’s the law, even though the amount involved is modest — just $3,300 over several years — and the senator’s office says he has reimbursed his campaign for the expenditures.
The trouble is, the $3,000 is just the latest in a series of questionable judgments. Just recently, The Associated Press reported that the senator had failed to disclose the full details of a $1.1 million sale two years ago of property that he hadn’t owned since 2001. Instead, he sold the land to a company in exchange for an ownership stake, and then profited when the firm made the sale.
At first, the senator insisted that he made no attempt to conceal the transaction and said the transfer of ownership amounted to a “technical change.” But this week he announced that he was amending his ethics filings with Congress to fill in all the details. And, oh, he’s also going to disclose two other transactions that he failed to report because of “clerical errors” — sale of a third of an acre in Searchlight, Nev., in 2004, and ownership of a quarter of an acre his brother gave him 20 years ago.
And then there’s the matter of those free boxing tickets to ringside in Las Vegas. They came to light last May, when the senator, true to form, was busy explaining away any possible conflict of interest. “Anyone from Nevada would say, ‘I’m glad he is there taking care of the state’s business,’ ” Mr. Reid said at the time.
Well, maybe not. Those tickets, worth hundreds to more than $1,000 each, came from the Nevada Athletic Commission, which at the time was worried that Congress might pass a law that would supersede the panel’s authority to monitor boxing. So why didn’t Sen. Reid see any possible conflict of interest in accepting them? By contrast, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., did. He paid for tickets to the same matches himself. [link]
14 Responses to “squeaky-clean senator harry reid”
Leave a Reply
note: by commenting, you indicate that you have read and accept all-encompassingly's comment policy. please print it and keep a copy of the document in your wall safe along with your living will or advance directive.
This from a member of the party slapped for its culture of corruption.
“But look he did it too. Waa Waa Waa.”
Good thing those Dems are going to reinstitute congressional oversight especially for the bungled Iraq policy.
I was able to submit two grants. Thanks Travis. I suppose you’ll have to let Michelle call me stupid here too and then shut off comments again.
Are people other than Michelle welcome to call Steve stupid as well?
things michelle said about steve:
things michelle did not say about steve:
actually, she said:
i’ll leave these comments open here so you can respond to her charges. if you like, you can try to not exhibit the traits she criticized you for having.
It is disturbing the disproportionate amount of space you devote to Democratic lapses in ethical judgment as compared to Republican lapses.
The intense partisan nature of this blog is its most discrediting feature.
Mike. You are welcome to do that but then you would be displaying your own ignorance.
Travis,
You don’t realize it, but Michelle’s comments were a continuation of her criticism of me on her website. Here is what she had to say,
Stupid is as stupid does! ARE YOU JUST INCAPABLE AT ALL OF READING THE ACTUAL WORDS OR ARE YOU JUST TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WORDS MEAN! OR IS IT JUST THAT I REPRESENT THE RIGHT VIEWPOINT AND THEREFORE ANYTHING I SAY FIRST NEEDS TO BE MISREAD (it just HAS to be intentional?), THEN IT NEEDS TO BE TWISTED AND MANGLED SO YOU CAN HEAD OUT TO DEEP (mental) SPACE TO FORM YOUR OWN LEFTFIELD ARGUMENTS OVER YOUR OWN INSECURITIES. HERE I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU ONE MORE TIME!”
Now for you to say that she hasn’t called me stupid is just plain wrong. I’m not going to respond to her rants; they are silly. Far worse than anything I’ve seen on your site.
i haven’t read your conversations with michelle on her blog. therefore, i referred to the only point of controversy i could find: the post you complained of.
I didn’t complain about her post. I wasn’t really complaining. I just think it’s funny that you let her go on a rant and then shut off comments. Sort of like Doug. Wait, sort of like O’Reilly. No, sort of like Rush, Coultergeist. Well sort of like a Republican.
your life is one big complaint, steve.
and i think you should get some counseling.
recall, that i just summarized her comment here so you could respond. i didn’t have to do it. it’s my blog. you came back with:
why are you irked (but not complaining–its very important to note that you’re not complaining) that i closed the comments to that post?
you don’t want to comment. when i gave you another chance, you declined. get some help for your condition. i think it could be serious.
Travis, with a blog dedicated to mischaracterizations and discontent with the left, I’d say you have me beat in the complaint department.
You are right I need some counseling. Obviously you can recommend some good 12 step program since you’ve been there. How about if I just shout “Serenity now!” every time I read some silly rant.
Again, I’m not irked with you shutting off comments. You seem to be guilt tripped into providing a forum for response here. I don’t want to respond. It would be like responding to pseudomonas. Pointless. I do think it is funny that you reacted as many of your heros do though.
john writes:
and i am yet to see you defend a republican, john. you only defend democrats. therefore you are discredited.
steve writes:
that is what i would prefer. in the alternative, yell “serenity now” into a padded envelope and mail it to me.
the reason i shut off comments on the post that doesn’t irk you yet on which you continue to harp is that i know you have a mental health condition that requires you to have the last word in every argument. you have to have the last word, even if the “argument” has gone from a very important (or at least mildly interesting) subject down to whether or not michelle called you stupid.
i would prefer to let things die after the conversation becomes mind-numbingly idiotic. at the same time, this is my blog and i feel i have to make sure my visitors aren’t getting insulted and leaving because they’re offended by you. so i continue to indulge you.
i think most people understand how human relationships work, but i don’t think you do. and that is something that could be of value to you. get out from behind the computer screen and the test tubes! throw down the rubber gloves and go for a walk in the park! toss the frisbee around with the other chemists behind the dumpster out back.
when you have learned about interacting with people, society will welcome you with open arms.
Society already welcomes me Travis. Honestly. Just went out with my former advisor. We had a great time. I really don’t care if I fit in with the right wing nut job crowd.
and what we’re asking for here at all-encompassingly is that you act the same way online as you would act in dealing with people offline. with at least some minimal level of respect. it’s fine to let the argument get a little heated. it’s fine to throw some insults back when someone is disrespectful to you.
but i don’t appreciate it when your first impulse is to insult a person who politely disagrees with you.
that might be the problem then. expect a formal comment policy soon, which should explain how this type of anti-social behavior will be addressed in the future.
Oh I get it. You can have Michelle and Mike call me stupid. You and Travis can mockingly call me “Rhodes Scholar”. Pseudomonas can call me a coward (still haven’t figured out the reason for that one). You can say I have no reading comprehension skills. You can have anonymous say that I am uneducated. However, you would like me to respond in a genteel manner.
You really do emulate Coultergeist!