Friday, April 15, 2005
Harry Reid's Family Cashing In
"In Nevada, Reid Is the Name to Know. Members of one lawmaker's family represent nearly every major industry in their home state. And their clients rely on his goodwill."
When it comes to cashing in on family connections, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's relatives can't hold a candle to the clan of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who's sponsored legislation that netted his son hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
So says top radio talker Rush Limbaugh, who first unearthed the dirty details on Reid's nepotism last week - a story that has the mainstream press feigning ignorance as they pull out all the stops to nail DeLay.
Rush Limbaugh
We're Looking at You, Harry Reid
RUSH: Let me tell you what Dingy Harry... We are looking at you and we are looking at you through a microscope and we're looking at Nancy Pelosi through a microscope. We're looking at you through an electron microscope and it's not a pretty site.
You go ahead. You rely on your willing accomplices in the mainstream press, but those of us out here who are well aware of what you are doing, Senator Reid.
You're blocking the Senate. You're holding up business in the Senate. You're violating the Constitution by changing the filibuster rule. You don't have one thing in your agenda you stand for. You're not advancing anything positive. You're nothing but a bunch of obstructionists.
The LA Times reported: "What Reid did not explain was that the bill promised a cavalcade of benefits to real estate developers, corporations and local institutions that were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobbying fees to his sons' and son-in-law's firms, federal lobbyist reports show."
Turns out that the Reid family gravy train relied on some of America's biggest corporate names.
The Howard Hughes Corp. alone paid $300,000 to attorney and son-in-law Steven Barringer to push a provision allowing the company to acquire 998 acres of federal land near booming Las Vegas.
According to the Times, other provisions of Reid's legislation were intended to benefit a real estate development headed by a senior partner in the Nevada law firm that employs all four of the Senate minority leader's sons.
Seldom have so many close relatives directly profited off their familial connection to a powerful politician.
See Photo: Harry Reid Cashing In (Click Here)
Reid's response to the obvious conflicts of interest?
"Lots of people have children, wives and stuff that work back here," he insisted. "It is not as if a lot of cash is changing hands."
Hundreds of thousands of dollars - not a lot of cash?
One wonders how journalists would have reacted had Tom DeLay said that.
"In Nevada, Reid Is the Name to Know. Members of one lawmaker's family represent nearly every major industry in their home state. And their clients rely on his goodwill."
When it comes to cashing in on family connections, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's relatives can't hold a candle to the clan of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who's sponsored legislation that netted his son hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
So says top radio talker Rush Limbaugh, who first unearthed the dirty details on Reid's nepotism last week - a story that has the mainstream press feigning ignorance as they pull out all the stops to nail DeLay.
Rush Limbaugh
We're Looking at You, Harry Reid
RUSH: Let me tell you what Dingy Harry... We are looking at you and we are looking at you through a microscope and we're looking at Nancy Pelosi through a microscope. We're looking at you through an electron microscope and it's not a pretty site.
You go ahead. You rely on your willing accomplices in the mainstream press, but those of us out here who are well aware of what you are doing, Senator Reid.
You're blocking the Senate. You're holding up business in the Senate. You're violating the Constitution by changing the filibuster rule. You don't have one thing in your agenda you stand for. You're not advancing anything positive. You're nothing but a bunch of obstructionists.
The LA Times reported: "What Reid did not explain was that the bill promised a cavalcade of benefits to real estate developers, corporations and local institutions that were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobbying fees to his sons' and son-in-law's firms, federal lobbyist reports show."
Turns out that the Reid family gravy train relied on some of America's biggest corporate names.
The Howard Hughes Corp. alone paid $300,000 to attorney and son-in-law Steven Barringer to push a provision allowing the company to acquire 998 acres of federal land near booming Las Vegas.
According to the Times, other provisions of Reid's legislation were intended to benefit a real estate development headed by a senior partner in the Nevada law firm that employs all four of the Senate minority leader's sons.
Seldom have so many close relatives directly profited off their familial connection to a powerful politician.
See Photo: Harry Reid Cashing In (Click Here)
Reid's response to the obvious conflicts of interest?
"Lots of people have children, wives and stuff that work back here," he insisted. "It is not as if a lot of cash is changing hands."
Hundreds of thousands of dollars - not a lot of cash?
One wonders how journalists would have reacted had Tom DeLay said that.
