Sunday, April 10, 2005

Another Free Pass

I have no great love for the ethically-challenged Tom DeLay. The question for me, though, is why DeLay the Republican is getting so much media attention for his questionable actions, when Harry Reid the Democrat is not? From NRO Beltway Buzz:

The Los Angeles Times correctly notes that numerous members of Congress have family members on the payroll. But Harry Reid truly leads by example. In the words of the LAT:

“Harry Reid is in a class by himself. One of his sons and his son-in-law lobby in Washington for companies, trade groups and municipalities seeking Reid's help in the Senate. A second son has lobbied in Nevada for some of those same interests, and a third has represented a couple of them as a litigator.”

“In the last four years alone, their firms have collected more than $2 million in lobbying fees from special interests that were represented by the kids and helped by the senator in Washington.”

“So pervasive are the ties among Reid, members of his family and Nevada's leading industries and institutions that it's difficult to find a significant field in which such a relationship does not exist.”

In fact, Reid's behavior in this area far outstrips DeLay's--and has more serious ethical implications:

In 2002, Reid introduced a funding proposal without stating his family ties. As the LAT notes: “

The Howard Hughes Corp. alone paid $300,000 to the tiny Washington consulting firm of son-in-law Steven Barringer to push a provision allowing the company to acquire 998 acres of federal land ripe for development in the exploding Las Vegas metropolitan area.”

Let's see. Can anyone think of a reason why Reid would get a free press pass from most of the Media, while there are daily articles castigating DeLay's behavior and calling for his resignation?

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