Sen. Reid should look in mirror first
Published on: 10/13/06
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid would be well advised to stop thundering about corruption in the Republican ranks or crying "cover-up" over the GOP's failure to promptly and appropriately deal with former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and his sexually explicit e-mails to congressional pages. Reid faces too many questions about his own behavior to crusade against the misdeeds of others.
Currently, he's trying to explain a land deal in Nevada on which he made a pile of money and which may not have been properly disclosed. When the property was sold in 2004, it belonged to a company formed with a long-time friend and included a parcel that once had been owed by Reid. Despite having transferred his parcel to the company, the Nevada Democrat continued to report in Senate documents that he still owned it personally. That's a breach of Senate disclosure rules, according to the Associated Press, which first reported the transaction details.
Reid is now considering whether he should amend his disclosure statement.
Two months ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that Reid had smoothed the way for a campaign contributor and friend to develop a huge tract of land northeast of Las Vegas. Reid tried twice — before he was successful — to get a utility right-of-way moved from the proposed development site onto public land.
The first effort stalled because of objections from the Bureau of Land Management and others that the developer wasn't going to pay anything for a deal that would greatly increase the value of his development site. Eventually, it was determined the developer should pay the federal government more than $10 million.
Then there are the free boxing tickets Reid took from the Nevada Athletic Commission. The panel was hoping to block formation of a national boxing commission; Reid favored one.
Only after the Associated Press reported this summer that Reid got the expensive tickets did the senator decide he would no longer accept such gifts.
Unfortunately, Reid's ethics meter only seems to work when it's too late.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2006/10/12/1013edreid.html