Trouble in Searchlight
the "culture of corruption" tour hits nevada
By streiff Posted in Democrats — Comments (21) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
UPDATE: The AP reports that when embattled Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was confronted with this news, he hung up on the AP reporter calling to get a comment from him. When will Reid resign?
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.
In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews. more...
Since Nancy Pelosi has praised Keating Five kingpin Alan Cranston as a "workhorse" one can only wait with bated breath for her to describe Harry Reid as an incarnation of Mother Teresa.
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Trouble in Searchlight 21 Comments (0 topical, 21 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
feeling uncomfortable about posting a story like this on the basis of nothing more than an AP story. Even when the subject is a detestable little twerp like Reid.
"During my lifetime, most of the problems the world has faced have come from mainland Europe, and the solutions from outside it." - Thatcher
True enough the details of the land deal need to be verified. Heaven knows who will do it.
Perhaps a senate committee should investigate because of the "seriousness of the charges" :-)
The title of ownership changing from private to a partnership that he owned doesn't bother me NEARLY as much as the part about the federal land swaps associated with the deal. Those are violations of Senate reporting rules rather than true corruption.
The part that really bothers me is further down in the article. Reid put pressure on an Interior Department official to turn adjacent land over to a private developer just before he bought his property. His partners then used Reid's status to influence the zoning changes that allowed his property and the former Interior Department land to be sold at a HUGE profit. This smells very strongly of corruption!
It's funny. A story comes out about how the Dem minority leader is as corrupt as the day is long and the post can only muster four comments.
Someone posts an article about how badly the GOP leadership has strategically screwed up this election and 60 comments come pouring out.
Best part, no one believes the story is real.
The blog world needs to take this story and run with it. Keep it alive. Force the investigation. Force it onto the front page.
Captains's Quarters has a good post on the situatuion http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
that the AP most certainly does not have any conservative bias, that Democrats typically take AP reports for gospel and that they would really have a hard time playing this one down.
I also expected more comments. This story could potentially nullify the class-envy part of the Democrats' campaign strategy.
dixie68
Oh, please, please, keep this story going. Harry Reid is about the slimiest creature on the senate floor. Also, his sons' wealth and how they got it deserves a strong look.
I wonder what the objective of this story is?
Are you trying to change voters minds in Nevada so they won't vote for Harry in the future?
I doubt that will happen.
Are you pointing out that politicians are prone to shady land deals?
They are, we already know that.
It's election season, so every bit of controversy is fair game?
Ding Ding Ding....we have a winner!
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Another South Park Republican spouting off !
Are you aware that this site has a specific purpose?
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Even those who learn from history are surrounded by those doomed to repeat it.
Thomas,
Yes it does, and pointing out the foibles of the Democrats is fair game I suppose.
But is not this site's purpose also not pointing out BIG Republican ideas and Great conservative thought. There seems to be a tendency over the past few years in politics to be more about "gotcha", than the power of ideas, from both sides of the ditch.
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Another South Park Republican spouting off !
Are you missing that Reid used his possition to get the federal and local governments to make decisions that netted him a profit of about $700,000?
Are you suggesting that we ignore such corruption (on either side)?
I don't know what the objective of the reporters was (I suspect uncovering true corruption), but MY objective is to keep this in the spotlight until Reid is prosecuted in order to discourage other politicians from similar abuses of power.
This hasn't been covered in major newspapers and mentioned on network news broadcasts, has it? I mean, some insignificant story about stock options and George Allen was played nationwide and appears to have been based on a press release from the Fairfax County Democratic Party steering committee.
I hear what you're saying and I appreciate the thought. I think it does put the MSM in an awkward spot.
The senator's aides said no money changed hands in 2001 and that Reid instead got an ownership stake in Brown's company equal to the value of his land. Reid continued to pay taxes on the land and didn't disclose the deal because he considered it a "technical transfer," they said.
They also said they have no documents proving Reid's stake in the company because it was an informal understanding between friends.
The 1998 purchase "was a normal business transaction at market prices," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. "There were several legal steps associated with the investment during those years that did not alter Senator Reid's actual ownership interest in the land."
Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties - regardless of profit or loss - and to report any ownership stake in companies. [Socratic emphasis]
The payment of taxes constitutes a continued investment in the company.
If this deal was of no consequence, then why did he do it, and why did he hide it?
Senator Reid should resign.
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Evil men hide from the truth, but good men stand upon it.
To take the moral high ground no? I mean with Foley, "it was just about sex" so it's Ok according to their standards right? But when it comes to windfalls and making money then by all means OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! Let's see Reid weasel his way out of this one.
Reid's a jerkface :)
has already given him his pass on this. This goes nowhere because Reid is a Democrat. In the present climate a Democrat could murder his wife and three orphans with an axe in Times Square at Noon on C-SPAN and it would be dismissed.
John
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True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whisky, I don't know.
P.J O'Rourke
in his freezer!
Appparently the Dems have discovered that Frigidaire has developed a "cone of silence" as far the MSM is concerned.
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Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words...-Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes
is not something the Democrats will be comfortable questioning.