More Republican Corruption??

Reid Accepted Free Boxing Tickets While a Related Bill Was Pending

By John Solomon
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 30, 2006; Page A03

Senate Democratic Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing.

Reid took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 as he was pressing legislation to increase government oversight of the sport, including the creation of a federal boxing commission that Nevada's agency feared might usurp its authority.

He defended the gifts, saying that they would never influence his position on the bill and he was simply trying to learn how his legislation might affect an important home state industry. "Anyone from Nevada would say I'm glad he is there taking care of the state's number one businesses," he said. "I love the fights anyways, so it wasn't like being punished," added the senator, a former boxer and boxing judge.

Senate ethics rules generally allow lawmakers to accept gifts from federal, state or local governments, but specifically warn against taking such gifts -- particularly on multiple occasions -- when they might be connected to efforts to influence official actions.

"Senators and Senate staff should be wary of accepting any gift where it appears that the gift is motivated by a desire to reward, influence, or elicit favorable official action," the Senate ethics manual states. It cites the 1990s example of an Oregon lawmaker who took gifts for personal use from a South Carolina state university and its president while that school was trying to influence his official actions.

"Repeatedly taking gifts which the Gifts Rule otherwise permits to be accepted may, nonetheless, reflect discredit upon the institution, and should be avoided," the manual states.

There they go again those darn corrupt Republicans accepting high-dollar gifts from people who are lobbying them for legal favors...What's that?...Reid is a Democrat? No! It can't be. A corrupt Democrat? "Joe, say it ain't so." Whoops! Once more we see something has slipped.

Of course it was a Democrat. Democrats have always been more willing to take bribes than Republicans. It's just that the mainstream media (MSM) always gives them a pass whenever they get caught. The current flap over the FBI's "invasion" of Congressman William Jefferson's congressional office is a perfect example.

All we have been hearing from the MSM has been about the controversy over the constitutionality of the search. Very little outrage has been expressed in the MSM over Jefferson's actions. Does anyone believe that the same would be true it the same action had occurred but it had been Tom DeLay's office? I seriously doubt it.

We would be hearing how DeLay was a controversial figure in Congress and that he had been warned by the ethics committee a number of times. We would be hearing an endless stream of Democrat politician suggesting that Tom DeLay has been irreparably damaged by his continual misbehavior. We would be hearing from Liberal pundits how for the good of the House and the Republican Party, DeLay should step down from his position of Majority Leader. The MSM would be repeatedly citing a litany of his slightest misteps.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is the king of political nepotism, and received major contributions from the very Indian Tribes that Abramoff was representing, yet unlike most congressmen, he has refused to return that money.

Truly Reid is the poster child for ignoring the log in his own eye while focussing on the mote in the Republican's eye.

Full Story: Reid, As Corrupt as He Can Be

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