Harry Reid Took Free Boxing Tickets
Well this certainly doesn’t look very good for the Senate leader of a party looking to castigate their political opponents for a “culture of corruption” this next election cycle.
WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who has criticized Republican ethics, accepted free ringside tickets to three professional boxing matches from Nevada officials who were trying to influence his federal legislation regulating the sport.
Reid, D-Nev., took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 from the Nevada Athletic Commission as he pressed legislation to increase federal oversight of boxing, including the creation of a government commission.
Reid defended the gifts, saying they would never influence his position on the boxing bill and that 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 No. 1 businesses,” he told The Associated Press.
“I love the fights anyways, so it wasn’t like being punished,” added the senator, a former boxer and boxing judge.
At a news conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Reid said he would continue to accept free tickets. “I’m going to go whenever I have the opportunity,” he said.
To be perfectly honest with you, I’m not especially worked up about this. When politicians, up to and including the President, are invited to a sporting event (like, say, a baseball game where they’re throwing out the first pitch) do they buy their own tickets or are they there as guests of the venue/team owners? I’m guessing that most of them get in the door free, and I’m not sure that it is all that big of a deal.
Plus, the Senate ethics rules are a little blurry as to whether or not this is explicitly against the rules.
From the same article:
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 says.
Several ethics experts said Reid should have paid for the tickets, which were close to the ring and worth between several hundred and several thousand dollars each, to avoid the appearance he was being influenced by gifts.
Two senators who joined Reid for fights with the complimentary tickets took markedly differently steps.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., insisted on paying $1,400 for his ticket when he joined Reid for a 2004 championship fight. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., accepted free tickets to another fight with Reid but already had abstained from taking any votes or actions on the boxing bill because his father was an executive for a Las Vegas hotel that hosts fights.
If Reid were my Senator I wouldn’t have much of a problem with this. If we were talking about cash contributions I might feel a bit differently, but we’re not.
Tags: Politics
Ron Paul?
Well, maybe Dem politicians just assume they can get something for nothing; maybe that’s it.
So, Reid took the tickets and then did nothing for it? Isn’t that grand theft?
Thanks for the hijack alert. Nobody need read after that.
What is this…a race to see who can out-corrupt the other side? They’re both corrupt to the core, I keep tellin’ ya.
…..Except Ron Paul, rbb.
More culture of corruption, this time from a US congressman (Wednesday, Ma 31, 2006):
The ship is sinking, but RBB keeps on rowing.
Woops…
Gov.
HIJACK ALERT HIJACK ALERT
As long as this thread is about corruption:
From the CoC desk:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060531&Category=BREAKINGNEWS&ArtNo=60531057&SectionCat=&Template=printart
And the herd is thinned yet again.
19 guilty, 12 indicted… whither thou goest O once proud GOP?
There’s no such fantasy. I think both sides are corrupt and rotten to the core.
This doesn’t look all that bad to me either.
But gee, why can’t we completely demagogue this to deflate the Democrats’ fantasy that the Washington ‘culture of corruption’ only applies to Republicans (and that the Democrats have never acted in a corrupt way).
Surely we can’t just let the Democrats do all the demagoguery on this issue.
Oh, did I also mention that Reid is completely tainted by Abramoff’s casino deals?
How did he vote?
Well, he voted against the interest that gave him the tickets.
At least the gop knows how to take a bribe.
Robert108,
I always assumed that “something for nothing” was the one underlying principle of the Democrat party. And given their obvious ignorance of even basic sophomore economics, you’re probably right.
Gee, I wonder how he voted on those issues.
Anyone, anyone?
I appreciate that this posting took a reasonable and fair approach to the tickets non-scandal. Turns out that Reid’s position on the legislation in question never changed and that, in the end, he voted against the position of the people who gave him the tickets. I take the position that leaders need to avoid the appearance of being dirty these days, given the fragile nature of the public trust, but it is nice to know that the facts exonerate Reid. He shouldn’t have taken the tickets, but he didn’t take a bribe.
RBB:
I think you’re confused.
An honest politician is one who stays bought.
Granted, but I am more interest on the impact of the “Culture of Corruption” meme that Democrats have been pushing on the 2006 elections.
Yes, they have been doing it to African-Americans since the Sixties. They take their votes and give them soul-destroying welfare in return, taking everyone else’s tax money in the bargain. Very slick.
Ya know you should, because that’s where the culture of the Culture of Corruption comes in. A few crooked pols and lots of willing accomplices.
Robert108,
Actually, its just how Democrats do business. First they take the money, then they fail to deliver or live up to their promises.
Now, that may sound a bit harsh, but tell me if there’s any difference between what “Sunstroke” Harry Reid did here, and what William Jefferson is accused of doing? Other than scale, no difference at all.
RBB:
I take the position that leaders need to avoid the appearance of being dirty these days
Especially the (shudder) top leader:
http://talkleft.com/abramoff-whitehouse.jpg
http://talkleft.com/abramoff-whitehouse.jpg
brokencountry.com
j-walkblog.com
DBK:
Or he didn’t stay bought.
It’s all a matter of how you spin it.
Sure, Robert; whatever you say.
That would be my conclusion.
19 guilty, 12 indicted…
How long can you hang on to the rim, C?
Woops…Lt.
Gov.
Except him.
You should hear the sleeze and slime in the campaigns out here for Lt.
I have to admit, it did make me smile.