BUFFALO NEWS: CYCLE OF CORRUPTION CONTINUES IN CONGRESS

3 Mar 2008 // The ethics codes of the House and Senate are basically three decades old, and 100 members — and their lawyers — have used the time to find loopholes and create an unsavory system of family values.

A stunning new report by a reform group shows dozens of senators, many in the highest ranks of leadership, are exploiting campaign funds to piece off relatives, reimburse themselves and set up other kin in the lobbying business.

Among those reaching into the cookie jar with both hands are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., are mentioned in CREW’s report in minor ways.

Their committees paid small reimbursements to the senators themselves or their spouses.

No relatives of Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., the group said, are lobbyists or were paid or reimbursed by any fund connected with him.

Among the key findings are that 31 senators have at least one family member as a registered lobbyist in “government affairs,” which is just like lobbying. This is no accident, and it’s rotten.

These relatives can tell their customers — be they foreign governments, armaments makers or importers of unsafe products — that they have special play in the Senate.

And because they’re relatives, their influence on the Senate is especially secret, and potentially the most harmful to the country.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee appears to be the most vulnerable to this potentially dangerous interference. Biden, who dropped out of the presidential race, has a son, Hunter, who is a registered lobbyist. The Biden link is unusual. The senator’s political action committee, Unite Our States, also employs his son’s lobbying firm for legal services, CREW said, paying it $16,165 in 2005 and $22,809 in 2006.

Biden’s personal campaign fund has paid salaries to his sister and his niece. The campaign also has reimbursed his sister, his wife, two of his children and his brother.

The top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee is Richard Lugar, R-Ind. Two of Lugar’s sons are registered lobbyists, as are two of Lugar’s daughters-in-law, according to CREW.

Reid’s son-in-law, Steven Bar-ringer, is a lobbyist, as is Key Reid, his son. Reid used $5,000 from his leadership PAC to aid the campaign of his daughter-in-law for the Nevada Board of Education.

Then there is Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is chairwoman of Environment and Public Works. Her son, Douglas, has set up a consulting company. Her leadership PAC paid his firm $72,000 in 2001, $64,000 in 2002 and so forth. In 2006, the family consulting firm got $84,000.

Most campaign money comes from wealthy folks who want a favor. The Supreme Court says the money is free speech. I think it’s legalized bribery. What these relatives, and dozens of others, did for their clients, CREW didn’t say. Probably we’ll never know.

Last year, the group issued a report showing 72 House members paid more than $5 million to relatives from their campaign money over six years. Two dozen House members had relatives who were lobbyists.

No Western New York House members were tagged in that report. But Rep. Pete King, R-Long Island, took the jackpot for the state’s delegation. His son and his sister are lobbyists, and his daughter does “governmental affairs” for an airline.

Don’t look for Congress to break this cycle of corruption. But it’s good to know that outfits like Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington are telling us what’s going on.