# Maybe We Should Start With Senator Reid **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 12, 2006, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130 "2006-10-12T00:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/21 "2006-10-12T02:33:24Z")
> [@](#): > > **Apos** : I eargerly await Zoe explaining Allen’s case. When he said “worthless,” that was just a word that he made up. He didn’t know that it already actually _had_ the meaning “without value.” He was thinking about how wonderful those two investments were and thinking about the Mastercard commerical on television. You know the one – “Lunch with one of your constituents – $4.95; a photo op with the President – $9.99; two tidy profitable firms under your belt – Priceless!” Only he was trying to think of a new word to use instead of _priceless_ because that was becoming so hackneyed, but he wanted something that would convey the same meaning in the same context. So he coined the word _WORTHLESS_! to describe the two firms. Simple. I may boycott Virginia unless they vote him out…and I really love Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/22 "2006-10-12T02:36:53Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] Drudge was pushing it in his mainline slot. Looks like they’re hoping it’ll at least be good for a “this isn’t very honest, but if we put it on the news complete with people saying it doesn’t matter at least there will be something else to talk about!” [/QUOTE] Well, what the hell is news then? What are the “limits”? Which people are exempt from scrutiny? What is the time limit between stories “breaking”? The fact that one story is cause for citing another story, while ignoring the story, proves the level of bullshit. Even before any story is proven or disproven we’re all pointing to the other story as vindication of whatever story is damaging to “our side”. Not surprised. Let’s bring up Packwood and Hart and Thomas and Clinton, etc while we’re at it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/23 "2006-10-12T02:53:17Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] …Which people are exempt from scrutiny? … [/QUOTE] From the Patriot Act, The House and Senate Ethics committees, and the NSA? Only George Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/24 "2006-10-12T03:05:27Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] Well, what the hell is news then? What are the “limits”? Which people are exempt from scrutiny? What is the time limit between stories “breaking”? The fact that one story is cause for citing another story, while ignoring the story, proves the level of bullshit. Even before any story is proven or disproven we’re all pointing to the other story as vindication of whatever story is damaging to “our side”. Not surprised. Let’s bring up Packwood and Hart and Thomas and Clinton, etc while we’re at it. [/QUOTE] Slow down man, you’re not making any sense. Remember: subject, verb, at minimum makes a sentence then? Now, again: what the hell are you babbling about? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/25 "2006-10-12T03:06:42Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] From the Patriot Act, The House and Senate Ethics committees, and the NSA? Only George Bush. [/QUOTE] Didn’t realize he declared that by fiat instead of having some cooperation by those looking to further their own agendas and positioning for more power. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/26 "2006-10-12T03:19:42Z")
> [@](#): > > **yanceylebeef** : Go for it, look all you want, but don’t forget Mayor Corker or the man he’s trying to replace Sen. Frist Oooooh! You picked a goody. That’s one I get to vote on! The race is tighter than I thought it would be. Harold Ford could be the best thing that has happened to Tennessee’s opportunities in the Senate since Howard Baker. And I write that as a friend of the incumbent that Howard Bake replaced, rest his soul. (And yes, I think Al Gore also did a great job in the Senate.) > [@](#): > > Pay no attention to our Sexual Predator! look … there’s a Democrat doing something! > > It reeks of desperation and panic. Yes, I am _desperate_ to get rid of the thugs and thieves in our government. But I don’t even _know_ anyone in my family who is a Republican. I had a nephew in Texas who was, but he moved to Tennessee and said he couldn’t afford to be a Republican any longer. (True story) Oh, and a son-in-law, but we haven’t spoken since May 28. Back to Reid specifically: I certainly want _everyone_ to be treated fairly. But it shouldn’t take six months to investigate something like this. **rjung** , thanks for the link and the information about the AP writer. This information from my original link bothers me: > [@](#): > > They (Reid and Brown) 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. > > Kent Cooper, a former Federal Election Commission official who oversaw government disclosure reports for federal candidates for two decades, said **Reid’s failure to report the 2001 sale and his ties to Brown’s company violated Senate rules.** > > “This is very, very clear,” Cooper said. “Whether you make a profit or a loss you’ve got to put that transaction down so the public, voters, can see exactly what kind of money is moving to or from a member of Congress.”(bolding added) So both of our articles can’t be right. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. Welcome to SDMB, **the Golden Ass**! (Truly, I never thought that I would say those exact words.) You remind me of someone else. Oh. Wait. That was the Golden Calf. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/27 "2006-10-12T03:19:53Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] It might be, but the Associated Press was claiming exclusive rights to the story when they published it at around 6:30 tonight (October 11) Eastern time. Have you been able to find anything written previously about it on the internet? I’m all ears…uh, eyes. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I thought I read about it before. It might have been one of the hundred other ‘exclusive’ stories by Solomon going after Reid. Maybe I got it mixed up with Solomon’s big story about Reid and the Boxing scandal where he accused him of faulty ethics which wasn’t exactly the truth. [http://mediamatters.org/items/200605300007](http://mediamatters.org/items/200605300007) Or when he accused Reid of being involved with Jack Abramoff [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1599896](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1599896) [http://mediamatters.org/items/200605300007](http://mediamatters.org/items/200605300007) We ought to hold off lynching Reid because Soloman decides to write another ‘exclusive’ story full of exaggerations and half-truths. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/28 "2006-10-12T04:07:09Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] There’s always…Recall, if his constituency wants it… [/QUOTE] By what mechanism may a state recall a senator? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/29 "2006-10-12T04:26:31Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu] I agree, but you do know that Reid isn’t up for re-election this year, right? He can’t be thrown out until 2010 at the earliest. [/QUOTE] And as his election approaches, look for him to moderate his partisan rhetoric. Nevada is still pretty red, despite all the recent Vegas transplants. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/30 "2006-10-12T04:33:06Z")
Maybe we should fucking ignore stories about Dem transgressions, especially dated ones, until say, Nov. 8 or so. Because we all know the Pubbies are going to be throwing up a huge smokescreen of lies and shit between now and then to hide the fact that It’s all about Foley and Hastert and Abramov. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/31 "2006-10-12T04:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Maybe we should fucking ignore stories about Dem transgressions, especially dated ones, until say, Nov. 8 or so. Because we all know the Pubbies are going to be throwing up a huge smokescreen of lies and shit between now and then to hide the fact that It’s all about Foley and Hastert and Abramov. [/QUOTE] And what if they call attention to something that isn’t “lies and shit”? Doesn’t fairness require an impartial examination of the facts regardless of who is involved? If Reid had an (R) after his name, you would be calling for his head. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/32 "2006-10-12T05:01:00Z")
No one would be calling for someone’s head based on one article by a reporter who consistantly makes factual errors. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/33 "2006-10-12T08:33:36Z")
Cooper’s statement is itself confusing. Reid didn’t make a profit or a loss in the transfer. He set up a holding company with a friend on land they owned which 1) didn’t change the value and 2) didn’t change who owned what. The profit came when they sold the land, but that was disclosed as far as I can tell from the article. Note that the article is factually wrong in that the reporter apparently is mathematically ignorant: if you sell something, you profit is not the sale price, but the sale price minus the purchase price. Reid paid 400,000 for the land, so selling it for 1.1 mil cannot net him 1.1 in net profit. Why the reporter would make such a basic error, especially when it doesn’t change anything substantive about the story other than inflating the figure, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/34 "2006-10-12T09:14:31Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] It’s all about Foley and Hastert and Abramov. [/QUOTE] Nonsense!!! You forgot DeLay ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/35 "2006-10-12T12:06:50Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Maybe we should fucking ignore stories about Dem transgressions, especially dated ones, until say, Nov. 8 or so. Because we all know the Pubbies are going to be throwing up a huge smokescreen of lies and shit between now and then to hide the fact that It’s all about Foley and Hastert and Abramov. [/QUOTE] What is it about Democrats that makes many of us not only completely fucking credulous about things like this but also ready to jump on the bandwagon and spread the fucking bullshit? Think back to the 2000 election. All it took for many Democrats was the assertion that Al Gore claimed to have invented the internet, and they were nodding right along with it, saying “Yeah, that’s not good!” Have a fucking spine and don’t start attacking Democrats until you figure out if the charge has merit. Open up your eyes to the way that the media is used as a cudgel in support of conservatives, sometimes willingly so. Maybe **Zoe** isn’t a Democrat? That would change the calculus only a little, but I suggest we can reject her suggestion out of hand. I mean, think of all the horrendous shit that Republicans have been pulling, yet there’s a suggestion that we shoud _start_ with Senator Reid? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/36 "2006-10-12T12:36:44Z")
[QUOTE=Evil One] And what if they call attention to something that isn’t “lies and shit”? Doesn’t fairness require an impartial examination of the facts regardless of who is involved? If Reid had an (R) after his name, you would be calling for his head. [/QUOTE] I think on behalf of the Democratic-leaning posters on this board, I will reject your invitation to form a circle and start firing. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/37 "2006-10-12T12:37:22Z")
Since being elected to Congress, Dennis Hastert’s wealth has grown to over $6 million, largely thanks to selling off real estate near a new freeway he helped fund. He’s a far wealthier man than Harry Reid, and for sketchier reasons. Strange how that’s not in the Republican daily talking points. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/38 "2006-10-12T13:01:37Z")
Here’s another account of the complete non-story that this story is: [http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001782.php](http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001782.php) It includes a recounting of Solomon’s efforts: > [@](#): > > On two earlier occasions, Solomon has over-inflated his stories on Reid. TPM readers might remember his expose on Reid’s involvement with Jack Abramoff (which, after exhaustively detailing an Abramoff’s associate’s contacts with Reid’s office, failed to mention that Reid didn’t vote the way Abramoff wanted him to) and his stories on Reid’s acceptance of passes to a boxing match from the Nevada Gaming Commission (which managed to expunge a host of mitigating details too plentiful to name here). > > There’s an old saying in journalism that three examples make a trend. I think we have a trend here. Solomon’s apparent weakness for detail is one issue. **But most curious is the fact that we live in the muckiest times in recent memory, and yet Solomon, at the helm of the most powerful news agency in the country, persists in roaming the wide ocean of Congressional corruption in a Captain Ahab-like hunt for Reid’s ethical missteps.** Bolding mine, because I just liked that bit so much. May I suggest a Foxian title for the next uber-concerned Democrat Doper citing Solomon’s next article: _Senator Reid: One Dirty Motherfucker?_ ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/39 "2006-10-12T15:15:51Z")
**Maybe We Could Start With Rep. Ney**? > [@](#): > > Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), who has admitted to corruptly accepting thousands of gifts from lobbyists in exchange for legislative favors, is scheduled to appear before a federal judge on Friday the 13th to formally admit wrongdoing. > … > A spokeswoman for the House Administration Committee confirmed Ney is still on the congressional payroll. Ney makes $165,200 annually, or $452.60 per day. [Ney, still collecting federal salary, to appear in court this week](http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/101106/ney.html) This is the sort of no brainer that everyone should be able to agree on, but apparently _not_. ---
**Author:** ![Schroedinger\_s\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Schroedinger\_s\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schroedinger_s_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130/40 "2006-10-12T19:02:40Z")
[QUOTE=Evil One] And as his election approaches, look for him to moderate his partisan rhetoric. Nevada is still pretty red, despite all the recent Vegas transplants. [/QUOTE] Yes and no. Actually, based on the people I’ve spoken with here in Nevada on both sides of the aisle, Reid is very popular. Not popular “with Dems” or “with Repubs.” Popular. And respected. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-we-should-start-with-senator-reid/376130.md?page=3)