Election 2006 Watch: Democrat Senate Leader Reid Took Free Boxing Tickets – “Culture of Corruption?”

Clutching his hands to his heart, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nev., center, calls for lawmakers, and especially Republicans, to clean up the tainted relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists, at a Democratic political event to outline their agenda for reform in the wake of the scandal involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, at the Library of Congress in Washington in this Jan. 18, 2006, file photo. From left are: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nev., House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-SC. Reid accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three championship boxing matches while that state agency was seeking to influence Reid’s unsuccessful effort to increase federal oversight of boxing.

ASSociated Press: Senate Leader Took Free Boxing Tickets

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid 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, D-Nev., 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 they would never influence his position on the bill and 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.

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.

GOP = Culture of Corruption?

Hardly…….

Senator Reid, folks that live in glass houses………

Cynthia “Fighting for US” McKinney, William “Cold Hard Cash” Jefferson, Harry “The Boxer” Reid, Alan Mollohan, hummmm anymore Dims?

Stay tuned……

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