Reid Says He Won't Accept Free Tickets (Houston Chronicle)

[stevedeshazer]

<snip>

By JOHN SOLOMON Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Reversing course, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's office acknowledged Wednesday night he misstated the ethics rules governing his acceptance of free boxing tickets and has decided to avoid taking such gifts in the future.

The Nevada senator still believes it was "entirely permissible" for him to accept ringside seats for three professional boxing matches in 2004 and 2005 from the Nevada Athletic Commission but has nonetheless decided to avoid doing so in the future, his office said.

"In light of questions that have been raised about the practice, Senator Reid will not accept these kinds of credentials in the future in order to avoid even the faintest appearance of impropriety," spokesman Jim Manley said.

The announcement came after The Associated Press confronted Reid's office early Wednesday with conclusions from several ethics experts that the Senate leader misstated congressional ethics rules in trying to defend his actions.

link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/3918927.html

[Kagemusha]

1. I'm hopelessly confused now.

I've been through a lot of heat over criticizing a Democrat for the appearance of problems and for a negative contrast with what McCain did. I've been through a thread claiming there were no tickets and that there's no legal way to reimburse for being let in like this because it'd amount to buying access (!). And now THIS? From the original AP reporter?

I'm seeing stars.

[NVMojo]

2. I'm with you on that! I've been beat up by dems on here who took the

Bush stance against me like I was unpatriotic for criticizing Reid when I'm from Nevada and know a bit more on this.

In conclusion, perception kills politicians faster than reality and if we are going to hurdle big ass boulders at the corrupt GOP, we need our own leadership to avoid even the perception of corruption. It will take us all down.

[NVMojo]

3. I like what Reid does most of the time but he has extra pressure on

him with the DeLay deal going out. He and the rest of our DEM leaders need to watch out for idiots who could selfishly suck them in. Remember the blue dress.

[stevedeshazer]

4. I'll come right out and say it

Harry screwed up. And I'm a big fan.

You're absolutely right about the perception that Harry Reid is corrupt. Right-wing media will take this to the bank along with the William Jefferson story and make hay with the assertion that Democrats are corrupt, too.

It's not hard to see where the right-wing media is gonna go with his story. They're trying to neutralize all the innumerable Republican scandals.

Harry Reid was completely in the clear on this legally, but the appearance of wrong-doing will be the focus of the radical right media for weeks, months, even years to come.

[johnnydrama]

5. Reid

He screwed up only in the sense that some reporter would twist the story to make him look bad.

What he did was even less than the "appearance" of doing something wrong.

How do you pay for something with 0 value?

The McCain "payment" was not accepted. It was given to charity, proving that there was nothing to pay for.

What next? Photographers and sports reporters paying for tickets?

[NVMojo]

15. I do appreciate that he has come out and admitted he won't do it again

so fast. There is a lesson here for all of us to learn.

[KittyWampus]

17. I am disappointed. It gives the appearance he did something illegal

or unethical. Like Hillary returning donations from an Indian tribe when those donations were LEGAL.

The original story was intentionally constructed bullhshit as has been pointed out.

[Kagemusha]

20. There's such a thing as wrong, however legal it may be.

Reid walked into that cow pie on his own.. even if the rest was misleading/ unfair. I'm not happy about that (Solomon's behavior) at all as I've said.

I just feel it's a little hard to swallow to go from supporting Democrats to giving them a total free ride...

[stevedeshazer]

21. I agree completely

I don't see how he could have handled this any better.

[depakid]

14. No- you're just staying true

and thank you- we need a lot more of that-

[KittyWampus]

18. Why are you confused? An AP reporter wrote a bullshit smear

on Reid. Reid had to deal with the smear you so readily jumped on. This is his attempt to deal with the bullshit.

[LiviaOlivia]

6. This is written by John Solomon

Liar and disinformationist of the AP. Remeber the lies about Kerry?

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

AP's John Solomon publishes ANOTHER misleading hit piece on Harry Reid
by John(Aravosis) in DC - 5/31/2006 11:25:00 PM

Okay, this one is truly outrageous coming from anyone working for an "independent" news organization like AP. The Associated Press is a c3 non-profit - in my view, they are entering very interesting legal territory in terms of their non-political non-profit status.

By JOHN SOLOMON Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Reversing course, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's office acknowledged Wednesday night he misstated the ethics rules governing his acceptance of free boxing tickets and has decided to avoid taking such gifts in the future.

Any reader who speaks a lick of English is clearly going to understand Solomon's sentence as saying that Harry Reid claimed the Senate ethics rules said it was okay for him to accept the boxing tickets, and now Reid realizes the ethics rules say he cannot accept such tickets.

The problem? That's a flat out lie - Reid never said any such thing. Of course, in the way that only AP can do, they bury the "real" explanation of what they mean towards the end of the story so you'll walk away thinking something totally different than the truth.

Reid misstated the Senate ethics rules alright. He unintentionally painted the rules as MORE restrictive than they actually are. But you won't find that out until the end of the story.

In a nutshell, the ethics rules say a Senator can take something of value from a state agency (in this case, Reid accepted access to 3 boxing matches from a state of Nevada government agency - there weren't any "tickets"). Reid misspoke in saying that you had to be the Senator from the state in question to accept the "something of value." I.e., McCain of Arizona couldn't accept something from the state of Nevada, or so Reid thought. In fact, Reid today informs us that ANY Senator can accept something of value from ANY state's agency - i.e., it's okay for Arizona's John McCain to get boxing access from the state of the Nevada.

~snip~

....for AP to paint this as though the Reid was wrong and the Senate ethics rules say he was wrong - and that's exactly what AP implies in its lead - is itself flat out wrong, and unethical, and frankly smacks of politics. And if the AP wants to have a partisan agenda, then they should change their tax status, or maybe someone should do it for them.

~snip~

read the whole post at:
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/05/aps-john-solomon-publishes-another.html

[Kagemusha]

7. Look, that post may be completely right and Reid's still part at fault.

I mean, that would be saying that

- Solomon put out incorrect information
- Reid put out incorrect information
- Nevada commission put out incorrect information via Muckraker
- Solomon put out information that, combined with his previous incorrect information, creates a misleading impression

...And if I may say so, what a mess.

But it's not too much to ask for Reid and his aides to be able to properly quote from ethics rules. He's the minority leader. He should know, or employ people who know for him. Or both.

[LiviaOlivia]

8. Solomon put out lies TWICE

with his first article and now this.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000792.php
Keep up with current events.

Solomon is a POS. What Reid got wrong is nothing compared to Solomon.

[Kagemusha]

10. With all due respect...

That TPM post WAS NOT OUT when I posted. Save your pious outrage over my not keeping up with current events for events that have already happened when a person posts on a forum.

I will grant, without even reading the post yet - because it's late and I need sleep - that what Reid got wrong is nothing compared to Solomon. But Solomon isn't a senator. It may not be considered being a loyal DU'er to say this, but Reid should be seen to be as pure as snow to the extent possible; lapses like this hurt. They may be small from certain points of view, but they hurt, and should be avoided.

[snot]

9. Like wow. I'm so impressed. nt

[wellst0nev0ter]

11. Damned If He Do, Damned If He Don't

Apparently, paying a state agency for credentials is illegal in Nevada, ostensibly because it's unethical to make people pay for public invitations.

Jesus fuck, can you believe the hoops Democrats have to go through to please the rabid reich-wing who hate us no matter what we do? And can you believe some DUers actually fell for their garbage?

[Kagemusha]

12. DU'ers should've mentioned sooner it *was* legal for McCain to reimburse

...Which by the way, strikes me as a colossally stupid rule. And even the people at Muckraker say that's wrong, the AP brought it to Reid's people and they said they were wrong on McCain's being allowed to because he's out of state, which is an answer to my public questions here about "What gives!?". And they should not have been wrong.

But sure, what Reid did was ALLOWED. And you will be hard challenged to find DU critics saying otherwise.

And for that matter, if you think this is about Democrats pleasing the "rabid reich-wing", uh... NO!! This is primarily about being respectable to independent voters who can't stand the whiff of sleaze. Because elections matter too, not just the letter of Senate ethics rules.

[wellst0nev0ter]

16. Independent Minded People Have Already Saw What Reid Did Is Acceptable

Otherwise, there would have already been a rule against it. But it turns out that there is a long-established rule against the Nevada state agencies from accepting compensation for "credentials". And even if Reid decided to stick up for the boxing industry, he is already biased since it's the native industry of the state that elected him.

The point is that it's silly for Democrats to bend over backwards just to avoid feckless accusations from the rabid reich-wing, who will just hurl another piece of dung to the wall to see if it will stick. For us to apologize for things we didn't do wrong is just to lend credence to such baseless accusations and undermine our position as well.

[Kagemusha]

19. It's sad to hear that coming from a Democrat.

"If it was wrong there'd be a rule against it." Oi.

I'll just leave it at that frankly.

[Vinca]

13. With the 'pukes on the ropes, Dems need to be saintly.

You can bet the Rovian spies are delving into everything a Dem has done since birth in an effort to find "Swiftable" dirt. The mantra should be "take nothing, buy everything."