Nancy Pelosi: Honest Leadership, Open Government? You decide.
EXCLUSIVE: Pelosi paid husband with PAC funds
$99,000 for rent, utilities, accounting fees
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has directed nearly $100,000 from her political action committee to her husband's real estate and investment firm over the past decade, a practice of paying a spouse with political donations that she supported banning last year.
Financial Leasing Services Inc. (FLS), owned by Paul F. Pelosi, has received $99,000 in rent, utilities and accounting fees from the speaker's "PAC to the Future" over the PAC's nine-year history.
The payments have quadrupled since Mr. Pelosi took over as treasurer of his wife's committee in 2007, Federal Election Commission records show. FLS is on track to take in $48,000 in payments this year alone - eight times as much as it received annually from 2000 to 2005, when the committee was run by another treasurer.
Lawmakers' frequent use of campaign donations to pay relatives emerged as an issue in the 2006 election campaigns, when the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal gave Democrats fodder to criticize Republicans such as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Rep. John T. Doolittle of California for putting their wives on their campaign and PAC payrolls for fundraising work. ,,,more...
I don't have a problem with a "candidate" for public office having their spouse paid from their PAC. Especially if they have a useful skill that can help the candidate. I would think most people would not object to that. My problem is with hypocrisy. An old adage from my childhood is 'What's good for the goose is good for the gander." As a child I probably had no idea what that meant. I do now.
My biggest problem with this is that there is no transparency; and then when the problem comes out in the press and (if you are a Democrat) you can just ignore it and the problem just goes away. All PAC's should have to publish the names entire staff (and how much they are paid and for what) on the Internet. I think then less of this would happen. If we passed a law that no one can hire a relative (nepotism) there would not be any small businesses left in this country.
The Washington Times points out that in 2006 it was the Republicans who had a problem with the Jack Abramoff scandal. What they fail to remind you is that Jack Abramoff is serving time in federal prison. Why, because of the actions of John McCain. As far as I know neither Mr. or Mrs. Pelosi are under indictment. At least not yet. Are you reading this Senator McCain?
Categories: Nancy Pelosi, Political ethics
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