Reid has been criticized for several potentially self-enriching tactics. In 2005 Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide for building a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that would make land he owned more valuable. Reid called funding for construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, 'incredibly good news for Nevada' in a news release after passage of the 2005 transportation bill. He owned 160 acres (65 ha) of land several miles from the proposed bridge site in Arizona. The bridge added over $1,000,000 to the value of the property.

In 2006 it was reported that Reid had used campaign donations to pay for over $3,300 in Christmas gifts to the staff at the condominium where he resides; federal election law prohibits candidates from using political donations for personal use.

A series of investigative reports in the Los Angeles Times suggested that Reid had introduced legislation and imposed pressure on regulatory agencies to advance the business interests of his close friend Harvey Whittemore, a Nevada attorney-lobbyist who contributed heavily to Reid's campaigns and leadership fund and whose personal attorney is Reid's son Leif. With Reid's help, Whittemore was able to proceed with construction of a $30 billion planned golf course development, Coyote Springs, a project heavily criticized by environmental groups for reasons including its projected effects on several endangered species.

In 2006, the National Republican Senatorial Committee linked Reid with the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal by pointing out he had "received more than $50,000 from four tribes with gaming interests between 2001 and 2004 after they hired Abramoff".

Reid found himself in hot water again in January, 2010, for racially tinged comments he had made when President Obama was campaigning for president. In private conversations, Reid had remarked that Obama could win the Presidency because the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama—to whom he referred as being "light-skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one". These comments had been recently revealed by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in Game Change, their book about the 2008 election.

In response to radio host Rush Limbaugh's comment about "phony soldiers", Harry Reid authored a letter co-signed by 40 other Democratic senators, which called Limbaugh's words "unpatriotic" and called for Limbaugh to apologize. In response, Limbaugh showed the letter during a speech in Philadelphia on October 11 before auctioning it off on eBay. The auction attained a winning bid of $2.1 million from the Eugene B. Casey Foundation. Limbaugh pledged his own matching donation to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a charity that provides scholarships to the children of fallen law enforcement officers and United States Marines, of which Limbaugh is a director, and challenged Harry Reid to do the same. On October 19, 2007, moments before the charity auction was to end, Reid announced on the Senate floor that he was proud to be a party to this donation and stated that he had helped make the donation possible.

On April 24, Vice President Dick Cheney criticized what he termed Reid's "blind opposition to the new strategy in Iraq," charging that "Sen. Reid himself has said that the war in Iraq will bring his party more seats in the next election." Earlier in April, Reid had been quoted in the Washington Post as saying that "We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war," and that "Senator Schumer has shown me numbers that are compelling and astounding."(So he's happy people are dying because that means the Democrats will pick up seats?)

On August 30, 2009, Sherman Frederick, publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, slammed Reid in an opinion piece in the newspaper. Frederick wrote about an incident that occurred at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon on August 26 where Reid joined the chamber's board members for a meet-'n'-greet and a photo before addressing the guests. When Reid shook hands with Review-Journal advertising director, Bob Brown, the Senator told him, "I hope you go out of business." even though Brown has nothing to do with news coverage or the opinion pages of the newspaper. Later in his speech, Reid said he wanted to let everyone know that he wants the Review-Journal to continue selling advertising because the Las Vegas Sun is delivered inside it. Frederick went on to accuse Reid of using the same "bully" tactics with others and that if he were to "try it with anyone else, count on going through us first."

On October 11, 2006, John Solomon reported that Harry Reid's member interest in a limited liability company (LLC) was allocated $1.1 million of the gross proceeds attributable to the sale of a parcel of land. In 1998, Reid bought a plot of land for $400,000, fair market value at the time. One of the sellers was a developer who arranged a land swap that Reid supported. In 2001, he transferred title of the land to the LLC. When the LLC sold the land in an arm's length transaction in 2004, Reid made a profit.[25]

The LLC was formed by long-time friend and former casino attorney Jay Brown. Reid's failure to disclose the change in the form of his asset holdings upon contribution to the LLC violates Senate rules according to former Federal Election Commission overseer Kent Cooper. Reid did disclose the 2004 sale as though he held the property in his individual name. In addition, Brown paid a small portion of Reid's taxes on the ownership stake, which constitutes basis for Brown and is corrected for at the land's sale resulting in higher taxes for Reid. Since Reid continued to own the land inside the LLC with the same basis he held it before contribution, he continued to report to Congress that he owned the land for 3 years after he transferred title to the LLC he partially owned. Reid's staff stated that he did not initially disclose the transfer of the land to the LLC because this transfer was not a change of ownership, but was simply Reid owning the land through an LLC instead of as an individual.

Reid directed his staff to amend the 2001 financial disclosure forms to reflect the transfer of title to the LLC. He also disclosed two other land transactions on the amended reports.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticisms_of_Harry_Reid

Not to mention the comment he made saying it was really good that 36,000 people lost their jobs.

Or when he slapped our troops in the face and emboldened the enemy by Claiming the war is lost!

hes a dick what can a say but sharon is a fuc**** nut job i agree with every thing your saying but i cant vote for her

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) Washington address has emerged as an issue in his race against Republican Sharron Angle.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) went up with its first TV ad in Nevada on Tuesday, hitting Reid for living at the Ritz-Carlton in the city's west end.


"You know that I had nothing to do with these unemployment figures," Reid is shown saying.

"To him, it's a figure," the announcer says, "maybe because Harry lives at the Ritz-Carlton while thousands are losing their homes."

The ad, paid for by the NRSC's Independent Expenditure arm, is up statewide on cable and broadcast, according to a spokesman for the NRSC.

The ad's release comes a day after Angle released a TV spot hitting Reid for "living large in the D.C. Ritz-Carlton" and "making a million dollars from a sweetheart land deal."

Reid's personal finances were an issue when the two met in their first and only debate last week. Angle accused him of getting rich on the government payroll.

"You came from Searchlight to the Senate with very little," she said. "Now you're one of the richest men in the U.S. Senate. On behalf of Nevada taxpayers, I'd like to know, we'd like to know, why did you become so wealthy on a government payroll?"

Reid called it a "low blow."


http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/124773-nrsc-targets-harry-reid-for-living-at-the-ritz

Who care's if shes a nut job. She will be the Junior Senator from Nevada. No extreme bill she authors will get passed and the Senior Senator Ensign will keep her in check.

She also wont constantly be violating ethics riles and laws and participating in shady deals like Reid.

I wonder why it is so hard to get decent people in office?

I don't know but I wish we could wipe the slate clean. There are a couple good ones in there now but that about it. Michelle Bachman, Duncan Hunter Jr, and the Congressman from Utah who sleeps on his cot in his office.

everyone has a different idea of 'decent'

And everyone has an idea of what a crook is, and that is Harry Reid.

Nevada's most Liberal(and Largest) newspaper the Las Vegas Review Journal just endorsed Sharron Angle.

"In fact, Ms. Angle is WELL WITHIN THE MAINSTREAM on most issues and embraces a political philosophy popular with millions of Americans.

Ms Angle sees government expanding to meddle in virtually every aspect of our lives and she stands up to say ENOUGH IS EHOUGH.

For the past two years, Senator Reid has been a water boy for the Obamma White House, which is pushing perhaps the most radical liberal agennda in the country's history.

The Obama playbook _ to which Senator Reid hitched his fortunes - has failed miserably. Las Vegas is mired in 15 percent unemployment."

LVRJ Endorsement 10/3/10

Also the NRA and Gun owners of America have endorsed Sharron and she is a head in the polls by 4%.

Harry Reid and Barack Obama's Liberal Policies have FAILED!

X Failed $814 billion stimulus plan
X Over $1 trillion for ObamaCare
X Nevada nearing 15% unemployment
X America $13.6 trillion in debt

Another lie on Reid's website. Reid's website says: "If you like the health insurance you have, you can keep it." LIE.

How Obamacare Guts Medicare

"The President's pledge that 'if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep it' clearly does not apply to America's seniors."

The Wall Street Journal. 9/9/10

Nevada's seniors have plenty to worry about. THanks to Harry Reid, Seniors are facing billions of dollars in Medicare cuts.

X Harry Reid voted three times AGAINST PROTECTING Medicare benefits.

X Harr Reid voted to give illegal aliens Social Security benefits for work preformed while breaking the law.

AGAINST Protecting Medicare for seniors.....But FOR giving benefits to illegals?

Making matters worse...............

When Nevada home prices were slashed, Harry Reid was living in the posh Ritz-Carlton in Washington D.C.

www.americancrossroads.org

During the primary election, the R-J campaigned hard for businesswoman Sue Lowden, defending her from attacks, profiling her glowingly yet refraining from endorsing her when it appeared her campaign’s shortcomings could not be overcome. Even today, as questions about Angle swirl, one cannot avoid the impression that the newspaper’s conservative leadership would have preferred Lowden to Angle (and they are not alone!).

But, having been saddled by Republican primary voters with a candidate that the non-Reid hating world justifiably views as out of the mainstream, the R-J today simply did what Angle advises women who’ve been raped by a family member: Take a lemon situation and made lemonade.

UPDATE: As my friend Dayvid Figler noted on Twitter moments ago, the Review-Journal in 2004 gave Reid a grudging endorsement over social and fiscal conservative Richard Ziser. Among the newspaper’s reasons: Reid’s Washington, D.C. clout in getting things done, including preserving Sloan Canyon petroglyphs, weighing in on western water wars and legislation related to public lands. Surely, Reid’s clout has only increased since those words were written (he was only minority whip at the time, and he’s the majority leader now)? And thus the argument would be ever more persuasive today than it was back then?


read more at: http://slashpolitics.lvcitylife.com/2010/10/r-j-loves-angle/

LVRJ is the largest and most liberal newspaper in Nevada. If your a Democrat and they endorse your opponent your in trouble.

Maybe Good old' Harry shoudln't have told one of their executives a couple months back "I hope your paper goes out of business."

Of course, it's not like 'Senior Senator' John Ensign was never involved in any 'shady deals' himself-- to wit, to hush up an extramarital affair with someone in his entourage, he offered to use his influence to help the husband obtain jobs/contracts.

The watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Ensign to the '15 Most Corrupt Members of Congress' list. Hardly bodes well for his 'keeping her in check', now does it?

While a good argument can be made for the premise that there should be a better way to keep barnacles like Reid from attaching themselves semi-permanently to the Hulls of Government, extremists like the Tea Party and Sharron Angle are hardly the remedy.

-Kerry O.

Ensign has been a great Senator, he made a HUGE screw up and should be held accountable for that. One black mark shouldn't hurt a distinguished career.

Hmm... trot on over to michellemalkin.com and read her take on it. Try the article "I Repeat: John Ensign Needs to Go Away".


It contains interesting tidbits like this:





BTW, he's a Promise Keeper.

Your comment?


-Kerry O.

First of all I don't see any convictions and there is a reason the investigation stalled, lack of evidence. So of ethically wrong doing innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, or is that not the way anymore?

As far as the affair I find it dispicable, but people make mistakes. I know Senator Ensign and have worked on all his campaigns. People make mistakes. Hell look at Billy Boy and all the women he had behind Hillary's back(some were even paid off remember that?) Hell he had a top private investigator that his campaign manager reffered to as Bill's Bimbo Control.

Oh and btw Angle now has a 5 point lead over Reid.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/10/harry-reid-senate/


seems like las vegas review/sun are just covering all bases,,,,,

Dude, seriously? Michelle Bachman? I know Harry Reid's a crook, but you're putting forward Michelle Bachman as an example of where we should be going?

Really? She doesn't know anything about anything!

You know, this is probably the only country where people can get elected to office on a ticket of knowing nothing at all about the job.

Can you imagine if you're sink broke down and you could call a plumber who has 30 years of experience, and then some new guy knocks on your door: "Yeah, I'm not a plumber! I'm sick of the way sinks are arranged. Aren't you? Maybe it's time we need some new blood to shake things up! HIRE ME!"

Well, there's nothing wrong with new blood, but you're actively campaigning on being unqualified. And people are actually buying this? People think this is good for them?

ARGH!

I'm Christine O'Donnell and I approve this message.