By Mr. Curmudgeon
Maxine Waters is in trouble. The House Ethics Committee is scheduled to hand down an indictment of sorts for alleged violations of House ethics rules by the 20-year member of Congress sometime in September. According to the Los Angeles Times, Waters is said to have met with then Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, urging him to speed taxpayer bailouts to minority-owned banks on the verge of collapse. According to Paulson, Waters failed to mention that her hubby, Sidney, had a financial stake in one of these minority-owned banks (OneUnited) estimated to be between $500,000 and $1 million. At least we can now put a name to one beneficiary of the Bush bailouts.
And the Bush administration weren't the only ones helping Waters through her personal financial crisis. “According to a memo summarizing an interview with [Barney] Frank, investigators wrote that Waters told him she was 'in a predicament because Sidney had been involved in the bank, but OneUnited people were coming to her for help. She knew she should say no, but it bothered her.' Since the bank was based in Frank's home state [Massachusetts], he offered to have his staff look into the institution's problems. Waters' spokesman said the conversations with Frank took place weeks after the meeting with Treasury Department officials.”
The House Ethics Committee tried to spare Barney embarrassment by not specifically identifying him in their report. So they referred to him as “Representative A.” But the report let the cat out of the bag by describing “Representative A” as the “chairman of the House Financial Services Committee”…a post Barney has held since 2006.
According to a 2004 Los Angeles Times story, Congresswoman Waters has used her public office for her family's private profit. Daughter Karen Waters started a company that prints sample ballots mailed to her mother's softheaded constituents called the “slate mailer,” which prints voting suggestions.
“She [Karen Waters] also has been paid by a nonprofit organization she and her mother set up, funded in part by special interests her mother helps in Washington, that throws parties her mother hosts at Democratic conventions. Waters' husband has collected fees for opening doors with his wife's political allies on behalf of a bond firm seeking government business. Son Edward Waters has shared in the slate mailer proceeds and has occasionally worked as a consultant to campaigns his mother supported.”
Aren't you happy your tax dollars have played such an important role in the Waters family success? And as the Times reported back in 2004, “The practice has accelerated as tougher ethics laws make it harder to offer favors directly to members of Congress.”
Oh, just in passing. That old Times story also mentioned another familiar name. “The Times has identified five House members and seven senators whose family members have worked for clients that benefited from the lawmakers' official actions. They included two sons and a son-in-law of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the newly named minority leader, who in 2002 introduced legislation to free up public land in Nevada that benefited their lobbying clients.”
So, that's what Democrats mean when they say government should go all-out to help “working families.”
At a 2005 pro-abortion rally held in DC, Rep. Maxine Waters yelled, “George W. Bush, go to hell!” But in her hour of financial need, Waters knew who to turn to...a compassionate conservative administration with a perpetual “kick me” sign taped to its back.
Waters hasn't the class to say it, so it's left to us overburdened taxpayers...thanks George!
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