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May 01, 2007

Feinstein Financing

Good thing for her she Chairs the Senate Rule Committee


Anyone who knows much about real power in Congress knows that almost every member of the House and Senate lusts after a seat on the Appropriations Committee and hopes one day to achieve the status of Cardinal. The Cardinals, of course, are the folks who chair the various Appropriations Committee subcommittees and literally control the billions of dollars that pass through their hands.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) chairs the Senate Rules Committee, but she’s also a Cardinal. She is currently chairwoman of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies subcommittee, but until last year was for six years the top Democrat on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (or “Milcon”) sub-committee, where she may have directed more than $1 billion to companies controlled by her husband.

If the inferences finally coming out about what she did while on Milcon prove true, she may be on the way to morphing from a respected senior Democrat into another poster child for congressional corruption.

The problems stem from her subcommittee activities from 2001 to late 2005, when she quit. During that period the public record suggests she knowingly took part in decisions that eventually put millions of dollars into her husband’s pocket — the classic conflict of interest that exploited her position and power to channel money to her husband’s companies.

These people make me sick.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at May 1, 2007 03:42 PM

Comments

"If the inferences finally coming out about what she did while on Milcon prove true, she may be on the way to morphing from a respected senior Democrat into another poster child for congressional corruption."

It won't mean a thing. She's a Democrat. That's what makes me really sick.

Posted by: Gunslinger at May 1, 2007 04:10 PM

It's worth noting that Senate Rules is a do-nothing committee: chairing it is practically just a ceremonial position, because the Senate runs by unanimous consent. House Rules, OTOH, is probably the second-most powerful position after the Speaker.

Posted by: Dave J at May 1, 2007 08:19 PM

GS beat me to the punch, but...

If the inferences finally coming out about what she did while on Milcon prove true, she may be on the way to morphing from a respected senior Democrat into another poster child for congressional corruption.

That ship has sailed.

Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at May 1, 2007 09:40 PM