Harry Reid

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Nevada senator Harry Reid has been the subject of several criticisms during his time as a politician.

Liberal criticisms

Iraq War

Liberal critics argue that Reid is not doing enough to end the American military presence in Iraq. Wikipedia:The Boston Globe has stated that disappointment among constituents and Democratic Party activists regarding efforts to withdraw troops as well as conservative opposition to those efforts, together, have reduced Congress's approval rating.

Filibusters

Liberal critics argue that Reid is allowing Senate Republicans to create a 60-vote bar for passage of bills without actually filibustering, and that 60 votes has never been the standard. Reid appears to such critics to assume that Republicans will filibuster all controversial bills, and does not require the traditional Wikipedia:filibuster tactic to prevent Wikipedia:cloture votes on such bills. Unspoken agreements have led to the failure of measures on Iraq War timetables and a Democrat-sponsored FISA bill. Ironically, Reid has called for an open floor debate on the current FISA bill, stating, "This is not something we are going to have a silent filibuster on."

Conservative criticism

Rush Limbaugh letter

In response to radio host Wikipedia: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 Wikipedia:Philadelphia on October 11 before auctioning it off on Wikipedia: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 Wikipedia:Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a charity that provides scholarships to the children of fallen law enforcement officers and Wikipedia: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.

Iraq War

Conservative critics such as commentators writing in Wikipedia:National Review, Wikipedia:The Weekly Standard, and Wikipedia:The Washington Times as well as former Republican Senator Wikipedia:Fred Thompson argue that Reid—in his opposition to the war—ignores the change in military tactics and methodology with the adoption of the surge, the resignation of Wikipedia:Donald Rumsfeld, and the appointment of General Wikipedia:David Petraeus. A July 2007 Wikipedia:CBS poll found that 65% of Americans "disapprove of the way Republicans in Congress are handling the situation with Iraq" and 59% disapprove of the Democrats' handling. Both results have "unsure" groups of about 10%. An August 2007 CBS poll found that 69% also disapprove of the Bush Administration's handling.

On April 24, Vice President Wikipedia: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 Wikipedia: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." Reid later responded, "I'm not going to get into a name calling match with the administration's chief attack dog" and that "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody who has a 9 percent approval rating."

Republican criticism of donations

See also: Wikipedia:Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal

Regarding Reid's links to lobbyist Wikipedia:Jack Abramoff, the Wikipedia:Las Vegas Review Journal on February 3, 2006 reported, "The Wikipedia:National Republican Senatorial Committee this week revived a charge that Reid received more than $50,000 from four tribes with gaming interests between 2001 and 2004 after they hired Abramoff. The Nevadan had received no money from those tribes before then, Republicans said." John Solomon, an Wikipedia:Associated Press reporter, examined this charge as well as other Republican charges against Reid in a series of articles.

While Reid received money from Native American tribes that also hired Abramoff, Abramoff did not personally give donations to Reid. Abramoff personally never donated to Democrats, and advised his clients not to do so. The Native American tribes who hired him contributed to both Republicans and Democrats. The tribes also donated money to Reid. Reid has always opposed off-reservation gambling. Solomon, working with Sharon Theimer of the Associated Press, reported that Reid collected donations from Native American gambling interests around the time of each vote Reid cast opposing off-reservation gambling. Wikipedia:Ethics rules require senators to avoid even the appearance of a Wikipedia:conflict of interest in collecting contributions around the times they take official acts benefiting donors. Both Reid and Wikipedia:John Ensign, the Junior Senator from Nevada, received gaming interest money from Native American tribes. The Wikipedia:Senate Ethics Committee did not accuse Reid nor Ensign of violating Senate ethics rules.

John Solomon also reported, among the contacts between Abramoff's Democratic lobbying team and Reid's office, there were several discussions about a bill to raise the minimum wage of the Wikipedia:Northern Mariana Islands. Solomon did not report that Reid co-sponsored the bill that would have raised the minimum wage in the NMI, a bill Abramoff's clients opposed. Reid described the Abramoff affair as "a Republican scandal," referring to Abramoff's felony conviction for making illegal contributions to Republican Congressman Wikipedia:Bob Ney and Abramoff's close affiliation with the former House Majority Leader, Wikipedia:Tom DeLay's Republican Wikipedia:K Street Project. A spokesperson said that Reid had never met Abramoff personally, that neither Reid nor his campaign has ever received money directly from Abramoff, and that his legislative work was done on behalf of his Nevadan constituents as well as the large gaming interests in Nevada. Jim Manley, a Reid spokesperson, told the Associated Press "All the actions that Senator Reid took were consistent with his long- held beliefs, such as not letting tribal casinos expand beyond reservations, and were taken to defend the interests of Nevada constituents."

Las Vegas land deal

On October 11, 2006, John Solomon reported that Harry Reid's member interest in a Wikipedia: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.

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 Wikipedia: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.Template:Citation needed 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.

Condo gifts

On October 17, 2006, John Solomon of the Wikipedia:Associated Press reported that Reid had used campaign donations to pay for $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. Reid's staff stated that his attorneys had approved use of the funds in this manner but that he nonetheless would personally reimburse his campaign for the expenses. That action notwithstanding, the conservative group Wikipedia:Citizens United announced it had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission to investigate the matter.

Threat to newspaper

On August 30, 2009, Sherman Frederick, publisher of the Wikipedia: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 Wikipedia: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."

Racially charged comments

Reid apologized on January 9, 2010, for racially charged 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—a "light-skinned" African American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one". These comments had been recently revealed by journalists Wikipedia:Mark Halperin and Wikipedia:John Heilemann in Wikipedia:Game Change, their book about the 2008 election. In addition to his public apology, Reid called President Obama to apologize; Obama accepted his apology, stating that as far as he was concerned, the book was closed on the incident.

In August 2010, Reid was criticized by Hispanic and Republican leaders for making the following public comment: "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK? [Do] I need to say more?"

Other criticisms

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 (Template:convert/km2) of land several miles from the proposed bridge site in Arizona. The bridge could add value to his real estate investment.

Reid has also been criticized numerous times for directly supporting earmark and pork-barrel spending on his own congressional district . In response to President Obama's denouncement of such spending, Reid called earmarks "necessary" to maintain district funding and approval. Many senators, such as John McCain, have labelled the earmarks Reid advocates as nothing less than bribes for re-election.