Fortunes In The Desert

Ahem. Here’s just another example of the most ethical senate in the history of our nation. It seems that Harry Reid has made another deal in the desert.

In 2002, Reid (D-Nev.) paid $10,000 to a pension fund controlled by Clair Haycock, a Las Vegas lubricants distributor and his friend for 50 years. The payment gave the senator full control of a 160-acre parcel in Bullhead City that Reid and the pension fund had jointly owned. Reid’s price for the equivalent of 60 acres of undeveloped desert was less than one-tenth of the value the assessor placed on it at the time.

Six months after the deal closed, Reid introduced legislation to address the plight of lubricants dealers who had their supplies disrupted by the decisions of big oil companies. It was an issue the Haycock family had brought to Reid’s attention in 1994, according to a source familiar with the events.

Mr. Reid is acquiring quite an empire in the desert. This isn’t the first time that land deals have lined Senator Reid’s pocket. I wonder if the Republicans have enough intestinal fortitude to pursue this to it’s conclusion. Or, are they so deeply embroiled in their own hijinks that they are afraid to overturn the rocks that are necessary to get to the bottom of the whole affair?