Comments on: Harry Reid Lobbies For Casino Investment

By: charles austin

charles austin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:50:52 +0000

Somehow, I think the the constituent service that Kerkorian is asking for from his Senator is different in kind and degree from what most of us might receive from our respective Senators as constituent service. Getting some help navigating the federal bureaucracy isn't what is going on here.

By: Alex Knapp

Alex Knapp — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:30:36 +0000

Dave and Michael,

It's one thing for a member of Congress to help out a constituent by, say, using their influence to cut through some red tape or get them in touch with the right people.

It's quite another for the Senate Majority Leader, who controls the legislative agenda of the Senate, to give, say, Bank of America a call and say, "loan a billion to this casino."

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:56:17 +0000

Dave's right, Alex, Reid is a Senator from the state of Nevada, where casinos are a big part of the state economy. If he can't help companies in his state when they need help, he's not doing much for his state.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:47:47 +0000

However, Alex, I'd like to toss a question back at you. What is a senator's role in intervening on behalf of a constituent?

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:46:29 +0000

It's not merely that they'll be passing a lot of banking legislation but that they're subsidizing banks directly. That certainly creates the impression of a quid pro quo.

It may in fact be a quid pro quo which isn't being perceived that way by the senator. A difficult situation.

By: steve s

steve s — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:01:10 +0000

Bottom line, a Senator doesn’t have any place trying to hit up banks for loans to a business he doesn’t have an interest in.

Would it be better if he did have an interest in the business? (I'm not playing gotcha, I know that 'x without y is bad' does not imply that the speaker meant 'x with y is good'. I'm jut wondering, what are the conditions which separate good behavior from bad in this kind of situation.)