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Reid criticized for earmark for LV firm
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STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Updated: Sep. 21, 2010 | 7:48 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Republicans took another swing at Sen. Harry Reid on Monday, challenging earmarks the Democrat obtained for a Las Vegas engineering services firm whose family owners have donated to his campaigns.
Harry Reid Votes, an anti-Reid group led by former U.S. Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian, questioned the relationship between Reid and Arcata Associates, a small contractor that employs 414 people and is led by members of the Wong family of Las Vegas.
The most recent earmark came after the Army said it was no longer seeking money for the defense project.
A Reid campaign spokesman said the Republican attack "is a stretch."
Tim Wong, the company's president, said there was no quid pro quo relationship between Reid and the firm, which was founded by his father, Buck Wong, in 1979.
Arcata Associates "has been a strong member of the Las Vegas business community for over 30 years," Wong said. "During that time, we have contributed to the campaigns of countless local, state and federal candidates of both parties who we believe can most effectively represent the people and businesses of this state, including Senator Reid."
Reid arranged a $1.36 million earmark for the company's Continuous Threat Alerting Sensing System in a 2010 defense spending bill and recently announced that a $2 million earmark is in a pending 2011 defense bill. The latest effort comes despite the Army declaring in February that it was not seeking additional funds for the project.
Reid is an active defender of congressional earmarks, and spokesman Jon Summers said his effort was to help a long-standing Nevada company.
Arcata "is a Nevada business that has been working with the Defense Department since before Senator Harry Reid was elected to Congress," Summers said. "They started in Southern Nevada and have expanded to having 450 employees nationwide, many of them still in Las Vegas, where they're headquartered."
Wong said the company contacted Reid and other Nevada lawmakers for help promoting the surveillance system, which uses missile defense technology in low-cost ground sensors.
"We strongly believe (the system) will be of considerable value to our nation's defense," he said.
Republicans criticized Reid for steering contracts to donors, although nothing illegal was alleged.
"Everything is completely legal, but it is questionable when you see money earmarked for a project that couldn't be funded through normal channels based on merit," said Audrey Mullen, a spokeswoman for Harry Reid Votes.
Tarkanian launched the group in a bid to support the candidacy of Republican and Reid challenger Sharron Angle.
The Wong family has contributed more than $300,000 to a variety of political figures and groups from both parties since 1986, according to federal election figures calculated by CQ Moneyline.
Reid's campaign and his political action committee received $34,400. Tim Wong is on the steering committee of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Harry Reid, an arm of Reid's re-election effort.
Among others, the Nevada State Democratic Party received $20,050, while the state Republican Party got $3,500. Republican Sen. John Ensign received $14,425. Gov. and former Rep. Jim Gibbons, a Republican, was given $3,000. Former Republican Rep. Barbara Vucanovich got $4,950.
Wong family members have donated $29,250 to Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and $3,500 to Democratic Rep. Dina Titus.
The Angle campaign criticized Reid, saying that taking campaign contributions "from the same company that he is sponsoring earmarks on behalf of is very disturbing."
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VOTE to change this-we have 36 Days to go now. We have the worst economic situation of any state in the country, and our Senator is a bag man for special interests who is spending $25 million dollars to call his opponent CRAZY. VOTE. Just VOTE HIM OUT.
Jobs picture gets worse in 27 states
By Annalyn Censky, staff reporter
September 21, 2010: 12:07 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The national unemployment rate may have only ticked up slightly in August, but on a state-by-state basis, the jobs picture continues to look a lot more grim in places like Nevada, Michigan and California.
A total of 27 states reported higher unemployment rates in August, nearly double the 14 that saw increases in July, the Labor Department said in its monthly report on state unemployment Tuesday.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/21/news/economy/state_unemployment/index.htm
Hey renostarman: You are right! And their first experimental senator was Harry Reid! Now time to put this Frankenstein monster back in the box!
The Tea Party is a tax-revolt movement. What on EARTH is so hard for Democrats to understand about that? Ooopps! They LOVE taxes and love spending money not theirs and love putting all of us in debt while they retire on HUGE pensions with golden health care. Anyone who votes for a Democrat votes AGAINST his or her own interest.
"They are -- they are doing that here in the United States. American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains. So they're already into this experiment." OH THAT TEAPARTY INTELLIGENCE!
renoredneck, spare us your dumbocract bs, we have Reid add telling us about all the jobs he created and saved on his way to being the only person who could steal Michigans long held crown of highest unemployment rates ever. we dont need a reno redneck with his silly outdated hope and change / yes we can sheeple BS! now go milk your cow or sodomize a poor goat.
birther's, baggers, and bigots got old pretty fast; now we just want to get the elections over with and watch you retreat back into the bunkers from whence you came.
"Reid is an active defender of congressional earmarks"
That alone should be enough to kick him out of office.
Harry Reid is a liar and a cheat. His accomplishments include the nation’s highest unemployment rates, nation’s highest foreclosure rates and the nation’s highest bankruptcy rates. And now his campaign is all about calling Angle names, but what did we expect from a complete failure like Harry.
Timekeeper why is it that EVERYBODY who disagrees with you is either a socialist, Marxist,commie,terrorist, etc? Why even Deep and I converse reasonably on occasion. Do you really all those millionaires in government would be willing to give up all they have and become commie's who share everything? You really think billionaires like Gates and Soro's and Buffet are socialist's? come-on be reasonable every now and then.
Campaign Reform should be about the number one wish of ALL of us. If we demanded that the TV companies provided ad time at election time-instead of selling it; we the people own the air after-all; then politicians could actually start governing instead of fund raising. It would eliminate the lobbying corruption. A candidate like Angle could have a real fighting chance if the play field was leveled.