Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, of Connecticut’s 3rd District, and her husband may be engaging in more than just marriage.
According to Human Events, federal campaign records show that, during the last four congressional election cycles, Congresswoman DeLauro’s campaign transferred $1.2 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the branch of the House Democrats that deals with fundraising and recruitment. During that same period of time, the DCCC engaged Stanley Greenberg, Ms. DeLauro’s husband, and his firm, for polling and other services pertinent to its political campaigns. Stanley Greenberg’s company was reportedly paid $1.9 million for services rendered to the DCCC. Note the incestuous cycle whereby Ms. DeLauro gives money to the Democratic party, which hires her husband, and, ultimately, gives the money back to Ms. DeLauro’s personal household.
For those who don’t know her, Ms. DeLauro is a powerful, liberal, close friend of Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader. Despite her position, the congresswoman is often difficult to follow when she speaks. In the video below, she responds to a question about why she was vacationing in Italy while her district was under water and without power following Tropical Storm Irene. Good luck.
While something here smells “rotten in Denmark,” stories such as this often evoke cynical responses, such as, “Everybody does it,” or “It’s hard to control who people are married to and what they do for a living,” or “It’s not illegal, it’s just unethical.”
The fact is conflicts of interest do occur across the political spectrum, but I am always struck by how much more often they occur in government and public life without any consequence for them. Show you’ve engaged in what appears to be a conflict of interest of this magnitude in the private sector, and you’re fired, arrested, dismissed, reprimanded, etc., etc.
But, in Rosa DeLauro’s congressional district, apparently you’re re-elected.
Ms. DeLauro was first elected to Congress in 1990, and has since been re-elected to her seat easily. She has a 100% rating from NARAL for her entirely pro-abortion platform, including total favorability for partial birth abortions (2000), and a vote against declaring harming a fetus a federal crime while committing other crimes (2001). She has a 100% rating from the NEA, demonstrating total support for unions. The congresswoman votes with her party nearly 99% of the time, and is considered to have an anti-business voting record.
According to Human Events, Congresswoman DeLauro has amassed great wealth, both personally and politically, as judged by her position in the top 10 percent of the wealthiest members of Congress. In addition, the Friends of Rosa DeLauro are among the DCCC’s top contributors, a factor which has, no doubt, contributed to Ms. DeLauro’s powerful position as co-chair of the Democratic Steering Committee, a role- given to her by her friend and colleague, Nancy Pelosi- which gives her the prime job of making committee assignments. For the past four years, Ms. DeLauro has also been vice chair of the DCCC.
But, that’s not all. Ms. DeLauro is a member of the Working Families Party and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, both with links to the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Communist Party USA. In recent news, the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have just announced their support of the newly hatched Occupy Wall Street “movement.”
On Congresswoman DeLauro’s website, she is currently touting the results of a recent poll she conducted, which indicates that jobs are the number one priority for voters. No kidding. But I’m skeptical whether the voters in her district truly believe that. They keep re-electing her, despite the fact that Ms. DeLauro’s voting record demonstrates more support for unemployment benefits and the nanny state than it does for jobs. Someone should tell her that you have to create an environment that is friendly to business if you want business to provide jobs.
I hope some of her constituents tell her that, and a few other things.