October 17, 2006

Wow, $750,000? That's a Lot of Money.

In today's Grapevine, Brit Hume writes about allegations of financial improprieties bedevilling Senate minority leader Harry Reid:

Holiday Cheer

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid is taking more heat today for his financial decisions. The Associated Press reports Reid used campaign donations to pay for holiday gifts for workers at his $750,000 Washington D.C. condo. Federal election law prohibits using campaign funds for any housing costs. Reid calls it a "clerical error" and is promising to reimburse his campaign.

Reid has also announced he is amending his ethics reports following an AP story that he did not properly account for a Las Vegas land deal that allowed him to collect more than a million dollars for property he had not personally owned in three years.

There are two figures quoted in the AP story (1) the relatively paltry sum of $3,300 which was sum total value of the Christmas bonuses in question, and (2) the princely sum of $750,000 which is the value of Reid's condominium, but which is completely irrelevant to the allegations of financial impropriety Hume is reporting on. So, which figure do you think Hume feels is most relevant, and most important for his viewers to mull over? And why do you think that is?

The answer to these questions is left as an exercise for the reader.