How Members of Congress Enrich Their Families & FAMILY AFFAIR REPORT DETAILS NEPOTISM IN CONGRESS22MAR12

CONFLICT of interest, fraud, greed. No, not some pathetic Third World country, it's our own congress, and members of both parties are guilty. The report from CREW is included and there is a link to take your own ethics quiz. No wonder public approval of congress is at 12% according to the latest Gallup poll. This from Mother Jones....

—By Michael Mechanic

Flickr/Tobym

The New York Times had an interesting item in this morning's paper about nepotism in Congress. Basically, a new investigative report by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington found that hundreds of legislators use their positions to enrich family members, either directly by paying them for campaign-related activities or by earmarking funds for organizations where relatives serve as board members. According to the report, for instance, Rep. Ron Paul doled out more than $300,000 in salaries and fees to kin or in-laws. (There were payments of various kinds to Paul's wife, daughter, two sons, grandson, daughter's mother-in-law, two granddaughters, daughter-in-law, and a grandson-in-law.) CREW looked at the 2008 and 2010 election cycles and found 248 legislators worthy of inclusion in its report, which also included pols with lobbyist relatives and other sketchy stuff—see below. To find out whether your own elected officials muck about in this ethical swamp, you can download the org's full report from the link above. But here are the summary stats:

• 82 members (40 Democrats and 42 Republicans) paid family members through their congressional offices, campaign committees and political action committees (PACs);
• 44 members (20 Democrats and 24 Republicans) have family members who lobby or are employed in government affairs;
• 90 members (42 Democrats and 48 Republicans) have paid a family business, employer, or associated nonprofit;
• 20 members (13 Democrats and 7 Republicans) used their campaign money to contribute to a family member’s political campaign;
• 14 members (6 Democrats and 8 Republicans) charged interest on personal loans they made to their own campaigns;
• 38 members (24 Democrats and 14 Republicans) earmarked to a family business, employer, or associated nonprofit.
  

Michael Mechanic

Senior Editor

Michael Mechanic is a senior editor at Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here. You can stalk him on Twitter here. RSS | Twitter

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  Go to CREW's homepage

  Family Affair Report Details Nepotism in Congress

  This report marks the first-ever complete study of how members of the House of Representatives use their positions to benefit themselves and their families. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) undertook a similar study in 2007, but it was not all-inclusive. Expanding on our earlier work, for this 2012 edition we reviewed every sitting member of the House.  Download the full report.
  CREW’s investigation uncovered 248 members meriting inclusion in this in-depth compilation, which covers the 2008 and 2010 election cycles.
  

  CREW’s key findings:

  • 82 members (40 Democrats and 42 Republicans) paid family members through their congressional offices, campaign committees and political action committees (PACs);
  • 44 members (20 Democrats and 24 Republicans) have family members who lobby or are employed in government affairs;
  • 90 members (42 Democrats and 48 Republicans) have paid a family business, employer, or associated nonprofit;
  • 20 members (13 Democrats and 7 Republicans) used their campaign money to contribute to a family member’s political campaign;
  • 14 members (6 Democrats and 8 Republicans) charged interest on personal loans they made to their own campaigns;
  • 38 members (24 Democrats and 14 Republicans) earmarked to a family business, employer, or associated nonprofit.

  Partnership With Legistorm

  CREW is partnering with LegiStorm to make the data in this report more widely available in a searchable form. Much of CREW’s research on members’ family relationships and the ways members of Congress use their positions to benefit their families has been incorporated into LegiStorm’s database at www.legistorm.com.
  

  Download the full report  |  Test your own ethics with our Family Affair quiz

	PollingReport.com
	CONGRESS – Job Rating
	See also: Detailed trend		Approve	Disap- prove	Unsure	Approve minus
			%	%	%	Disapprove
					.
	Gallup	3/8-11/12	12	82	6	- 70
	.
	AP-GfK	2/16-20/12	19	78	*	- 59
	.
	CBS/New York Times	2/8-13/12	10	82	8	- 72
	.
	Fox RV	2/6-9/12	13	79	8	- 66
	.
	Gallup	2/2-5/12	10	86	4	- 76
	.
	NBC/Wall Street Journal	1/22-24/12	13	80	7	- 67
	.
	CBS/New York Times	1/12-17/12	13	79	8	- 66
	.
	ABC/Washington Post	1/12-15/12	13	84	3	- 71
	.
	CNN/ORC	1/11-12/12	11	86	2	- 75
	.
	Gallup	1/5-8/12	13	81	6	- 68
	.
	CBS	1/4-8/12	12	80	8	- 68

http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm