Nevermind

The LA Times has spelled out that Tom DeLay is far from alone when it comes to putting family members on the payroll.

WASHINGTON — At least 39 members of Congress have engaged in the controversial practice of paying their spouses, children or other relatives out of campaign funds, or have hired companies in which a family member had a financial interest, records and interviews show.

House campaign funds have paid more than $3 million to lawmakers' relatives over the last two election cycles, records show.

The practice is not illegal but has come under new scrutiny following reports that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's wife and daughter had received hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2001 from his political action and congressional campaign committees. It also comes after disclosures that relatives of members of Congress have been hired by special interests as lobbyists or consultants.

Lawmakers are barred from putting relatives on their congressional payrolls, but they can pay them to work on their campaigns as long as the family member does bona fide work and isn't paid significantly more than the market rate.

...Among the recipients of the largest payments were members of DeLay's family and those of Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy). Pombo paid his wife and brother $357,325 from his political fund over the last four years for duties listed as bookkeeping, fundraising, consulting and other unspecified services, records show.

Including Pombo, five of the top six congressional families in The Times' analysis of two election cycles were Californians. The campaign fund of Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) paid $251,853 to her husband's firm, according to the candidate's campaign filings. She was followed by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-North Hollywood), $205,500; Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego), $154,504; and Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), $152,362.

Altogether, at least 10 lawmakers in the 53-member California House delegation have hired family members, according to records and interviews.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Hayward) paid his wife, Deborah, $119,000 from his campaign fund over the last four years to serve as his campaign manager, records show. In the last election, she earned $2,400 a month as campaign manager and was awarded a $2,400 bonus.

...In addition, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) paid her son, a lawyer, $130,000 over four years to run her political action committee, according to her campaign filings.

...Boxer said that she had heard horror stories from colleagues about campaign workers who had absconded with funds, and she knew that she would never have that problem if she put her son, Doug, in charge.

Boxer added that she turned to her son because he was the most qualified candidate. "Who is the best person to run your operation — that's the key thing to me," she said.
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It would appear that the Democrats' "Get Delay" movement has experienced some turbulence, at least in the area of family members on the payroll.

THE PRACTICE IS NOT ILLEGAL.

It's legitimate to consider whether or not the law should be revised. Perhaps family members of a candidate should not be allowed to be paid campaign workers.

Boxer argues against that. She must agree with Tom DeLay's choice to hire his wife and daughter, since she employs her own son.

The Dems will no doubt give up the "$500,000 to DeLay's family" mantra. My guess is they regret bringing attention to the issue in the first place. In their effort to get DeLay, they brought themselves under scrutiny.

D'oh!