Rep. Maxine Waters Gets Her Ethical At-Bat

On the heels of Charlie Rangel’s thirteen-count ethical violation barrage, Rep. Maxine Waters/CA will step up to bat to see if she can get safely around the bases on a single count violation. It seems that during the most recent economic meltdown, Waters helped out a bank that contained a stake owned by her hubby. Bad Maxine.

Now, it is not a slam-dunk that Ms. Waters was completely out-of-bounds. There is no reason that a bank, OneUnited, associated with her husband, should suffer unduly because she is a congresswoman. After all, the whole idiot-banking world was scrambling behind the mortgage crisis. On the other hand, if she lent extraordinary help, or worked to influence the result, a $12 million bailout for this specific bank (which Treasury officials have denied), then serve her up, right behind Mr. Rangel.

I work in a familial, and majority family-owned, real estate development business, so I understand how easy it is to mix business relationships with family/friends and vice-versa. I see nothing wrong with Waters advocating for OneUnited, as long as it was similar to the way she hopefully helped comparable others. But, getting someone a crucial look-see and tipping the result are very different. If Waters’ mere involvement would cause undue influence (reasonably), then she crossed the line from the get-go and will have to face the music.

In any event, it does not look good for the Black Caucus, the Democrats, mid-term elections or Nancy Pelosi's promise to drain the swamp of corrupt politicians. Stay tuned.

James C. Collier

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