Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Editorial: Allen's lapses keep coming
Now Virginians find out their junior senator hid financial records from them.
From the RoundTable blog
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At least Virginia's Sen. George Allen can forget about allegations of racism for a few minutes. There is a new scandal brewing.
The campaign between Allen and his Democratic challenger Jim Webb garnered national attention -- and jokes -- after Allen's macaca gaffe. The n-word, the Confederate flag and a hangman's noose quickly overtook substance in the debate.
Now this:
The Associated Press discovered Allen failed to tell the public that he held stock options in companies with government business. The options were left over from his few years in the private sector after his stint as governor.
Congressional rules require members to report any deferred compensation so the public can determine if money corrupts official actions.
Allen's aides say he did not think those rules applied to the options because they were nearly worthless.
The language is clear. Allen was supposed to report his holdings. They might have been worthless on the filing date, but that could have changed at the whim of the stock market. A government contract here or well-placed help there might have done the trick.
Some of the companies with which Allen had stock options actively sought government contracts, and he intervened on behalf of one in a dispute with the Army.
Give the good senator the benefit of the doubt, though. Maybe he really was ignorant of the ethical rules.
Even if he truly believed he was not required to report his financial stake in the companies' fortunes, nothing prevented him from choosing disclosure. Allen preferred to keep his constituents in the dark about his potential conflicts of interest.
Now the whole mess is off to the Senate ethics committee for clarification.
That opinion probably will not come out until after the election, so voters will have only one clear truth to remember when they go to voting machines in November: Allen did not want them to know about his financial ties. If he does not trust Virginians, should they trust him?
