From a 2002 WorldNetDaily report titled, "Mrs. Daschle's lucrative lobbying, Is Washington activity of senator's wife conflict of interest?":
Mrs. Daschle's lobbying activities as senior public policy director of the law firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman and Caldwell have received only a small amount of press scrutiny, save for an account in the Washington Monthly earlier this year. Her lobbying activities surfaced again recently because of a controversial proposal before the Senate to lease military aircraft from Boeing – a client of Mrs. Daschle since 1998, according to federal records.
Dan Crippen, director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, has estimated that the Boeing lease plan would cost the government $37 billion for the use of 100 Boeing 767s over a 10-year period. The deal is controversial because, according to CBO estimates, the outright purchase of the same airplanes would cost only $25 billion, and they could remain useful for 20 to 30 years.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the leading critic of the leasing deal, has called it "war profiteering," and charges that the deal "has nothing to do with national defense and everything to do with taking care of Boeing."
Sen. Daschle has not made any public statements on the Boeing lease plan, but must, as Senate majority leader, decide whether and when to schedule a vote on the matter, since McCain pushed an amendment through the Armed Services Committee that may doom the deal.
But regardless of the merits of buying or leasing Boeing aircraft, the fact remains that Sen. Daschle, in his official capacity, cannot help but make decisions by which his wife's clients may gain or lose millions, or even billions, of dollars. In the case of some of the major government contractors Mrs. Daschle represents, Sen. Daschle's official acts could ensure or undermine their future economic viability. In the case of Boeing, for example, the Senate will consider the re-authorization of the Federal Export-Import Bank by the end of May. Boeing perennially receives more than 40 percent of the bank's funds.
And here is more:
In a written response to questions posed by Human Events, however, Daschle did not answer a question about his own ties to major aviation interests and government contractors for whom his wife – Linda Hall Daschle – lobbies, and from whom he thereby benefits financially.
In previous interviews, Daschle has defended this arrangement. In May, he told Human Events he saw no conflict of interest in scheduling and taking Senate votes that bring revenue to his wife's clients.
"My wife doesn't lobby in the Senate at all," he said. "She has limited her activities to the House, and I think that's appropriate."
Daschle also defended his involvement in one particular Senate vote last month – to reauthorize the federal Export-Import Bank – from which Mrs. Daschle's client Boeing stood to gain millions of dollars in federal loans and loan guarantees for its overseas business.
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