David Dreier (R-CA) Caught Up In Ethics Scandal

The ranking member of the Rules Committee shouldn't be systematically bending the rules for his personal gain

Last night The Hill broke the news that San Gabriel Valley Congressman David Dreier seems to have been breaking the law in the use of campaign contributions for personal expenses, something observers have long suspected. It appears that he's stolen as much as $200,000 from the legalized bribes paid to him by his big corporate donors. That's not just unethical; it's illegal. Dreier claims he uses a personal credit card "for campaign purchases in order "to keep things simple and avoid fraud when it comes to meals at restaurants or catering charges and that each credit card statement is reviewed by four people to ensure proper charges." Dreier's frequent dining companion and traveling companion is his highly paid chief of staff and long-time lover, Brad W. Smith.

According to a review of Dreier’s FEC reports since 2000, his campaign has listed a total of about $200,000 worth of expenditures for the purpose of “candidate reimbursement.” But the forms don’t say, as the FEC appears to instruct, what Dreier had to reimburse himself for.

According to the FEC’s candidate guide, candidates must “report the reimbursement as an operating expenditure” and itemize any expenditure over $200.

...According to the Center for Responsive Politics, he reimbursed himself nearly $63,000 during the 2008 election cycle and more than $78,000 during the 2006 cycle. The numbers were smaller in the cycles prior and included $34,000 in the 2004 cycle and $23,000 in the 2002 cycle.

All but two expenditures from the committee to Dreier are listed as “candidate reimbursement.” One expenditure, from 2006, is listed under “seminar reimbursement,” while another, from 2002, is listed as “luncheons, dinners, etc.”

Beyond those reimbursements, though, it’s not clear what Dreier was reimbursing himself for.

Dreier has spent more than $7 million from his campaign account on his last four reelection races, but he did not face serious opponents in any of them. The incumbent, who has served in his Southern California district since 1980, has rarely faced a tough reelection throughout his tenure.

When I went to work at Warner Brothers, a senior manager tried to show me how to use my credit card to steal from the company. I was appalled. He laughed and said "everyone" does it. I pointed out that claiming handmade Italian suit was an allowable dinner for clients in a high-end restaurant was nothing short of stealing. I watched many executives pull off similar penny-ante shenanigans over the years and I always knew that people with this kind of low moral standing would never be trustworthy. When I became president of my division I was careful to make sure that executives who stole from the shareholders (owners) in this way weren't placed in temptation's way. An inherently dishonest man like Dreier, who has been in office virtually his entire adult life, comes to feel "entitled" to live beyond his means. And it spills over into his job performance.

Dreier has been a relentless and dogged fighter against health care reform-- far out of proportion to the moderate nature of his suburban L.A. congressional district, the 26th. The district has been trending blue and McCain took a mere 47% of the vote, down from 55% for Bush in 2004. The 26th has also been one of the hardest hit districts in the country in terms of the mortgage crisis-- 13,487 foreclosures, and 44,903 projected foreclosures over the next 4 years. But again, Dreier has been in the forefront of stubborn Republican opposition, the kind of stone-cold opposition one might expect from a backward district in rural Georgia or suburban Dallas but not from a Representative whose mainstream constituents live in places like Claremont, Glendora, San Dimas, Monrovia, Arcadia, San Marino, La Canada-Flintridge... It makes no sense-- at least not until you look at the sources of campaign contributions that have bought David Dreier his lucrative political career.

Dreier has been a favorite of the FIRE Sector (Finance/Insurance/Real Estate) and a favorite of the Medical-Industrial Complex. The two sectors and their lobbyists have pumped immense sums into Dreier's career and Dreier has never hesitated to vote for their interested-- even when those private interests are in direct opposition to the interests if his own constituents, like in the foreclosure and banking crisis. The banksters and Big Insurance CEOs have lavished $2,124,338 on Dreier, far more than your average congressman. In fact the only California congressman to have profited as handsomely as Dreier from his pro-bankster voting record is notorious Big Business shill Ed Royce ($2,597,049).

And Dreier is in the top ranks of recipients of legalized bribes from the Medical-Industrial Complex as well-- $597,439, the only California Republican taking in more being ex-lobbyist Brian Bilbray ($720,086). When the Energy and Commerce Committee looked at the benefits the Affordable Health Choices Act would bring to Dreier's district, his opposition seems downright insane.

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 26th Congressional District of California: up to 13,200 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 11,200 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 1,300 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $35 million in uncompensated care each year; and 71,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. Congressman David Dreier represents the district.

• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 13,200 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.

• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 11,200 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.

• Health care and financial security. There were 1,300 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $35 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.

• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 92,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 13% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 71,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.

• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 6,750 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 97.8% of taxpayers in the district.

Do you detect a pattern? Dreier is notoriously dishonest in his personal life-- a lifelong homosexual living in the closet, hypocritically refusing to acknowledge his sexuality while voting against equality for ordinary gay families who don't have the protections afforded the high and mighty-- in the same way he enjoys tax-payer funded health insurance, though he's a multimillionaire, while he is absolutely hysterical about denying even a modicum if that kind of health insurance to his own constituents.

This year Russ Warner, a progressive independent businessman with very different ethics and very different solutions-- real ones-- to the problems people in CA-26 are facing, is running for Dreier's congressional seat again. If you'd like to see someone who wants to rein in the banksters and Insurance CEOs and the HMOs, in office-- instead of seeing someone who sups at their table and does their bidding-- please consider making a donation to Warner's campaign. Russ issued a statement calling on Dreier to explain.

“I've always told my boys, ‘if you haven't done anything wrong, then you having nothing to hide.’ I think that's why these reimbursements are such a cause for concern for myself and so many others,” Warner said. “Maybe it is just a matter of Congressman Dreier cutting corners again, but given his long track record of putting his own interests ahead of those of his constituents, one can't help but think the worst.”