Jeanne Shaheen, Shameless Rent Seeker?

We're not yet sure just what to make of the kerfuffle re a client of Senior New Hampshire US Senator Jeanne Shaheen's husband receiving $78,000 in federal stimulus money in 2009. As these things go, the sum involved seems trivial and it appears that no formal Senate rules were violated (although this sounds rather ominous for Shaheen: "The Shaheens declined multiple requests for interviews and would not answer most detailed questions about their investments and connection to the firm.") Either way, this story bears watching. However, whether Shaheen violated any particular Senate Ethics Rule, we think this much is clear: The appropriations process--particularly with the Stimulus Bill, but really, the whole federal appropriations process--sucks. The fact that these stimulus dollars, or some of them anyway, might have ended up in the pockets what the Boston Globe calls "a partner in one of the most politically connected law firms in New Hampshire" (see article, above) should make anyone serious about good governance sick. But in the end, whether Bill Shaheen specifically profited from this or not is beside the point, because people like him--lawyers, lobbyists, and the politicall well-connected--undoubtedly did and that is the real scandal here. We oppose Sen. Shaheen's reelection not because of her alleged shirking of Senate ethical norms (although, if proven, that should be the end of her candidacy) but because she voted for the Stimulus Bill in the first place and a million other federal boondoggles like it. Whether she herself (or her husband) participated in the rent seeking extravaganza is secondary to the main point: NH fusionists (conservatives and libertarians) have had enough of lawmakers trying to "fix" the economy by handing out taxpayer dollars to their friends. So please, let's send Sen. Shaheen to an early retirement. Not because she allegedly steered money to her husband's firm, but because she is a supporter of a system whereby steering federal monies to your friends is simply business as usual.