Nepotism. It's fun for the whole family!

Much has been made of Tom DeLay's practice of shuffling campaign funds into his pockets by way of "hiring" his wife and daughter. (How one woman helping out her husband's campaign can earn a bigger annual salary than the CEOs of some Fortune 500 companies will likely be a mystery for the ages.) However, I'm sure that none of you were naieve enough to think that he was the only one. The AP has rounded up a list of congressional critters who have family on the payroll, and yes... they come from both parties. Nobody ever has clean hands in a case like this.

Note: This is not to say that *every* instance of family members receiving compensation is immediately suspect as corruption. There are obviously going to be exceptions. Example: "Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash.: Nephew Todd Reichert was paid $3,000 last year, plus several hundred dollars for mileage, for serving as driver." Ok, so the guy's nephew needed a job and actually did drive people around in the car. Three grand for an entire year and reimbursement for gas and mileage on the vehicle doesn't sound too unreasonable to me. There are some others on this list, however, that smell nearly as bad as DeLay's deal. You can browse the list yourself, but here's a few of the highlights.

California Democratic Rep. Fortney "Pete" Stark: Wife Deborah earns $2,400 a month for serving as campaign consultant. ("Consulting"? Is that what they're calling it these days?)

Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.: Wife Arlene Willis serves as congressional chief of staff at a salary of nearly $111,000. (Damned good work if you can get it.)

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, employs his wife, Kathy, as his campaign manager. She was paid $21,791 over four months, including a $7,500 bonus last November. (That works out to the equivalent of a better than 75K/year rate. Sweet deal, Kathy.)

California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher: Wife Rhonda Carmony makes $40,000 a year as his campaign manager. (She's certainly managing something.)

New York Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop: Daughter Molly was paid $46,995 as his 2004 campaign's finance director. (That's not too far from my district. Tim bought something like two commercials all year and sent out a couple of token fliers. He's almost unbeatable in that district at this point. I bet his daughter made more than everything they spent on advertising combined.)