How did Harry Reid get so rich?

I share Rush's entire monologue on the subject:

RUSH: We've completed our research. We can't find very much time that Dingy Harry had to be in private practice in law, two years at most. We know he's involved in a bunch of shady land deals, and he claims that all that money he made as a lawyer he invested. That's what got him rich. But yet Sharron Angle wants to invest a portion of her Social Security money in the stock market, and he calls that extreme. Yet that's what he did, he admitted it, "I did a very good job of investing, I've been on a fixed income since I got to Washington, I lived off what I made in the private sector." Well, we've looked. ...

Sharron Angle said, (paraphrasing) "How did you get so rich? You left Searchlight, Nevada, you didn't have much money. How did you get so rich in the Senate?" He said, "Everybody knows I was a very successful attorney, and I invested my money well, lived on a fixed income out there." All right, so you look at the resume and say, "When was Reid a successful lawyer?" He graduated George Washington University Law School with a J.D. while working for the US Capitol Police. He returned to Nevada after law school. He served as Henderson city attorney -- it's Vegas -- Henderson city attorney before being elected to the Nevada assembly in 1968. Now, serving as Henderson city attorney is not private sector attorney work. But wait, it gets better.

"In 1970, at age 30, Reid was chosen by O'Callaghan as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. Reid and his mentor O'Callaghan won the race and Reid served as lieutenant governor from 1971 until 1974." Now, what I don't know is could he have served private practice as a lawyer while serving in state government? There's no mention of it in the resume, but lieutenant governor, could he have served as a lawyer? But it gets better. "He ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Alan Bible," in 1974. He lost. "In 1975, Reid ran for mayor of Las Vegas and lost again. Reid then served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981." Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. After serving as the chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from '77 to '81 -- there's a reason for all this, folks, just hang in there with me here.

He then ran for the US House and won. He serves two terms from '83 to '87. In 1987 he was elected to the US Senate, where he's been ever since. So when was he a successful lawyer in all this? Because he said, "I think everybody knows I've been a very successful lawyer." I also ran the numbers. He said that he put his five kids through a hundred semesters. I ran the numbers on that. There are two semesters in a year, right? Or is it four? Two semesters in a year, three if you do summer school, but it's not four. That's right. In high school we had quarters. First quarter, second quarter, equaled the first semester. Okay, so you have two semesters a year times four years of college, times five kids is 40 semesters. So some of his kids spent -- well, it could be grade school, eight years in college, could be. But still, I mean this isn't cheap. And where is this private lawyer stuff?

We do have this Nevada Gaming Commission chairmanship 1977-1981. The only bio of Dingy Harry we have found that mentions was ever in private practice is this one: Police officer, US Capitol, circa 1961 to '63. City attorney, Henderson, Nevada, '64 to '66. Nevada state assemblyman, '69-'70. Nevada lieutenant governor, '70-'74. Ran for US Senate but lost '74. Chairman, Nevada Gaming Commission, '77-'81. Attorney, private practice, '81-'83. A-ha. Two big years. Attorney, private practice, '81 to '83. Congressman, '83 to '87. US Senator, '87-present. Harry Reid biography, life, family, children, parents' story, wife's school, etc. So basically he was an attorney in private practice from 1981 to '83. How much money can you make as an attorney in two years? And he was running for office. That sometimes can take six months to a year. Reid's official Senate website says this about that period: "In 1977 he was appointed Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, where for five years he made headlines with his legendary and unrelenting fight to clean up Nevada's gaming industry." But he didn't talk about that. He said, "Everybody knows I was a successful lawyer, and then I invested well, and I live on a fixed income."


"Reid returned to his private law practice for a few years, then won the first of two terms in the United States House of Representatives in 1982." I mean that's it. So where can it be shown he was some great lawyer who earned millions of dollars through the legal process? Where can it be shown? But he said this is how he got rich. So which is it? Is he the only one smart enough to get rich and provide for himself off the province of evil corporations and the stock market? That's what he said he did. Or do you have to be a powerful senator who gets insider deals to make a profit? Sharron Angle said, "I want to privatize Social Security." (imitating Reid) "That's too risky," but that's how he got rich. So who, ladies and gentlemen, in the final analysis here, who is more knowledgeable and coherent, Sharron Angle or Harry Reid, Christine O'Donnell or Harry Reid, Sarah Palin or Harry Reid? Harry Reid's a fool. Harry Reid is a tool. Harry Reid makes no sense, but will not be treated with the disdain any of these ladies are treated with. He will not be shown any of the disrespect that they are treated to. He will not be insulted or impugned the way they are. And yet he's the tool. He's the fool. He's the liar who cannot tell the truth about the source of his wealth.

I mean you search the biography here, you simply can't find -- "Rush, why you spending so much time?" I'm spending so much time on this because we're asked to look the other way so many times when it comes to Democrats because they supposedly care about the little guy. We're supposed to look the other way when a woman dies being driven off a bridge. We're supposed to look the other way when all this kinda stuff happens. We're supposed to look the other way when our private sector is being destroyed. We're supposed to look the other way when nobody can find a job and nobody has a prospect of finding a job. We're supposed to look the other way when our health care system is being destroyed. We're supposed to look the other way while the chance for economic growth and prosperity is increasing. We're supposed to look the other way when all of the things that have defined this country's greatness are under assault. We're supposed to look the other way when the president of the United States talks about how people go tribal when things get tough economically, when he's defining the term going tribal. We're supposed to look the other way when the Democrats and their buddies in the media laugh at, impugn, and make fun of the people and the traditions and the institutions that have made this country great. We're supposed to look the other way and pay no attention to it.

Why? Because they supposedly have more compassion; because they supposedly care about the little guy; because they're not extremists; because they are for killing babies in the womb as a civil right. That's why we're supposed to look the other way and put all of our faith and hope in them. People are fed up with looking the other way. So I'm not looking the other way. If Harry Reid says everybody knows I was a successful lawyer, I didn't know that. I didn't know he served in the Nevada Gaming Commission. I didn't know anything of what I just told you other than his US Senate service, until I looked it up. I didn't know that Harry Reid served as a private sector lawyer for a couple of years, made enough money to get rich and live off a fixed income and get involved in phony, fraudulent land deals. I didn't know any of that.

Now, we're supposed to look the other way at all of this, that's not important. Instead we're supposed to scared of people like Robert Bork. We're supposed to be afraid of people like Clarence Thomas. We're supposed to be afraid of people like me. We're supposed to be afraid of people like Sarah Palin. We're supposed to be afraid of people like Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angle and Carl Paladino. We're supposed to look the other way while these best and brightest and most caring and most compassionate people literally destroy the opportunity for other people in this country to achieve their own dreams and prosperity and wealth. And we're simply tired of looking the other way. Instead of being extracted and looking the other way we're gonna look at them: Who are these people?