Green Weenie of the Week: Sen. Whitehouse’s Latest Self-Dealing Scam

It’s been quite a while since I worked off of Eric Hoffer’s famous axiom that “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”   Environmentalism entered the racketeering stage a long time ago, but fresh examples of brazen corruption still arrest your attention.

Like Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s latest attempt at self-dealing.  As mentioned here once before, Whitehouse takes to the Senate floor just about every week to give a “Time To Wake Up” speech on climate change, apparently oblivious to the comic irony of a senator thinking he’ll prevent our nodding off if he talks more.  Maybe the voters of Rhode Island will want to wake up to how Whitehouse wants to benefit his wife with our tax dollars, as reported by Michael Bastasch in the Daily Caller:

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has introduced a bill that would give funds to environmental groups to study and restore U.S. oceans and coastlines. A major beneficiary of the law could be an environmental group with ties to Whitehouse’s wife.

In April, Whitehouse reintroduced the National Endowment for the Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes Act, which would create a grant program for states, environmental groups and universities to study and restore oceans and coastlines across the country. . .

The legislation has been backed by the Ocean Conservatory, an environmental group, which could potentially benefit from the creation of a grant program for ocean conservation.

The Whitehouse bill would fund non-profit groups and governments that engage in what is called “Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning.” The Conservancy focuses on marine spatial planning.

The Conservancy has hired Whitehouse’s wife Sandra Whitehouse to work on the issue as an independent contractor in the past.

According to the group’s 990 forms for 2011, Sandra Whitehouse was paid $182,000 to work on “Marine Spatial Planning.”

The Ocean Conservancy has heavily supported this bill. The group spent $223,793 on lobbying in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics — including lobbying on the National Endowment for the Oceans.

In a city where it’s green weenies all the way down, we’re pleased to present Sen. Whitehouse with his second coveted Power Line Green Weenie Award.

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