Harry Reid: “Last week I called someone the Senator from Iowa knows. He is a very strong businessman. I don't want to embarrass him.…”

“Last week I called someone the Senator from Iowa knows. He is a very strong businessman. I don't want to embarrass him. It was a private telephone call. I said: Tell me what you think about this tax thing. He said: It is crazy. He would benefit from it. He said: It is crazy. There are too many things that need to be done. I said: Would you come down and join with us and say something publicly about this? He said: I have a lot of government contracts, and I am afraid I would be punished if I did something like that. He is not kidding. He has a lot of government contracts. The people from 16th and Pennsylvania Avenue and all people in the Cabinet have some influence over who gets contracts and how they keep them. I would also say this is in support of and in commendation for rich people in America. I have, as does the Senator from Iowa, some rich friends. I have not had a single person from Nevada call me about this goofy scheme. I haven't had a single Nevadan call me. They know me well. If they liked this program, they would call me. There have been other tax proposals from the White House--in the Clinton administration and in this administration--that I got calls on saying either do it or not do it. I haven't received a single call from my wealthy Nevada friends, or from wealthy Nevadans who may not be my friends, I haven't had anybody call me and say: Reid, I want you to support this. This is important to me. I don't think they could do it with a straight face.”