From the article found here:
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=9711FAMILY VALUABLES
Maxine Waters has a well-earned reputation as a dynamic liberal Democrat who champions the causes of the poor and downtrodden. The California congresswoman’s generous spirit apparently also extends to her own family, because she’s helped members use her political clout to book more than $1 million in business with companies, candidates, and organizations she has supported. As the Los Angeles Times first revealed last December in its series on Capitol Hill nepotism, Waters’ husband and daughter have both capitalized on her influence. What looks like the sale of her endorsement to candidates eager to appear on her “slate mailer,” or sample ballot, has raked in money for her daughter’s political consulting firm. What looks like the sale of access to lucrative government contracts for a bond firm has generated fees for her husband.
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Yet there is something unseemly in the way the Waters family uses her political clout to advance its financial interests. At least that’s the view of some Democratic political veterans who won’t speak publicly about the powerful congresswoman. But the outspoken Sloan has publicly called for a House Ethics Committee investigation of Waters. “Maxine Waters is using her name and office to get lucrative contracts and money for her family,” says Sloan.
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Daughter Karen’s political-consulting business may best illustrate this savvy blending of political and financial interests. Karen Waters blandly assured the Los Angeles Times that “Maxine Waters is one of my clients,” and said she keeps their business dealings at arm’s length. But as one Democratic consultant explains, “The unspoken commitment when Maxine gives you her endorsement is that you’ll buy her slate. When we are talking about getting Maxine’s endorsement, the joke is: ‘How much will that cost us?’”
The slate mailer is a California political artifact that the Waters family has successfully exploited. In the nation’s largest state, where TV and newspaper ads are expensive, the mailers provide a vehicle for candidates to pool the cost of mass mailings -- for varying fees. Karen Waters’ L.A. Vote mailer is considered one of the most influential because of the value of her mother’s endorsement, especially in south Los Angeles. The mailer has brought in more than $1.7 million during the past eight years, according to the Los Angeles Times. Well-known politicians, such as former Governor Gray Davis, have paid tens of thousands of dollars to appear on L.A. Vote, while multimillionaire and political novice Al Checchi paid it $171,000 in his failed 1998 race for governor.
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