Democrats And Republicans Feuding Over Ethics

A Democrat-Republican feud is brewing … and it all started with Democrat questions about G-O-P Senate candidate Jim Talent’s Missouri Renewal Committee – which was set up before Talent decided to run for Jean Carnahan’s U.S. Senate seat. Michael Kelley, Executive Director of theState Democratic Party, has gone to the State EthicsCommission with a complaint about the committee and allegations it was used to skirt campaign finance laws. Republicans say that’s nonsense. Executive Director John Hancock says Talent has not broken any finance laws. He claims the same cannot be said about St. Louis Congressman Richard Gephardt and his organizations. The Republicans have filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission and with the Internal Revenue Service, asking the IRS to investigate two committees the GOP claims were engaged in campaign activities in violation of their tax-exempt status.