Bloomberg Hits Bayh On Conflicts

Bloomberg News tackles the financial conflicts of interest that Sen. Evan Bayh and his wife, Susan, have created for themselves, a topic which seems to be off limits for most of the mainstream media. The story hits the power couple for Susan's work as a director on seven different corporate boards, pulling in close to a $1 million a year for the couple. The story also hits Bayh's relationship with Emmis Communications, which is run by long-time Bayh supporter and political contributor, Jeff Smulyan. Susan sits on Emmis' board. Bloomberg reports on the losing book deal with Bayh:

Emmis lost money on Evan Bayh's 2003 autobiography, ``From Father to Son: A Private Life in the Public Eye,'' company spokeswoman Kate Snedeker said. Bayh gave the $4,105 of book royalties to the Evan and Susan Bayh Family Foundation.

The book deal creates the appearance of ``a favor being done for the candidate by the company that his wife is on the board of,'' Buzenberg said.

Smulyan said Emmis published the memoir with expectation of making a profit. Kleiman, Bayh's spokesman, said the deal involved ``a standard book contract that was approved by the Senate Ethics Committee.''