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30 Comments
- mrlost117, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17thank (insert praised here)
it's good to know theres effort out there - triplehelix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9i've never understood how lobbying is legal. i'd like to see legislation baning it.
hopefully this is the thin edge of the wedge and we see some much needed, serious house cleaning. - McGrude, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10No. They were elected through corporate campaign funding which financed the political ads that persuaded voters to put them in office.
- triplehelix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6from the arcticle:
"Two years ago, only 400 agents worked on public corruption cases. Now, 615 agents nationwide - including 30 in New York - are trying to nail public servants for betraying the public trust in 2,200 ongoing cases." - deesnutz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8"No. They were elected through corporate campaign funding which financed the political ads that persuaded voters to put them in office."
Please don't forget to mention that DieBold assisted in (or gave them) their election also ;)
Republican motto ...
All for the 1% and ***** for the rest of y'all. - toppgun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6and these politicians were elected by the people?
- heavensblade23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5A politican banning lobbying would be like cooking the goose that lays golden eggs. Not going to happen if the beneficiaries of the lobbying efforts have anything to say about it.
- bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4He still intends of bringing back integrity to the Government, and in 2008 I believe he'll deliver on that promise.
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Blind pig finds acorn.
- Dopamini, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Big business finances politicians once they get into office.
Politicians enjoy big dividends.
Businesses get off from paying most of their taxes because they've worked harder from politicians.
Politicians get more money for reelection campaigns. The cycle continues.
Simplified version yes, but that's essentially what we see in Washington all the time. - Seneca11, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5What did they go from one to three?
- triplehelix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3from the arcticle:
"...have prompted the FBI to assign 37 agents full-time to three new squads in an office near Capitol Hill.
FBI Assistant Director Chip Burrus told The News yesterday that he wants to detail even more agents to the Washington field office for a fourth corruption squad..." - reed311, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4One of George W. Bush's stated goals was to bring back integrity to the Government, I guess he's failed at that too.
- Antebios, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I see it as both are as evil as they come, it's just the Republican Congressmen that get the attention of getting caught, whereas I'm sure both are in just as much sh*t as the other. I saw we get some rope and string them up!!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6FEE FI FO FUM I smell the blood of fired FBI agents
- edverb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Theodore Roosevelt:
"Our first duty is to war against dishonesty...war against it in public life, and...war against it in business life. Corruption in every form is the arch-enemy of this Republic, the arch-enemy of free institutions and of government by the people, an even more dangerous enemy than the open lawlessness of violence, because it works in hidden and furtive fashion. We are against corruption in politics; we are against corruption in business; and above all, and with all our strength, we are against the degrading alliance of crooked business and crooked politics, the alliance which adds strength to the already powerful corrupt boss and to the already powerful corrupt head of big business, and which makes them in their dual capacity enemies against whom every patriotic man should stand with unwavering firmness. Just as the blackmailer and the bribe-giver stand on the same evil eminence of infamy, so the man who makes an enormous fortune by corrupting legislators and municipalities and fleecing his stockholders and the public stands on a level with the creature who fattens on the blood money of the gambling house, the saloon, and the brothel..
"Corrupt business and corrupt politics act and react, with ever-increasing debasement, one on the other, the rebate-taker, the franchise-trafficker, the manipulator of securities, the purveyor and protector of vice, the black-mailing ward boss, the ballot-box stuffer, the demagogue, the mob leader, the hired bully and mankiller, all alike work at the same web of corruption, and all alike should be abhorred by honest men.
"There can be no crime more serious than bribery. Other offenses violate one law while corruption strikes at the foundation of all law. Under our form of government all authority is vested in the people and by them delegated to those who represent them in official capacity. There can be no offense heavier than that of him in whom such a sacred trust has been reposed, who sells it for his own gain and enrichment...he is worse than the thief, for the thief robs the individual, while the corrupt official plunders an entire city or state. He is as wicked as the murderer, for the murderer may only take one life against the law, while the corrupt official and the man who corrupts the official alike aim at the assassination of the Commonwealth itself. Government of the people, by the people, for the people will perish from the earth if bribery is tolerated...The exposure and punishment of public corruption is an honor to a nation, not a disgrace. The shame lies in toleration.
"The man who debauches our public life...by the corrupt use of the offices as spoils wherewith to reward the unworthy and the vicious for their noxious and interested activity in the baser walks of political life - this man is a greater foe to our well-being as a nation than is even the defaulting cashier of a bank, or the betrayer of a private trust. The doctrine that "to the victor belong the spoils," the cynical battle-cry of the spoils politician...is so nakedly vicious that few right-thinking men of trained mind defend it. To appoint, promote, reduce, and expel from public service, letter-carriers, stenographers, women typewriters, clerks, because of the politics of themselves or their friends, without regard to their own service, is, from the standpoint of the the people at large, as foolish and degrading as it is wicked. The man who is in politics for the offices might just as well be in politics for the money he can get for his vote, so far as the general good is concerned.
"When the then Vice-President of the United States....said that he "wished to take the boys in out of the cold to warm their toes", thereby meaning that he wished to distribute offices among the more active heelers, to the rapturous enthusiasm of the latter, he uttered a sentiment which was morally on the same plane with a wish to give the "boys" five dollars apiece all around for their votes, and fifty dollars apiece when they showed themselves sufficiently active in bullying, bribing, and cajoling other voters. Such a sentiment should bar any man from public life, and will bar him whenever the people grow to realize that the worst enemies of the Republic are the demagogue and the corruptionist.
"No republic can permanently endure when its politics are corrupt and base; and the spoils system...produces corruption and degradation...the spoils-monger and the spoils-seeker invariably breed the bribe-taker and the bribe-giver, the embezzler of public funds and the corrupter of voters. No cause is more potent in working the degradation of American political institutions...and by cutting it out root and branch we will do more to elevate the tone of our political life than we can do in any other conceivable way. Without honesty, popular government is a repulsive farce.
"We can afford to differ on the currency, the tariff, and foreign policy, but we cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. There is a soul in the community, a soul in the nation, just exactly as their is a soul in the individual; and exactly as the individual hopelessly mars himself if he lets his conscience be dulled by the constant repetition of unworthy acts, so the nation will hopelessly blunt the popular conscience if it permits its public men continually to do acts which the nation in its heart of hearts knows are acts which cast discredit upon our whole public life." - helchose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It seems like a good sign, it's just too bad that many of these corrupt people in power have "get out of jail, free" cards.
Even if a trial makes it all the way to an actual conviction, they will likely get a slap on the wrist, and then disappear into the private sector to consolidate their power and make even more money.
Very few of them ever actually wind up in prison for any length of time. - jguy584, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Is it just me or does anyone else feel that its always republicans getting in trouble
- Fracture98, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Capitol hill is turning to corruption so quickly already. With triple the staff, they should be able to really pick up the pace!
- kavaliro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2You mean the FBI is supposed to monitor political corruption?
Keep up the good work, guys. /smirk
Seriously, though, I'm all for diverting about a many dollars to an anti-political corruption squad. Frankly, there should be an agent assigned to every politician in Washington, who gets a big fat bonus for every corrupt politician he/she brings down. And, or course rotate them once a year or so so they don't shack up with any particular politician. The head of that organization should be picked by random lottery, at the same time as the congressional ballots, because there's no one you can trust to select an appropriate leader for it. Just throw all the names of all the FBI department heads into a hat and see who comes up. - bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's like cooking the goose that steals the golden eggs from the citizens.
I'm hungry for some goose. - rderveloy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1IMO, corruption by government officials should be considered treason as it undermines and erodes the faith of the people in their government, which consequently undermines and erodes government effectiveness.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I assumed that. I was attempting to be funny... :)
- Automatt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This is all about the executive branch being able to selectively intimidate various legislators, and thereby control any opposition.
- chatty82, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wish I was director of the troops going out to investigate corruption on Capitol Hill. Now remember, guys, check each Congressional office for a mattress on the floor. Don't reveal your employment or threaten people in the name of the FBI. They may never have heard of it! Think of an issue pertaining to the district represented to discuss with the staff. If they have a mattress on the floor in there, collect their names so the agency can do a complete financial audit.
DONT wear baggies for a visit to Capitol Hill! Try to dress up nice -- like an interested constituent. Cover those naked calf bones! - Salmonized, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0And who is going to keep an eye on the FBI from corrupting themselves????
- Carlothos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0WAY TO GO FBI YAY!
- knoware, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Four score and . . . .
- davids1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This will be the last anyone will hear of this.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2So there are now THREE agents on the beat! Woo!
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