Culture Of Corruption And Playing In The Mud

As we have noted on a number of occasions, the culture of deceit and corruption runs deep in Washington, DC. That shameful culture has poisoned both political parties and ideologies. Our representatives, once elected come to believe that their first allegiance and obligations are to the institutions that will protect them and allow them the latitude and freedom to do whatever they wish. Over the decades, our representatives have spent a lot of time making sure they remain privileged and more often than not, held unaccountable for their actions. Serving the people, their constituents, are obligations that have been relegated to a secondary agenda.

That said, there is jihadi-like response to the despicable goings on of Mark Foley, with a number of Democrats suffering memory loss and an even greater number of leftist bloggers and pundits with that same affliction. It is with that in mind that a look at some of the ‘culture of corruption’ that many seem to have forgotten. To be clear, the Democrats are not worse than the Republicans. Nevertheless, an environment whereby some Democrats and Democrat pundits can refer to the behavior of Mark Foley as an example of GOP or /conservative family values,’ is absurd.

Corruption, dysfunction and sleaziness are no more discriminating in Congress than in real life.

The Empress Dowager of the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, is fond of accusing her Republican counterparts of harboring a ‘culture of corruption.’ Her Majesty has a short memory. Notwithstanding her self righteous call, The Emperor Dowager is rather fond of corruption. As Minority House Leader, Ms Pelosi has often spoken of lobbying reform and ethical issues. She has stated she would like to see a ban on House members accepting gifts from lobbyists.

What Ms Pelosi does not want to remember is that in 1995 she voted against a provision “to prohibit registered lobbyists from giving gifts to members, officers, or employees of the House and Senate.” The Empress Dowager wasn’t alone. She was joined by Steny Hoyer, the then number two Democrat in the House. That ‘culture of corruption’ is clearly very addictive to Ms Pelosi and others in her party.

Just how addictive that culture of corruption is becomes quite clear with a bit of hindsight.

In speaking of the Abrahamoff scandal and other improprieties, John Boehner noted Ms Pelosi’s hypocrisy:

“When I hear Democratic Party leaders throwing around terms like ‘culture of corruption,’ I have to think: ‘You oughta know.’
“Yes, Republicans are outraged by the actions of Jack Abramoff. But we’re outraged, in part, because our standards are higher than the standards that were held by the Democratic majority we replaced after 1994. We are repulsed at Abramoff and his crimes, in part, because they remind us of the corruption we uprooted and stamped out when we took the majority away from the Democrats a decade ago.

“Minority Leader Pelosi, who has served in Congress since 1987 and was part of the last Democratic majority, should recall that corruption well. It wasn’t that long ago that gifts and personal loans from S&L interests to a Democratic committee chairman, made in hopes of winning favorable treatment from regulators, resulted in a half-trillion dollar scandal and a $125 billion tab for the American taxpayer. Nor was it that long ago that the Democratic chairman of the House Administration Committee stood idly by while drugs were being dealt from the House Post Office, hundreds of Members of Congress were bouncing checks and floating themselves zero-interest loans from the House Bank, and lobbyists were being given assigned parking spots on the Capitol grounds. Nor was it that long ago that the Democratic chairman of the Ways & Means Committee was trading taxpayer-purchased stamps for personal cash, leading to his conviction and jail time in 1993.

“An honorable majority responds to its stumbles with contrition, reform, and an effort to fix that which is broken. This is precisely the path Speaker Hastert and Chairman Dreier have charted for our majority in recent days. I applaud the Speaker for his leadership, and challenge Minority Leader Pelosi to join Republicans in our effort to change the way Congress works.”

So much for the Empress Dowager’s credibility as a beacon of morality and ethics.

Dick ‘American soldiers are Nazis’ Durbin, took 4 trips paid for by outside interests, and has managed to have a net worth of almost a million dollars while serving in Congress. The vacationing Durbin was not on official congressional business.

Barbara Boxer is a Senator with real family values. She directed over $100,000 to her son- who just happened to run Douglas Boxer and Associates (whatever that is). The money came from an account of PAC For A Change, her leadership political action committee. What a nice mommy.

Howard Dean too, likes to promote family values. After Deans’ election, he announced that his brother, Jim would be taking over Howard’s PAC, that cash machine. Yup, who needs professionals when handling the money can be kept in the family?

Chuck Schumer and the Democrats didn’t have much to say about the Schumer staffers that fraudulently obtained the credit history and reports of the Maryland Lt Governor, Michael Steele. The reason New York staffers would go after a Maryland political figure’s personal information is hard to fathom- unless they were sharing that information with those outside New York. A letter signed by various Republican senators to Mr Schumer, asking whether or not there were other instances of improprieties of a similar nature. Schumer eventually replied that the crime committed by his staffers was a one time event. If true, they are the unluckiest felons in history- getting busted for a rather innocuous white collar crime on their first attempt.

Joe Biden has no trouble with the Iranian mullahs in Tehran. If he did, he wouldn’t be holding fundraisers with pro-Iranian lobbyists. Biden raised almost $25,000 at the home of ‘Dr. Sadegh Namazi-khah, a strong supporter of the Tehran regime and leading pro-Iran lobbyist.’ These are the same mullahs that want to see Israel ‘wiped off the map’ and who declare America and Americans as evil, and that the world would be better without America. Nice friends, Joe.

Mr Ethics, Harry Reid (who happily took money from Jack Abrahamoff, then denied it, then admitted it and then refused to return the money) is backing what promises to be one of Nevada’s largest real estate development proposals. In fact, Mr Reid wanted the feds to part with valuable federal lands for nothing. When that came to light, the developer- without a peep- agreed to pay ten million dollars for the land.

In fact, the developer and Mr Reid have ties that go back a long way. The developer/lobbyist, Harvey Whittemore, is a longtime friend and financial backer of Harry Reid. Of course, lawyers are always the front people for deal of this magnitude. ‘Leif Reid, who is Whittemore’s personal lawyer, has represented the developer throughout the Coyote Springs project, including in negotiations with federal officials.’ What a good daddy.

To put things in perspective, the size of the deal must be appreciated. The Coyote Springs Valley project calls for ‘as many as 159,000 homes, 16 golf courses and a full complement of stores and service facilities. At nearly 43,000 acres, Coyote Springs covers almost twice as much space as the next-largest development in a state famous for out-sized building projects. ‘ The project has been referred to as being of ‘historic proportions.’

We could go on to discuss Mel Reynolds, who entered into a sexual relationship with a minor and then went on to Jesse Jackson’s payroll as a youth counselor.

We could go on to talk about Barney Frank and the male prostitution business that was run out of his apartment for a few years.

We could go on and talk about Mary Jo Kopechne, that third rail issue, and the law enforcement witnesses at the scene that testified that Ms Kopechne was alive at the time of the accident- and remained alive for at least an hour, as Senator Kennedy called his lawyers, family, Massachusetts Democratic bosses and the requisite PR people, even as as he ‘forgot’ to call the police.

Remember James Traficant? He was convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat. Nice.

We could also discuss the DNC and contributions from foreign sources. The FEC levied $719,000 in fines.

Then there was Al Gore and the illegal contributions from the Buddhist monks.

Remember Gary Condit?

How about Charles Diggs, Jr? He was a U.S. Representative from Michigan from 1955 to 1980. Convicted on eleven counts of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms- sentenced to three years in prison.

George Rogers? He was a Massachusetts State House of Representatives from 1965 to 1970 and a member of Massachusetts State Senate from 1975 to 1978. Convicted of bribery in 1978 and sentenced to two years in prison.

Don Seigleman? Democrat Governor Alabama – indicted in a bid-rigging scheme involving a maternity-care program. The charges accused Siegelman and his former chief of staff of helping Tuscaloosa physician Phillip Bobo rig bids. Siegelman was accused of moving $550,000 from the state education budget to the State Fire College in Tuscaloosa so Bobo could use the money to pay off a competitor for a state contract for maternity care.

How about Frederick Richmond? He was a U.S. Representative from New York from 1975 to 1982. Arrested in Washington, D.C., in 1978 for soliciting sex from a minor and from an undercover police officer – pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Also – charged with tax evasion, marijuana possession, and improper payments to a federal employee – pleaded guilty.

How about Harrison Williams? He was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1959 to 1970. Implicated in the Abscam sting. Allegedly accepted an 18% interest in a titanium mine. Convicted of nine counts of bribery, conspiracy, receiving an unlawful gratuity, conflict of interest, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Sentenced to three years in prison and fined $50,000.

Frank Thompson, Jr was a U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1955 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting, convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. Sentenced to three years in prison.

Michael Myers? He was a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1976 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting – convicted of bribery and conspiracy; sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000; expelled from the House of Representatives on October 2, 1980.

Does the name Alcee Hastings ring a bell? That judge was impeached for bribery.

How about Mario Biaggi? He was indicted on federal charges that he had accepted bribes in return for influence on federal contracts. He was convicted of obstructing justice and accepting illegal gratuities. Tried in 1988 on federal racketeering charges and convicted on 15 felony counts.

Frank Ballance? Congressman North Carolina. Pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering related to mishandling of money by his charitable foundation.

Lena Swanson was a member of Washington State Senate in 1997. Pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting unlawful payments from veterans and former prisoners of war.

Nice.

There are plenty more examples of Democrat corruption to go around. In the interest of brevity, we’ll stop now.

If those Dem politicians and pundits want to play in the mud, they too, are going to get very dirty.

The culture of corruption is as much an issue for Democrats as it is for Republicans.