MyDD :: Political Curruption Rampant Under the Republicans

Political Curruption Rampant Under the Republicans

by Jonathan Singer, Sat May 27, 2006 at 08:44:18 PM EST

Earlier this week we noted that the FBI has been forced to reassign close to 200 agents to combat public corruption, increasing the size of that unit by close to 50 percent. Now we know why, thanks to the Los Angeles Times's Richard B. Schmitt.

The investigations are casting a long shadow. The FBI said that more than 600 agents were assigned to public corruption investigations and more than 2,000 investigations were underway at the federal, state and local levels.

Some observers said prosecutors and investigators viewed corruption as a growth industry at a time when the number of new cases of terrorism and corporate fraud was starting to slow. [emphasis added]

It says something about Republican control of government that federal investigators now see political corruption as a "growth industry." Certainly we've heard Tom DeLay talk about the "criminalization of conservative politics" in the past, but this is a whole other story.

The corporatist Republicans' K Street Project mentality is no longer limited to Washington, DC but has rather seeped all the way down to state capitols and other cities around the country. And the results of this disturbing trend are corruption investigation and plain old bad government.

This LA Times story points to the fact that the "Culture of Corruption" meme, which many of us in the progressive blogosphere may be getting tired of hearding about, might not just be effective in federal races but also in downticket elections all across the country. Just this month, for instance, a dozen Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania -- including the GOP leaders in both chambers of the state legislature -- were defeated in primaries. In Oregon, where I am managing a state House campaign, we are certainly hitting on the issue as well (I'll tell you more about our race in good time, I might add).

No matter what the pundits in Washington tell you, the issue of corruption is salient with voters across the country. And if the Democrats intend on making the most of their opportunity this year, they will excoriate Republican corruption until the sun don't shine.

Tags: Republicans, Corruption (all tags)

Permalink :: 4 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: Political Curruption Rampant Under the Republi (none / 0)

I am shocked!

Jeremy Bentham sucks!!

by Forward with Feingold on Sat May 27, 2006 at 08:49:01 PM EST

Sad truth is... (none / 0)

The frustrating thing is that dems are now between a rock and a hard place, and unless Jefferson has some kind of reasonable defense (which I can't imagine... come on, money in a freezer?), they'll have to act quickly. The GOP couldn't have asked for a better scenario... put the congressional dems on the hot seat by GOP folks suddenly jumping up in defense of a democrat. The GOP looks bipartisan, corruption looks bipartisan, if the GOP has any sense they're breaking out the champagne. The congressional dems ought to solve that "problem" by telling Jefferson to either resign or be thrown out of caucus.

by auronrenouille on Sat May 27, 2006 at 09:57:53 PM EST

Re: Sad truth is... (none / 0)

Damn straight!

Even if we didn't know about Jefferson and Mollohan and Hastings, honest government would be a terrible plank for the Dems to run on.

Why? Because of the fear that a J/M/H is there lurking in the rushes waiting to spring up at you.

And because it works completely against the grain of the perceptions of swing voters. Who tend to think that both sides are dirty. OK, perhaps they say the GOP are worse. But essentially they think they're being invited to judge the moral difference between a serial killer with five victims and one with ten.

And then conclude that Mr Five is worthy of a good citizenship medal!

Now, we know they've got their J/M/H in the bag. Even if, from now, nothing more bad about any of them comes to light.

And that's enough, surely, to judge by the Swifties' standard.

As for the FBI staffing up - how many of their current targets are Dems and how many GOP?

(Same question for convictions in the last year, two years, whatever.)

If the GOP-Dem ratio is more than 2:1, I'd be staggered. If it was anything approaching 2:1, I'd be amazed.

And - the kicker

No matter what the pundits in Washington tell you, the issue of corruption is salient with voters across the country. And if the Democrats intend on making the most of their opportunity this year, they will excoriate Republican corruption until the sun don't shine.

On salience, Jonathan, where's your evidence? And - let's stipulate to a high degree of salience: who do voters blame, and for what?

Would they blame the GOP Congressional leadership for corruption (if there is any!) in Portland City Council, for instance? I rather doubt it.

Is there differential salience for corruption in DC and in Oregon?

All sounds rather anecdotal to me.

And - more generally - what's the evidence on how much the Dems' campaign (such as it's been) on corruption has impacted GOP numbers - compared to the fubar in Iraq or rocketing gas prices, say?

I'd hypothesize that one reason that Dems (in general - not you) might be keen to highlight corruption was the dearth of really attractive policy proposals on which Dem MCs could unite.

So, for instance, on health care, the last suggestion from a Dem honcho I remember seeing was that the Dems would commit to revamping Medicare Part D if they won control of Congress. Not UHC; light-years from single payer.

I see why the Dems would go for GOP corruption. But - I fear they're mounting up for a Charge of the Light Brigade.

I'd like to be proved wrong, though.

by skeptic06 on Sat May 27, 2006 at 10:58:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Political Curruption Republican ... (1.00 / 1)

Democrat Jefferson is attempting to hide behind Congress to avoid prosecution for bribery and tax evation. Sounds fairly bi-partison to me. Politicians as a whole need to be cleaned up: the GOP and the Democrat Party.

by Theway2k on Sat May 27, 2006 at 10:55:53 PM EST

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