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Corruption in our government knows no allegiance
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Yesterday, former Louisiana congressman William Jefferson (D) was sentenced in an Alexandria, VA courthouse to 13 years of prison for a slew of corruption charges, including racketeering and bribery. A 2005 raid of his home in Washington found $90,000 in neatly wrapped bills in his freezer. A subsequent raid of his congressional office occurred in 2006.
Critics on both sides of the aisle denounced the raid as unconstitutional. Ironically, it was not the raid of his home and private residence that created controversy, but rather the raid of his congressional office.
This is hardly surprising or new. Civil liberties have been trampled in recent years by politicians of both parties while they allow themselves the protective cloak of "congressional independence" and "executive privilege". This sort of corruption and the tactics used to hide it from the public have a long history in politics. Corruption knows no borders and no party allegiance.
- Rep. Verne Buchanan (R, FL)- Allegedly coerced donations from employees of his car dealerships. Other allegations include shady business practices with his car dealerships and a printing company prior to that.
- Sen. Roland Burris (D, IL)- Perjured himself in regards to his dealings with impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich; was acquitted by the Illinois state prosecutor, but gave three conflicting statements on three different occasions while under oath.
- Rep. Maxine Waters (D, CA)- Arranged a meeting with treasury officials to acquire bailout funds for a bank to which her husband used to serve on the board of directors and owned a significant amount of stock for (in violation of House conflict of interest rules). She's also infamous for a slip of the tongue, using the dreaded "s" word during a congressional hearing on offshore drilling (video below).
- Rep. Ken Calvert (R, CA)- Pushed for earmarks, which have directly benefited a major campaign contributor. The earmark and other suspect real-estate dealings in the Congressman's history have raised allegations of bribery and even extortion.
- Rep. Pete Visclosky (D, IN)- Also under investigation for bribery in a contribution-for-earmark deal involving the now defunct PMA group.
This is far from an exhaustive list. This is simply an example of current representatives (meaning still in office) who have committed acts while in office that are either blatant forms of corruption or equitable to it ( a more complete list can be found here).
Also important to note is that America's rate of political corruption is far below that of many other countries. This, however, is not an acceptable excuse for such practices to continue. Further, the rate of corruption is not necessarily increasing (although it's certainly not decreasing), and much of the increased coverage can be attributed to ever increasing negativity in politics. This leads to increased exposure of "scandals" and wrongdoings which in turn blind us to those not in the spot light.
Our politicians need to learn that the government serves us, the people, and not the other way around. This should not be a party issue. This is an American issue.
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Rep. Waters (D, CA) in response to oil industry
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