Corruption in Politics

[tonigking]

Would someone please tell me how these people always get away clean after their theft/evasion/fraud/bribery etc., all felonies, are discovered.

I am sick to death of hearing about poor Rangel, poor Waters,poor Franks and the freezer bandit; I've forgotten his name. The list goes on. What about Geitner and all the others who don't pay taxes. What about Gengrich and Delay.

Abuse of power should carry major sanctions and lifetime consequences.

Why are they never convicted nor their outrageous lifetime benefits taken away. If you or I committed these same offenses we might never see daylight again.
:rant::cursing:

[lmam88]

Would someone please tell me how these people always get away clean after their theft/evasion/fraud/bribery etc., all felonies, are discovered.

I am sick to death of hearing about poor Rangel, poor Waters,poor Franks and the freezer bandit; I've forgotten his name. The list goes on. What about Geitner and all the others who don't pay taxes. What about Gengrich and Delay.

Abuse of power should carry major sanctions and lifetime consequences.

Why are they never convicted nor their outrageous lifetime benefits taken away. If you or I committed these same offenses we might never see daylight again.
:rant::cursing:
I agree but it's been this way for ever since I can remember. We are just hearing about it more these days. Money buys all when in the right position with the right name and friends in high places!

[curious]

You are exactly right, Imam! just like right here at home. It happened again, just today. If you have money, you don't go to jail. Instead of being arrested, they say they'll issue a summons to court, but it never comes to court. Dies on the vine. . . . Money talks, don't let anyone tell you it don't!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nomos]

You are exactly right, Imam! just like right here at home. It happened again, just today. If you have money, you don't go to jail. Instead of being arrested, they say they'll issue a summons to court, but it never comes to court. Dies on the vine. . . . Money talks, don't let anyone tell you it don't!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Curious, what are you talking about happening here?

[Brian]

If you have money, you don't go to jail. Instead of being arrested, they say they'll issue a summons to court, but it never comes to court. Dies on the vine. . . . Money talks, don't let anyone tell you it don't!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Money is amoral, it is not evil. It's the man and what he/she choose's to do with or the love of, that makes it evil. Just like a brick, you can use it to throw through a window or you could use it to help build a home for abused women. It's what we choose to do with it.

[Pure Texan]

Get back on subject. what about those DC crooks. Im like tongking. why do they get by with it.

[curious]

Get back on subject. what about those DC crooks. Im like tongking. why do they get by with it.

Because we keep re-electing them. If the courts won't do their job, we can with our vote!:banghead:

[Pure Texan]

I dont want to just not re-elect them. I want them persecuted and loose their bennys and spend some time in jail. How do we teach our kids to be decent an lawabiding when the leaders of the country are common criminals.

[luxgolfer]

Moving closer to home.

What about our governor and senator (Troy "Bum Steer" Fraser? Didn't Texas Monthly select the latter as Texas' worst legislator two years running, and weren't he and "Dead Eye" Perry involved in a hankypanky land deal in Horseshoe Bay sdome time back? The one that Fraser never reported, but should have???

[Peaches]

Meanwhile, KXAN had this to say in a report about Bill White's dealings during Hurricane Rita:

"As the storm was walloping Houston, White helped line up private companies to provide goods and services as part of a massive relief effort. One of those companies was Btec Turbines, where White had served on the board of directors. White said he called the company to help provide power generators to ensure the Houston-area refineries and the city of Baytown could maintain their water supply during the power outages.
The company then got an emergency contract with the Coastal Water Authority, White recalled.
A little more than a year later, White invested about $1 million in the privately held Btec, which has also provided generators to contractors in Iraq. He has reported about a $500,000 profit from the investment."

[tarheel]

What about our governor and senator (Troy "Bum Steer" Fraser? Didn't Texas Monthly select the latter as Texas' worst legislator two years running

Being selected worst by the far left-wing Texas Monthly is a badge of honor. That rag should be called the People's Republic of Austin Monthly.

[tonigking]

Gee I sure wish I had titled this thread "Corruption in DC Politics"

I still want to know why heads are turned away from corrupt criminals in Washington DC.

Could it be we need an ethics committee outside of Congress ?
As always the fox is still guarding the henhouse.

We must insist on term limits in DC.:confused:

[clanmaddern]

Check the facts - we should be glad the ethics committee is actually doing something.
Thursday, Aug 5, 2010 17:06 ET


Democrats deserve credit -- not blame -- on ethics

Voters angered by corruption should laud Nancy Pelosi's reforms (and beware a Republican restoration)

By Joe Conason (http://www.thehighlandlakes.com/author/joe_conason/index.html)

APRep. Nancy Pelosi

Clarity of thought is rare in both political press coverage and public opinion, but the reaction so far to the House ethics cases brought against Reps. Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters is well beyond average stupid.
According to conventional media wisdom (http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2010/07/26/house-democrats-fret-over-rangel-case/) -- always heavily influenced by Republican noisemakers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68Lzaw_lgPk&feature=channel) -- the Democrats should expect to suffer (http://newsok.com/swamp-gas/article/3482062) because two powerful committee chairs from their party are undergoing ethics investigations. But why should Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats take the blame when they brought reform that led to those investigations, regardless of the political consequences?
Yet, having thrown out the bums who tolerated corruption for so long under Republican leadership, the public is supposedly itching to throw out their replacements, who have reformed the House rules, created a new Office of Congressional Ethics, and handled every case impartially, as promised when the Democrats took over in January 2007. Voters have plenty of reasons to feel frustrated and angry this year, but ethics reform is not among them.
The most telling remark uttered by anyone in the wake of the release of the ethics charges against Rangel came from one of his most dedicated right-wing antagonists, Peter Flaherty of the National Center for Policy Analysis. "We're kind of astonished it's gone this far," said Flaherty (http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/rangel_faces_tough_fight_in_ethics_committee_trial .php), whose organization instigated one of the early investigations (http://www.nlpc.org/stories/2010/07/29/house-ethics-committee-confirms-nlpc%E2%80%99s-rangel-allegations) of the Harlem congressman. "We always believed the allegations against Rangel were serious, but we never thought the Ethics Committee would do anything."


Obviously Flaherty, a lifelong Republican (http://www.nlpc.org/bios/peter-flaherty) who once headed a lobbying group called Citizens for Reagan, expected that the committee would function much the same way under Democratic leadership as it did under the Republicans. Which specifically would mean playing dead, particularly with respect to any allegations against a committee chair or majority leadership figure. He was wrong.
Back when the Republicans controlled the House, however, their stewardship of ethical standards was a pitiful sham. They set the coverup agenda when they voted in November 2004 to withhold any sanctions against Tom DeLay, then the House majority leader, even if he were to be indicted on a felony count. Naturally they held that vote in secrecy, just after the presidential election, because they represent honesty, transparency and apple pie. (Eventually a surge of public outrage forced them to restore the Democrats' old rule requiring an indicted member to step down.)
Rather than punish DeLay, the Republican majority purged their decent colleagues on the ethics committee who had voted to admonish him -- and replaced them with pliable stooges, including Rep. Tom Cole, now a deputy whip under Minority Leader John Boehner. Their only notable achievement was to stall inquiries into the revolting behavior of Mark Foley, Randy Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney, failing to investigate even as the latter two were on their way to prison (a fate that Foley narrowly escaped). Indeed, during the Republicans' tenure, five representatives were convicted of felonies, three more were indicted, and a dozen were reportedly subjects of FBI probes -- while they literally did nothing.
So will someone please explain how the ascension of Boehner, Cole and their cohort would improve the ethical climate in the House? As Boehner surely knows, the rule Rangel violated when he accepted those controversial Caribbean junkets was part of Pelosi’s reform. And as he surely remembers, he opposed that rules change -- perhaps because he would have violated the travel rule more than once had it been in effect a year or two earlier. An avid golfer, the Republican leader especially loves to play and work on his tan whenever he can cadge a free ride to Boca Raton, where, between rounds, he can also promise tax breaks (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03EFDC1F30F936A25754C0A9609C8B 63) to the commodities traders who have generously donated to his campaign war chest.
The sole distinguishing moment in Boehner’s career, prior to his elevation to the leadership, came back in 1995, when he brazenly passed out checks (http://www.thefreelibrary.com/GOP+LEADER+CALLS+TOBACCO+CHECK+HANDOUTS+A+%60MISTA KE'.-a083962688) from Brown & Williamson, the tobacco company, to members on the House floor. Having been caught, he apologized for making a "mistake." He was a debased flunky for corporate lobbyists then and he has not changed.
So much for the ethical bona fides of the would-be speaker and his crowd.
Perhaps the alleged misconduct of Rangel and Waters is so deplorable that they must be punished. Let the evidence be set forth for their colleagues to evaluate. But if the House punishes any wrongdoing, that will happen because Pelosi’s reforms were real and the majority has enforced them. The only thing more foolish than blaming the Democrats for the alleged misconduct of Rangel or Waters would be to believe that the Republicans would enforce ethical standards with any semblance of rigor. They certainly never did so when they were in power.

[gardener]

Can we now have a Patriot Party rather than Rep, Dem or Tea that will help
elect representatives that (to quote myself)
1. Will institute term limits.
2. Will pass social security and medicare for their own retirement instead of the now privileged system.
3. Will control the graft of elections by outlawing campaign funds! Shocker, I know, but with TV, Radio and Internet and debates, there is no need for all these monetary favors that will have to be repaid....
4. Will stay in dormitories while congress in session so they will have to come back and live with those they represent....
These are just my Utopian musings.

We currently have taxation without representation as our reps do not have to live and retire as and where we do. 235 years ago we went to war over this!
Mid term elections are just 3 months away. Don't get mad, Get Even, VOTE!

[clanmaddern]

Enjoy!
Political Cartoon
http://www.cagle.com/working/100803/stein.jpg
http://f816.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f514090%5fAJ3HjkQAAEZPTFxFxwduDCXX Vo0&pid=2&fid=Dicks%2520mail&inline=1

[mdarling]

If they are over 65, they are already on medicare. Doesn't matter if you have a government health insurance policy. The government policy takes second place; the primary is medicare.

[Uncle Ted]

Gee I sure wish I had titled this thread "Corruption in DC Politics"

I still want to know why heads are turned away from corrupt criminals in Washington DC.

Could it be we need an ethics committee outside of Congress ?
As always the fox is still guarding the henhouse.

We must insist on term limits in DC.:confused:

Quit voting in Harvard Liberals - Term Limits - Common Sense Candidates.:cool2:

[Mike]

Clanmaddern,

I don't often respond to political posts. But your posting of Joe Conason's article about the ethical committee is way over the top. Joe Conason is about the most far left radial Democrat that there is.
He has been a heavy supporter of "Acorn" & has written such article's as "You want to know what caused all those earthquake deaths in Haiti as compared to Chile? A Tea Party mental disorder." That is the laughable premise (http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20100304/cm_uc_crjcox/op_4513150) put forward by Joe Conason. He writes for DailyKOS, Salon & other far left media. He is also connected to George Sorus. His constant conspiracy theorys about the Repulications could be classified as Sience Fiction.
I assume because you posted his article that you believe it as truth. So I assume you are a Progressive. I respect your right to be a progressive & will always listen to your side of the issue.
But I refuse to give radical opinions such as Joe Conason posted on the board as "truth" any respect.

I have been pleased with the Political posts on this board so far. Except for one or two cases, I feel we have been respective to each other. Management has done a good job. I also hope this board does not embrace, nor allow "copy & paste" articles from radicals from the "Right or the Left" get out of hand.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2010/03/05/joe-conason-blames-earthquake-deaths-tea-party-pandemic-mental-tic#ixzz0vvly19Dz

[tarheel]

Mike, that is very well put. I, for one, wish you would write more. I continue to feel that the purpose of these forums is to learn from each other, and you obviously have a lot to contribute.

One word about the term "progressive." Liberals found that the word liberal was starting to stink, so they came up with the sanitized term "progressive." For the life of me, I can't find anything progressive about the U.S. trying the failed policies of socialism, which has destroyed lives all over the planet wherever it has been tried. There are no cases in history of it working, so why, oh why, do we want to go there?

I guess the answer can be found by watching Jay Leno do "Jaywalking."

[clanmaddern]

Mike - while you attack Joe Conason for some other articles he has written you didn't have any arguments about the one I included in this thread. I'm not selling Joe Conason's stuff, but the article speaks for itself. If you have some different facts, let's hear them without chasing some rabbit trail off subject.

[tarheel]

clanmaddern, the article you provided is nothing more than cute word plays. It does not stand on its own, not does it make valid points.

Example 1: "Obviously Flaherty, a lifelong Republican who once headed a lobbying group called Citizens for Reagan, expected that the committee would function much the same way under Democratic leadership as it did under the Republicans. Which specifically would mean playing dead, particularly with respect to any allegations against a committee chair or majority leadership figure."

So, Conason knows what Flaherty expected? Really? And, Conason says the committee played dead? Really? This is just rhetoric, without facts.

Example 2: "? As Boehner surely knows, the rule Rangel violated when he accepted those controversial Caribbean junkets was part of Pelosi’s reform. "

So, Boehner knows something because Conason says he did? Really? And Pelosi reformed Congress, according to Conason? Really? Funny kind of reform, since virtually everything done by Pelosi's House has been done behind closed doors. Remember her saying we have to pass this bill so that we can see what's in it? Wonderful. Wonderful reform.

His whole column can be picked apart as easy as pie. It is all blathering propaganda from Conason. It is all he writes. This is not a serious man, and serious people should not waste time on him.

Suggest you find time to read Krauthammer, Tom Sowell, and other serious writers.

[Peaches]

No need to pick it apart, Tarheel. The above copied and pasted Conason piece is nothing more than an opinion editorial. His opinion of Pelosi carries as much weight with me as Pelosi's opinion of herself carries with me....which isn't much. He's a dimwit, and he can keep his opinions to himself!

[curious]

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of. ~ Confucius

[Pure Texan]

Man ole curious, that is the smartest thing i ever read on this forum

[KINGCHIP]

Man ole curious, that is the smartest thing i ever read on this forum



...if you like communism.

[tonigking]

Would you go back to original post and tell me why you think all these elected people get away with criminal activity and no consequences for felony theft other than "hearings.
Why are they not prosecuted? You or I would be if we didn't pay our taxes, or violate SEC regulations or give or accept bribes...:rant:

[tarheel]

I like the quote. If I'm reading it correctly, it is saying that a well governed country offers opportunity and incentive. It rewards good behavior and punishes bad behavior. Wealth earned is nothing to be ashamed of, but rather it is a mark of pride ... except in badly governed countries, which foster jealousy and reward sloth. In the well governed country, poverty is something to be ashamed of because it shows failure to take advantage of the opportunities available in the well governed country.

[tonigking]

I received this e-mail this morning, don't have a clue who wrote it. Sums up my opinion exactly.

"These are possibly the 5 smartest sentences you'll ever read:


1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity,
by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for,
another person must work for without receiving.

3, The government cannot give to anybody anything
that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not
have to work because the other half is going to take care
of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does
no good to work, because somebody else is going to get
what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning
of the end of any nation.

5. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.


--- REMEMBER ---

IN NOVEMBER 2010, WE HAVE A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
TO CLEAN OUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE AND ONE-THIRD OF THE SENATE! "

[curious]

...if you like communism.
Me thinks you might have misunderstood the quote.

[curious]

I received this e-mail this morning, don't have a clue who wrote it. Sums up my opinion exactly.

"These are possibly the 5 smartest sentences you'll ever read:


1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity,
by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for,
another person must work for without receiving.

3, The government cannot give to anybody anything
that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not
have to work because the other half is going to take care
of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does
no good to work, because somebody else is going to get
what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning
of the end of any nation.

5. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.


--- REMEMBER ---

IN NOVEMBER 2010, WE HAVE A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
TO CLEAN OUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE AND ONE-THIRD OF THE SENATE! "

AMEN, Brother!!!!

[tonigking]

Or Sister, as the case may be. LOL:D

[curious]

Blatant illegal alien voted in 2004 election (confessed), and now DHS wants it covered up, to he can become a citizen! Watch this video:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=69c_1282431115

"They are not illegal aliens, they are undocumented democrats."

[Pure Texan]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrATS4mthX4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrATS4mthX4)

[curious]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrATS4mthX4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrATS4mthX4)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:banghead:

[gardener]

Keep in mind it is not democrats or republicans that need to be ousted. It is INCUMBENTS!
Again I say, Don't get mad, get even, VOTE!:rockon:

Tonigking- I love that quote!!!!!

[curious]

Former ACORN Official Agrees to Plea Deal in Nevada Voter Fraud Case


Published November 09, 2010
| Associated Press
LAS VEGAS -- A former supervisor for the defunct political advocacy group ACORN agreed to a plea deal Monday in a case alleging that canvassers were illegally paid to register Nevada voters during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Amy Busefink, 28, of Seminole, Fla., pleaded the equivalent of a no-contest in state court to two misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit the crime of compensation for registration of voters. Her Alford plea acknowledged the state had evidence for a conviction at trial.
The plea agreement could get Busefink a year of probation, a $1,000 fine and 100 hours of community service.

[gardener]

Did anyone catch the story done on our State Senator Troy Frasier and others on KXAN
covering the use of campaign funds here in Texas? Am I correct in determining that over 85% of Sen TF funds came from pacs and lobbyists from outside our district.
Uses leased BMW or Lexus, overseas trips to Europe and Asia, how is that pertinent to the representation of our needs in this district?
Did this bring us jobs?

:confused:Just a question folks,would like an answer.

Is this an ethics violation?:confused:

[curious]

Inspector: Drilling Moratorium Report Altered by White House


Published November 10, 2010
| Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Interior Department's inspector general says the White House edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts supported the idea of the administration's six-month ban on new drilling.

Good ole Obama!!!!!!!

[tarheel]

AND, it is not just government that we can't trust. Remember Climategate? The liberal media did everything it could to make sure that got buried. Now, look at Wikileaks. Same treatment? Not exactly, see what the NYTimes had to say on both below.

Two Papers in One!

"The documents appear to have been acquired illegally and contain all manner of private information and statements that were never intended for the public eye, so they won't be posted here."--New York Times, on the Climategate emails, Nov. 20, 2009

"The articles published today and in coming days are based on thousands of United States embassy cables, the daily reports from the field intended for the eyes of senior policy makers in Washington. . . . The Times believes that the documents serve an important public interest, illuminating the goals, successes, compromises and frustrations of American diplomacy in a way that other accounts cannot match."--New York Times, on the WikiLeaks documents, Nov. 29, 2010