This isn't crafted by me, but found it interesting.
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Problems in Modern Politics
In 1823 Thomas Jefferson wisely noted, "In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life if secured against all liability to account." It is basic common sense if you understand human nature at all. You get a good job, maybe you bend a few rules to keep it. The more powerful you are, the easier it is to bend bigger and bigger rules. After awhile it just becomes too easy. Public accountability is the single most important reform needed in modern politics. Corporate executives are expected to accomplish certain goals or they are fired; if they break a law they face the same police you and I do. Politicians need only win a popularity contest and if they break a law it is either ignored or pushed aside in a back-room deal. Consider just some of the following:
Pay Raises.
Congress has the ability to vote its own pay raise. Now if YOU had the chance to vote on your own pay raise, wouldn't you jump at the chance? But how many of you get the chance to start with a six-figure salary and vote for a raise that may increase that pay by as much as fifty percent? Congress does. But they have taken the process a step further. Nobody wants to have their name printed in the newspaper as having voted themselves a grotesque raise. That would very reasonably raise the ire of a lot of voters. So they created a law that says an automatic 50% raise would go into effect unless it was voted down by Congress by 5pm on a given date. At 5:05pm the great majority vote against it, going on record as opposing the raise, knowing full well that after 5pm the vote does not count. Nobody in government should have the ability to vote on their own pay; it literally guarantees corruption of that process.
The Congressional Record
was established as essentially minutes of the proceedings of Congress. It was intended to be a public record of the votes and discussions held in Congress so that citizens could make sure their representatives were following the wishes of their constituents. But along the way, Congress enacted a law which allows them to edit the Congressional Record. This means a member of Congress can vote ONE way, and amend the record to indicate they had voted another way. The Congressional Record should be a precise and accurate record of every action on the floor of Congress and made immune from edit by members of Congress.
Making Rules, Not Abiding By Them
is a typical situation in Congress. It is one thing to pass a law that is good for the nation, but certainly adherence should start from the top. Yet Congress is exempt from many of the laws that burden businesses all across the country. Recently a move was made to force Congress to live under all of the OSHA regulations for a safe workplace. One Congress member literally shrieked at the prospect, affronted as though the very idea was preposterous. "If we had to operate under THOSE rules" he claimed "NOTHING would ever get done..." That should be a real warning sign to the very Congress that passed the law. If it makes no sense for THEM then it darn well is not likely to make any better sense for the rest of the country. Congress should have to abide by the same laws they pass for the rest of the nation.
Ethics Committees
are another Congressional-made loophole. If you or I commit a crime, we must deal with the criminal justice system which will hold us dispassionately to a uniform standard of law. Thieves do not get to return stolen loot for forgiveness and judges don't want to hear sob stories. But when a member of Congress commits a crime, they go before an ethics committee. This is a group of their colleagues who meet behind closed doors to work out whatever deal they like. If the perpetrator is a friend, these meetings can be as simple as "how do we whitewash the problem?" If the subject is a political opponent, it more often than not becomes a case "Well, now you're screwed, what concessions will you give us to let you walk?" Deals are made, heads turn and ultimately the matter is "resolved internally". ANY crime committed by ANY American citizen should be prosecuted by the same criminal justice system under the same standards.
Sealed Records
are still another phenomena largely reserved for the politically well-connected. In cases where a legitimate criminal or civil inquiry is made which would prove damning to an individual or agency, in many cases that repost is sealed, prohibiting civilians from ever reading it. Now I understand that some documents regarding war efforts are sealed as a matter of national security, but why are the following documents sealed?
The Ted Kennedy accident report regarding the death of Mary Jo Kopecne remains sealed to this day. For those unfamiliar with ancient history, a drunk Ted Kennedy drove his car off the Chappaquidick bridge with Miss Kopecne inside. Kennedy abandoned the vehicle and left Miss Kopecne to drown. He did not report the accident to authorities until the following day. When the car was pulled out of the water, forensic evidence proved that Miss Kopecne was not only conscious, but had been able to survive for some duration with air trapped inside the car. If Kennedy had made even a feeble attempt to secure assistance there is a reasonable chance she could have been saved. Why is it that all of the evidence regarding this event has been sealed and remains so to this day?
The Justice Dept. Review of the Branch Davidian slaughter that occurred in Waco, Texas. In this incident roughly 80 civilians, mostly women and children, were burned to death when the building they were in burned to the ground. On the morning this report was to be released, the current head of the BATF responsible for the incident resigned. The report was immediately sealed by then Attorney General Janet Reno and to this date the press has never been allowed to see it. Since that time it has been established as fact that various members of law enforcement involved with that incident committed perjury in their testimony, having sworn that incendiary devices were NOT employed by federal agents when in fact incendiaries were used and ultimately the charred remains of several incendiary devices were produced as evidence. What important matter of national security precludes the public from reading a factual account of what took place in Texas and why so many people died?
The simple fact is that powerful politicians have sealed records to protect wrongdoing or actions which would be considered unpopular. The truth does not need a protective order or sealed records... only a lie does. Reports regarding the performance or actions of our Government should, except in cases of true national security, be publicly available.
Unrelated Pork-Barrel Riders
are another tactic to place political opponents in a no-win scenario. When a desperately needed and generally popular bill comes up for vote, unscrupulous members of Congress will attach "riders" to the bill, essentially unrelated laws that provide some otherwise unpopular perk to an unworthy group. If the primary law, lets say aid to farmers, is passed on its own merits, these riders become law as well. If a member of Congress objects to the riders and refuses to support the altered bill, they are immediately characterized in the press as "voting against the farmers of America".
This strikes me as being much like a drug dealer hiding cocaine in Mother Theresa's luggage without her knowledge. If the customs agent looks the other way, the drugs get in. If he tries to confiscate the drugs, he is portrayed as "The Man Who Busted Mother Theresa". Most people would rather turn their head than try to explain their way out of such a vile characterization during a vicious public crucifixion in the court of public opinion. If a law has merit it should be able to stand on its own legs for a vote. Unrelated riders should be banned from the floor of Congress.
Wholesale Corruption.
At present the layers of financial manipulation of Jesse Jackson are being peeled away revealing a shocking pattern of fraud and tax abuse that would have long ago landed you are I in prison. The list of transgressions are numbingly long: of $12 Million pulled in by the educational non-profit organization, less that 1% was actually spent on educational purposes! It has now been confirmed that Jackson diverted tens of thousands of dollars to one or more of his mistresses. While his organization submitted $1.2 million in travel expenses on their tax filing, they did not submit so much as one receipt to support the filing. Ladies and gentlemen, let me point out that if we were to claim so much as a THOUSAND dollars in unsupported write-off that we should expect an IRS inquiry of proctological proportions. Yet Mr. Jackson scams the taxpayers for millions of dollars and the IRS refuses to audit him. Why this double standard? There has been MORE than sufficient evidence to trigger an extensive audit of Jesse Jackson's taxes; he as well as all public officials should have to answer to the same standards that average Americans do.
April 2001: Jessie Jackson has added former Chicago Democratic congressman Mel Reynolds to the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's payroll. Reynolds was among the 176 criminals excused in President Clinton's last-minute forgiveness spree.
Reynolds received a commutation of his six-and-a-half-year federal sentence for 15 convictions of wire fraud, bank fraud and lies to the Federal Election Commission. He is more notorious, however, for concurrently serving five years for sleeping with an underage campaign volunteer.
This is a first in American politics. An ex-congressman who had sex with a subordinate won clemency from a president who had sex with a subordinate, then was hired by a clergyman who had sex with a subordinate.
The National Taxpayers Union compiled a list of former members of Congress who were convicted or pleaded guilty to major offenses since Bill Clinton took office. They are (in chronological order, Democrats in red and Republicans in blue):
Nick Mavroules, Massachusetts Democrat: tax evasion, accepting illegal gratuity (1992).
Albert Bustamante, Texas Democrat: racketeering (1993).
Carroll Hubbard, Kentucky Democrat: fraud and corruption (1994).
Carl Perkins, Kentucky Democrat: fraud (1994).
Charlie Rose, North Carolina Democrat: financial-disclosure irregularities (1994).
Larry Smith, Florida Democrat: tax evasion (1994).
Dave Durenberger, Minnesota Republican: financial-disclosure misdemeanor (1995).
Walter Fauntroy, District of Columbia Democrat: financial-disclosure misdemeanor (1995).
Gerald Kleczka, Wisconsin Democrat: arrested for DWI (1995 and 1990); convicted DWI (1987).
Mel Reynolds, Illinois Democrat: sexual misconduct (1995).
Walter Tucker, California Democrat: extortion (1995).
Charles Wilson, Texas Democrat: paid $90,000 fine to Federal Election Commission (1995).
Joe Kolter, Pennsylvania Democrat: fraud and conspiracy (1996).
Dan Rostenkowski, Illinois Democrat: mail fraud (1996).
Wes Cooley, Oregon Republican: lying about war record (1997).
Jay Kim, California Republican: campaign-finance violations (1998).
Mary Rose Oakar, Ohio Democrat: financial-disclosure irregularities (1998).
Austin J. Murphy, Pennsylvania Democrat: vote fraud (1999).
These politicians were found guilty of a variety of severe crimes ranging from accepting bribes, racketeering, fraud and corruption, tax evasion, sexual misconduct, DWI, extortion, conspiracy, mail fraud, and most recently... dare we say it... vote fraud!! America, we should be outraged when our public trust is betrayed and demand integrity and ethics consistent with the role of public service.
FELONY, INC.
Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:
29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupt at leased 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year
Can you guess which organization this is?
It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line
