where do I start .
California where state senator Leland Yee has been busted for a number of charges involving your typical run of the mill corruption . But the whopper is that this supporter of restricting 2nd amendment rights was nabbed in a plot to deal firearms without a license and illegally import firearms. He claimed to be able to supply shoulder fired missiles and automatic weapons . He was arrested along with an Asian gang leader named 'Shrimp Boy' . He was until yesterday ,a candidate for Cal. Sec State .


Mayor Patrick Cannon of Charlotte resigned after he was charged with federal public corruption and accused of taking bribes in an FBI sting. He often bragged about partying with the Obamas to help grease the wheels for city projects.

Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin’s was convicted in January on corruption charges...We've already discussed former San Diego mayor ;serial groper Bob Filner.
...and former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s conviction on extortion, bribery, and conspiracy charges. Ditto for former Birmingham mayor Larry Langford ( corruption and bribery conviction).

This week a judge ruled that Pa. could proceed with a trial against state Sen LeAnna Washington, who forced her staff for eight years to use taxpayer time and money for an annual birthday party whose proceeds were diverted to her campaign account.
She yelled at one staffer “I am the f—ing senator,” she screamed at one staffer who objected. “I do what the f— I want, and ain’t nobody going to change me.”

Illinois state representative Keith Farnham ,sponsor of anti-child porn laws was nabbed for possession of child porn...... research ?

Harry Reid ... just the name oozes corruption. The latest charge is that he purchased $17 ,000 in gifts with campaign cash from his granddaughter Ryan Elisabeth Reid .... The checks went out to Ryan Elisabeth. She has a jewelry business and the campaign purchased some from her for gifts to donors.
Holder's Justice Dept is going to let him off easy .

Here are a few more :
former Trenton mayor Tony Mack’s February conviction on charges of accepting cash bribes ;former Birmingham mayor Larry Langford ... corruption and bribery conviction...Rhode Island House Speaker Gordon Fox ,the target of several criminal investigations by the U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI, the IRS, and state police.California state senator Ronald Calderon, ...on a paid leave of absence after being hit with a 24 count federal indictment for bribery and corruption. His brother is also under investigation . Among the many charges is that he paid his daughter $39,000 for a no show office job. California state senator Roderick Wright convicted on felony perjury, false declaration of candidacy, and fraudulent-voting charges. New York state assemblyman Bill Scarborough, corrupt travel-voucher practices(per-diem claims totaling $60,000).

and so on.

There are some that are saying the Dems are clearing the deck now so that the public will forget about this in November. They say that Holder et al will then concentrate on using the hammer on Republicans come September .
But I think this is just the start .

Yea, pretty much sums it up...

Eric Holder should be the next one going to jail... he was after all doing the same thing not very long ago arming the Mexican drug cartels.

This is just more evidence of the contempt the Progressives hold the citizenry in. Witness Senator (pedophile) Reid's statement that he never said that all the Obamacare horror stories were lies.

Outrageous: Harry Reid Lied About Americans Being Liars, and Now That He's Busted, He's Lying Again (http://www.ijreview.com/2014/03/124435-unbelievble/)

45864

"Where do I start"

Tom, you don't really want the honest answer to that. Do you?

Quid est veritas?

What about the other side?

What about the other side?

Most pundits are speculating that the Republican indictments will be held up by the Holder administration until late September/early October to have maximum effect on the elections.

Quid est veritas?


Introspection can at least make an attempt at honesty. Truth requires no such attempt.

Here in lies the problem.

What about the other side?

Yes, I am waiting for the examples of corruption postings from the other side. Probably, not as many, but then again the Repubs are not in power.

Same old inability to address the actual problem.

Quid est veritas ? Yeah didn't Pontius Pilot ask that once ?

Quid est veritas ? Yeah didn't Pontius Pilot ask that once ?


I don't know Tom. Perhaps he lacked introspection in matters of politics.

What about the other side?

I don't recall that question being raised here in 2006-2008 when Pelosi ,Reid ran hard on Republican corruption as their key campaign issue. I got the phrase 'drain the swamp ' from Pelosi's campaign promise in 2006.

I don't know Tom. Perhaps he lacked introspection in matters of politics.
maybe ....or maybe he was playing word games trying to justify an unjust conviction he made for political expediency.

What about the other side?

I don't recall that question being raised here in 2006-2008 when Pelosi ,Reid ran hard on Republican corruption as their key campaign issue. I got the phrase 'drain the swamp ' from Pelosi's campaign promise in 2006.


Well, there you go. You have summed up the OP very nicely: An appeal to hypocrisy.

Most pundits are speculating that the Republican indictments will be held up by the Holder administration until late September/early October to have maximum effect on the elections.So there is no evidence of a culture of corruption for the republicans? Or it will be outed at a later date?

a culture of corruption for the republicans

You might want to expand your focus. We are dealing with politicians, after all. Perhaps we all should.

the difference of course is the coverage . An act by a staffer of Chris Christie has been almost non-stop coverage for months in the news. . Most of the people on this board had NO clue that the Senate Majority leader was involved in illegal campaign acts and was under Justice Dept investigation. I watched the story of Leland Yee's gun smuggling go 2 days without comment on these boards. Had he been a Republican you know he would've gotten his own op .
You guys know when a Repubican is involved because ,like Duke Cunningham ,they end up serving hard time . Reid had to agree to return the money .

You might want to expand your focus. I agree with you. My post was directed more at the OP I guess. Most american politicians will be guilty of corruption at some point if their main goal is personal wealth. The system is designed for that purpose. To think that only one party is guilty is very naïve.

last time I herad the term drain the swamp, it was in reference to arses and alligators, but alligators don't live that far north and arses are universal

Let's not forget Lois Lerner. The hits just keep on coming.

Yes there are more ... I should've included her. This week the new head of the IRS ,John Koskinen continued the stonewalling ,telling Congress that the IRS would not comply with the congressional request for Lerner e-mails and other documents this year ..ie before the elections. He said it will "take years to respond "(forget about comply ) . As stated before ,it's useless for Congress to hold him or Lerner in contempt because that would require an enforcement means that the Justice Dept won't provide . Short of cutting funds to the IRS (a congressional prerogative ) there is little that the House can do to reign in the administration. Meanwhile they are feverishly writing code that would make their illegal persecution of conservative and religious groups legal.

persecutionIt's (a) complex.

The 2nd Article of Impeachment of Richard Nixon was his using the IRS as a weapon against his political opponents. Emperor Barak Millhouse Obama should keep that in mind.

Tom, I think draining a couple of swamps isn't the answer. Probably a clean up of the entire landscape is in order.

Having said that we know it will never happen, so I guess we just treat it as just another day.

I think they have decided that draining the swamp is not the answer and so they have resorted to moving mountains in order to stop the water flowing to the swamps, thus the swamp will be extended and noone can rise above the mire

It was the dems turn to be caught riding dirty. You had your turn, and no doubt will have another.

Potential 2016 GOP candidates court mega donor Adelson during Vegas weekend | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/28/republicans-court-mega-donor-adelson-during-vegas-weekend/)

with the exception of Scott Walker ,that's a veritable rogues gallery. And Adelson wants to bankroll Repubic insiders who the Repubic establishment favors .

How fitting a casino owner after losing big in 2012, is ready to roll the dice again.

once a gambler, always a gambler

the Dems never make a stink about the money George Soros has "invested " in their cause. While they bemoan the influence of money in politics they ignore the fact that the Koch Bros and Adelson are pikers compared to Soros when it comes to direct spending on campaigns ,and financing think tanks ,PACs and 527s .

Most everywhere Soros, his foundations or his investing have gone, trouble has followed. He's helped foment revolutions, undermined national currencies and funded radicals around the world. Soros has been convicted of insider dealing in France and fined $3 million, fined another $2 million in his native Hungary. His “foundations have been accused of shielding spies and breaking currency laws” and his investing strategy has been targeted for harming several national currencies.....
While his charitable giving goes to liberal organizations with close ties to the Democratic Party, his political giving goes almost entirely to Democrats.
That's not the story the broadcast networks have been telling about Soros for the past five years. There were 29 mentions of Soros during that time but only one gave any hint at trouble, and that was merely to mention he was “still known as the man who broke the Bank of England.” But ABC followed it up with: “That was all legal.” Only a sex scandal with a 28-year-old Brazilian actress gave Soros any negative publicity at all.

Special Report: George Soros: Godfather of the Left | Media Research Center (http://www.mrc.org/special-reports/special-report-george-soros-godfather-left)


he vastly outspent the libertarian Koch Brothers in individual political donations 8 to 1.

the Dems never make a stink about the money George Soros has "invested " in their cause. While they bemoan the influence of money in politics they ignore the fact that the Koch Bros and Adelson are pikers compared to Soros when it comes to direct spending on campaigns ,and financing think tanks ,PACs and 527s .

Special Report: George Soros: Godfather of the Left | Media Research Center (http://www.mrc.org/special-reports/special-report-george-soros-godfather-left)



Tom, how about you be one of the first to face up to the actual problems that plague your political system rather than concentrating on the faults of particular individuals. For example,why does this system allow or promote such behaviour?

These sort of posts are just a ongoing exercise in futility. Why? Well, as you correctly point out, nothing ever gets done about it.

They are not interested in fixing anything, just in posting to their echo chamber. A sad life indeed.

They are not interested in fixing anything, just in posting to their echo chamber.

Unfortunately, I am starting to think you are correct.

term limits ... I've offered that up a number of times. campaign donations are not the problem. As is often the case ,the left thinks the only solution is for the taxpayer to foot the bill .

Maybe I am being more open about corruption in our system than you are in yours ? I think so. I don't do a lot of research into your nations ,but a quick glance shows me that some of your gvt ministers can't keep their hands out of the cookie jar either (Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald) ;and there are corrupt relationships between pols and business too (Leighton Holdings kickbacks ;or the Australian Wheat Board kickbacks ) .

Tom it's not hard; term limits as you say, limits on campaign donations, elections funded by government, but the snouts have been in the trough too long. people go into politics to become rich. You know Tom nations and empires come and go and the reasons are all the same

, elections funded by government you mean the taxpayer . I have never checked the box where I can give a dollar of my taxes for campaigns and I never will.

If billionaires like Adelson want to waste money on candidates let them. Ie ;he spend 93 million dollars in a lost cause supporting Romney .
Ultimately it's the politician's responsibility to be free of corruption. It doesn't help when the Justice Dept lets someone like Reid off the hook. Frog marching him would send a powerful message.

campaign donations are not the problem.Yes they are. Open your eyes.


Ultimately it's the politician's responsibility to be free of corruption. That leaves the door wide open for all manner of scoundrels ... and that is what you have.

so do you
Canada ranked worst of G7 nations in fighting bribery, corruption - The Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canada-ranked-worst-of-g7-nations-in-fighting-bribery-corruption/article592312/)

Corruption, and bad behavior, and personal enrichment agendas can be found everywhere, both illegal, AND legal. If you know you will be in the mix for a limited time the need to fatten up and have another fat place to go may be the best motivation of any to be corrupted. I am against term limits but think full disclosure of where the money flows is a better option.

You don't need a sting to expose cash flow revenues, just closer scrutiny by qualified people, and much tighter controls over legislative over sights. You don't need a sting to expose loopholes purposely written into law, just greater scrutiny.

Corruption is just the pooling of money in one place and doled out to get what you want. MO' MONEY!

Big money gets heard and who listens to anything but "show me the money"! Got no money? Let me know who listens to ya! This thread should be renamed to be accurate. The culture of corruption is not just centered in one political party, or one particular country, or religion, and is nothing new.

full disclosure works for me too. As for the naming of the op .. there was a specific reason why it was named as it was ... I'll refer you to the 2006 campaign when the Dems ran on the term 'Repubican culture of corruption ' and Pelosi said she would 'drain the swamp '.
2006 Republican party scandals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Republican_party_scandals)

Funny how I did not hear this line about corruption being bipartisan then,

Your turn to point fingers as I said before, then it was the dems turn. Go back further than 2006, you will see the pattern of back and forth more clearly. SOP for politics.

so do you
Canada ranked worst of G7 nations in fighting bribery, corruption - The Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canada-ranked-worst-of-g7-nations-in-fighting-bribery-corruption/article592312/)


Perhaps you can do a G7 ranking, but how to you then compare G7 ranking to those countries such as New Zealand that has one of the smallest economies in the world. Bottom Rung of what?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index (http://www.wikipedia/wiki/Corruption_Perception_Index)

Everyone in Canada wants that conservative government out anyway since they are the cause of that ranking.

of course you can compare large and small nations, being small doesn't mean you can't deal with issues and show some leadership

Good NK ;concentrate on your own problems .I never see you posting smack about your own nation ;but you spend a lot of time coming here to trash mine .

It's perception Tom a larger nation has more trash to take out, as you take great pains to point out, anytime you want to talk about the trash down here, I'll be happy to work with you

.I never see you posting smack about your own nation ;but you spend a lot of time coming here to trash mine .Why should I post "smack" about my nation? I like it. You trash yours constantly... and I support you! You should thank me!
Typically I correct the misinformation that you post.