Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (26491)	12/18/2008 5:52:44 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Democrats and the Culture of Corruption Peter Wehner - 12.18.2008 - 10:53 AM As the Rod Blagojevich scandal continues to unfold, it’s worth recalling that Democrats in 2006 -led by Representative Rahm Emanuel- ran on the theme that they would end “the culture of corruption.” Indeed, Emanuel, in dismissing wrongdoings by Democrats at the time, explained them away as simply the actions of a few individuals. About Republicans, Emanuel said, “They have institutional corruption.” The argument put forth was that Democrats would bring ethics and high standards to public office and that the Democratic Party would embody integrity and police its ranks. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. As the sportscaster Warner Wolf used to say, let’s go to the videotape. In 2008 alone, we have the arrest of Democratic Governor Blagojevich on charges of public corruption, which include trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Former Democratic Representative William Jefferson, a nine-term incumbent, lost his seat in Louisiana because of corruption charges, including allegations that he took bribes -of which $90,000 were allegedly found in his freezer during an FBI raid- from a company seeking lucrative contracts in the Nigerian telecommunications market. Tim Mahoney, the Democrat who succeeded Republican Mark Foley after the latter resigned due to a sex scandal, lost his seat when he, Mahoney, became embroiled in a sex scandal of his own. Former Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned in disgrace after he was caught up in a call girl operation. Democratic Representative Charlie Rangel is now under investigation for reportedly helping to retain a multimillion-dollar tax loophole for an oil drilling company at the same time that the company’s CEO was pledging $1 million to the Charles B. Rangel School for Public Service at City College of New York. Also, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigned as part of a plea bargain in which he pled guilty to two felonies for obstruction of justice. Democrats seem to be doing a rather fine job at building on a culture of corruption rather than ending it. Corruption and scandals plague individuals in both parties, of course, and Republicans have had their fair share of them (including the conviction of Senator Ted Stevens earlier this year). There are scoundrels and honorable people in both political parties. But three things are worth bearing in mind at the moment: The first is that Democrats, in their effort to gain political power, made ethics a defining issue. They are the ones who set the expectations and the ethics bar very high. Having so far failed miserably to meet their own standards, they are vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy. Second, when enough scandals occur in a concentrated time period, they reach a tipping point. The public begins to associate corruption not simply with individuals but with the party they represent; and that, in turn, can do tremendous damage to the “brand” of a political party. Such a thing happened to Republicans in recent years, and they paid an enormous political price for it. Now that same thing may be happening to Democrats. Third, President-elect Obama made the centerpiece of his campaign the promise that he would “turn the page” on the old politics and clean out our political Augean stables. As head of the Democratic Party, he is now responsible for its conduct, including its ethical behavior. It looks as if he has his work cut out for him. The Democratic Party has, in a matter of mere months, succeeded in creating a record of corruption that extends from mayors to governors to member of Congress. And the Blagojevich scandal is not only far from over, it may well extend beyond what we now know. It’s fair to assume that a lot of people are beginning to talk to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in the hopes of gaining leniency, so we will see how far the tentacles of this scandal extend. The “culture of corruption” appears to be alive and well, aided and abetted by Democrats at almost every level. I rather doubt the national media will be as eager to highlight this issue as they were with Republicans. But the public might connect the dots anyway. commentarymagazine.com

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (26491)	12/19/2008 9:27:10 AM
From: Peter Dierks	1 Recommendation Respond to of 71588

Democrats Are the New Ethics Story Blagojevich is just the tip of the iceberg. Kimberley A. Strassel DECEMBER 18, 2008, 11:48 P.M. ET A note to all those visitors who will soon flood Washington for the inauguration: Be careful of the "swamp." That would be the swamp Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to drain when she led her party to victory in 2006. The GOP had been rocked by scandal, and Mrs. Pelosi and Democrats won, in part, by promising to clean up the "culture of corruption" that pervaded Washington. Instead, Democrats now have an image problem. The real issue isn't so much Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Senate-seat auction, as it is the focus that his scandal has directed toward a wider assortment of Democratic troubles. This isn't great timing for Barack Obama, who campaigned on cleaner government. The Blagojevich drama is titillating enough, and local Democrats' dithering over how to fill Mr. Obama's seat guarantees it will remain a storyline longer than is comfortable. But the Illinois drama has also thrust new light on the ongoing ethical controversies of House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel. At the rate the House Ethics Committee is receiving complaints -- over Mr. Rangel's real-estate problems, tax problems, his privately sponsored trips to the Caribbean, and donations to his center in New York -- this too will make headlines for a while. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune published a new story about Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who racked up $420,000 through a series of suspicious real-estate deals. Texas Rep. Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, came under scrutiny this fall for questionable earmarking. West Virginia Rep. Alan Mollohan has been under investigation for a separate earmarking mess. And then there's Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who has yet to answer questions about the sweetheart mortgage deal he received from Countrywide. One unfortunate side effect of Mr. Obama's long coattails was that they helped the party's more ethically challenged members get re-elected. Pennsylvania's Paul Kanjorski and John Murtha, who both struggled to keep their seats because of earmarking travails, will continue to answer questions about their actions. Mrs. Pelosi lost a problem when Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson -- with his $90,000 in freezer cash -- lost in November. Yet she has potentially gained a new headache with Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who may have wanted that Obama seat a little too much. There are more. Shockingly, this has happened despite all those campaign-finance laws, and Congress's legislation to ban lobbyist lunches. The members took credit for those publicity stunts, and went right back to their "culture" of earmarking. The speaker's reluctance to tackle these problems is odd considering she is a seasoned pol who surely knows nothing sucks the life out of a party more quickly than a good round of tittle-tattle. The Republican crew of Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney sank the GOP easily enough, quite aside from its other problems. Mrs. Pelosi must also know Republicans are belatedly getting their own house in order, at least in terms of optics. The GOP is lucky that most of its worst offenders, such as Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, have now been dealt with by federal prosecutors or voters. To further inoculate his side, House Minority Leader John Boehner also recently moved to strip Alaska Rep. Don Young -- allegedly under federal investigation -- of his top slot at the resources committee. He intends to turn Democratic infractions into a political story. He knows how easy it is to do. Mrs. Pelosi's problem is politics. Her refusal to temporarily remove Mr. Rangel from Ways and Means is in part a reticence to further anger the Congressional Black Caucus, which remains steamed that she worked for Mr. Jefferson's ouster from his seat on Ways and Means. Worse, next in line for Mr. Rangel's slot is Rep. Pete Stark, an off-the-charts liberal who Mrs. Pelosi would struggle to leash. Is Mr. Obama taking notes? The president-elect is discovering the limits of his campaign strategy of ignoring inconvenient questions. One of his great achievements this year was to convince voters that his meteoric rise was unconnected to the Chicago political machine. His silence in the Blagojevich scandal has mainly served to make people wonder if that was true. His Clinton-era appointments threaten to unleash their own round of stories, from a rehash of Eric Holder's role in the Marc Rich pardon, to Bill Clinton's foundation donors. And Mrs. Pelosi's congressional problems threaten to become his own. Mr. Rangel, Mr. Reyes and Mr. Murtha -- to name but a few -- all head bodies that will be central to Mr. Obama's agenda. One of President Bush's mistakes was his refusal to police the spending and earmarks that led his party to temptation, or to push his party to quarantine its liabilities. If the president-elect wants to avoid the same error, he might consider what his promises of good government mean in practice, especially as regards his own party. Write to kim@wsj.com online.wsj.com