The Democratic Party has coined the term “Culture of Corruption†to describe the Republican Party.
Is there corruption in the Republican Party? Undoubtedly. And it should be rooted out and denounced on every occasion.
So how ironic and embarrassing that possibly one of the most egregious examples of political corruption and unethical behavior is not only from a Democrat (Rep. Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia), but from their ranking member on the Ethics and Appropriations committees in the House?
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia is under investigation for steering $178 million in federal money to nonprofits in his district run by people who are regular contributors to his political campaigns.
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Aaron at LifeLike Pundits:
Let me repeat: ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS.
The Republicans have asked that Mollohan step down (not from office) but from his seat as the highest ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee.
He refuses and San Fran Nan won’t ask him to either.
See, Republicans have a rule that if you’re under investigation, you cannot have a leadership position. There is no such rule for Democrats
Emphasis mine
In other words, if Tom Delay had been a Democrat and had committed (allegedly) the exact same campaign finance violations, he would still be in office and it would be business as usual.
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But there’s much, much more stink to the Mollohan story than just the $178 million (damn, but that’s a lot of pork) that Rep. Mollohan diverted home.
Form John Wilke’s breaking story in the Wall Street Journal:
It seems Mr. Mollohan’s personal net worth, as reported in his required disclosure forms, has grown from about $100,000 in 2000 to as much as $11.4 million in his most recent filings.
The jump in Mollohan’s personal wealth cannot be explained by being frugal with his Congressional pay. Members of the House and Senate who are not members of the top leadership make $165,200 per year.It can be partially explained by the fact that a former staffer is the head of a non-profit foundation in West Virginia which is “financed almost exclusively by earmarks backed by Mr. Mollohan.”
My wife and I made some pretty savy real estate deals over the last 5 years, too. But not to the tune of turning six figures into eight figures. That’s just a little too “savy”.
From NWA Politics:
The way this all works is: A Congressman on the Appropriations Committee, like Mollohan, steers your tax dollars to private and public works in his home district…
…Mollohan’s “tight-knit network” includes friends who run the foundations, get paid well for doing it, and then donate to Mollohan’s campaigns and family foundations in return.
Plus, they become Mollohan’s partners in investments apartments and houses. And they run the companies which contract with the foundations to make even more money, some of which is funneled back into Mollohan’s financial orbit allowing him to have “recently bought a $1.45 million oceanfront home” in Bald Head Island, NC which (a) is in addition to five other properties there in which Mollohan has an interest and (b) is not in West Virginia.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…
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It just points out the b.s. ‘ethics truce’ between the parties. (It’s hilarious that it was finally broken by Tom DeLay of all people.)
I’m sick of the collusion between the parties when it comes to incumbency protection rackets. Between ethics and gerrymandering it’s clear that Congress cannot govern itself and it’s a shame that the Supreme Court has turned a blind eye to these schemes as in Vieth v. Jubelirer.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1213/p01s01-usju.html
DeLay may be corrupt…that is yet to be seen. In the meanwhile, MoveOn.Org (an organization I despise funded by Soros) is trying their damndest to implicate more Republicans in ethics violations but this time they were caught in their lies and schemes…
I’ve not followed the story with Mollohan so can’t comment intelligently on the issues surrounding him, however, I agree our Congress has a serious problem governing themselves and I, too, am sick to death of this shit on both sides of the aisle. Judging by the polls, I am not alone.
They keep passing and changing ethics laws, but it does no good if they won’t follow the ones they already have.
Have you watched the ad?
The ad only implies Nancy Johnson has acted unethically through the phrase ‘caught red handed’ and perhaps the juxtaposition with Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff- but there isn’t anything untrue in the ad as far as I can tell. It certainly doesn’t seem more outrageous than political advertisements in general.
What’s your beef with Move On? The top 3 campaigns on their website now seem to be to censure the President for not following the FISA act (ironic- if appropriate- since the organization’s original name was ‘Censure and Move On’ in reference to President Clinton) , a campaign to stop AOL’s ‘email tax’, and a campaign for equitable taxation and government spending.
Furthermore, what’s your beef with George Soros. He has spent millions, (billions?) promoting transparent government in Eastern Europe and other places.
Do we deserve less than those countries do?