Report– Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress
Drum roll please . . . . . and, according to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the 20 MOST corrupt members of Congress (and 5 honorable mentions) are:
* Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
* Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
* Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
* Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
* Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
* Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)
* Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
* Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL)
* Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
* Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
* Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA)
* Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
* Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
* Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
* Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
* Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
* Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY)
* Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
* Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
* Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA)
Dishonorable Mentions
* Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT)
* Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
* Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
* Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
* Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA)
Geez, third on the list! How can I be so lucky! Rick Santorum! In fact PA is pretty well represented on this list overall, though I guess I shouldn’t complain, since my Rep. Charlie Dent didn’t make the corruption list (no, he just voted to destroy the Alaskan Wilderness and give the Internet to the Telecomms so they could turn it into the Home Shopping Network and Bud TV.)
Anyway, this is the scoop on Santorum–
Sen. Santorum has introduced legislation on behalf of AccuWeather, Inc., a weather data provider located in State College, cast a crucial vote against legislation that would have allowed the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the tobacco industry, introduced legislation to halve the excise tax large brewers have to pay on beer, pushed to get Medicare reimbursement for Puerto Rico, and supported an earmark for construction of a fuel plant, all in apparent exchange for campaign contributions. Such conduct may violate federal prohibitions on bribery, honest services fraud and accepting illegal gratuities, in addition to Senate rules.
Now, this is the same guy who is fence sitting on the Net Neutrality issue, currently up for re-election, and has taken lotsa dough from Comcast to fund his campaign . . . can anybody guess what I’m thinking?
Hey, VICKI! Look who got dishonorable mention! Is Chris Cannon your Rep?
Technorati Tags: Congress, Senators, Representatives, Corruption, bribery, fraud
09/24/06, 11:32 PM |
Heh. Chris isn’t MY rep, I didn’t vote for the turkey….
Only MY rep as and because I live in this damn old-white-guy-butthead-Republican state.
09/25/06, 5:55 PM |
Well your “old-white-guy-butthead-Republican state” only has one dishonorable mention. PA has the dubious distinction of having two of the most corrupt AND two dishonorable mentions.
Meanwhile I have a real quandary coming up. Santorum answers every one of my emails. He usually gets the answer wrong, or answers a question I didn’t ask, but HE (or a staffer) ALWAYS WRITES ME BACK. I’ve written Bob Casey Jr. twice and never gotten a response.
This election is going to be the most screwed up ever. I have to choose between a corrupt Republican who always returns my email, and a Dem who never does and who is also anti-choice and pro-Iraq. Neither has expressed his opinion re Net Neutrality (but Santorum’s coffers are full of Comcast dough so I don’t hold out great hope for him.)
Do I vote for a Republican Crook? Or for a Democrat who is more Republican than the Republican? Or vote for the Green Guy with whom I see eye to eye on almost every dang thing and guarantee that my vote won’t really count except as a spoiler?
I think it’s time to bitchslap both the Republican Party AND the Democratic Party in PA for doing this to me.
09/25/06, 8:55 PM |
Yeah…. well, I got a polite letter from Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today thanking me for expressing my interest in ‘net neut…. and stating:
“While I am hopeful the Federal Government will not be forced to take too active a role in prescribing what can and can’t be done on private networks, I believe it is important that Congress foster competitive integrity in the offering of broadband and video services.”
*sigh* However, in a previous paragraph, he did state:
“I agree with your assessment that the five-year study prescribed by S. 2686 does not go far enough to address the needs of consumers. Per your request (sic….) I will continue to work with my Senate colleagues to find a solution to the potential problems caused by market concentration in the broadband industry. I believe that an appropriate Congressional response to the network neturality debate could protect consumers, foster innovation, and create jobs.”
Now, I’ve done my share of “spoiler-haha, none-of-the-above” votes, but y’know, they just don’t really accomplish a damn thing….
I guess the major problem here is that so much more of the “country” lives in cities than not. And only those of us who live “out” can see the forest for the trees….