The
Constitution of the United States of America
"We the people of the United
States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to our posterity, and
ourselves do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States
of America."
A miniscule history of
corruption in America Cause and affect
This will be brief as one could fill ten
encyclopedia Britannica’s with America’s history of corruption. Let us
look back to another time in America, the birth of our nation. Was it
corrupt then? Of course it was. I’m not speaking of a great majority of
the ancestors who formed the country, the constitution the very soul of
America.
Let’s examine briefly the players of that
time. George Washington led an army of courageous young Americans who gave
up many of their lives so this nation could be born. Behind the
battlefield lay the corruption, boot makers who profited by manufacturing
boots that could not resist the weather and basically disintegrated on the
battlefields, rotten food supplied by rotten men who looked only to
financial gain. I could enhance this list fifty fold but I believe my
reader gets the point. We survived all the dishonesty of those times and
this nation was born, it went on to survive many wars including the civil
war with much of the same corruption that preceded it.
Politicians seeking financial gain became
normal culminating in 1869 with the election of Ulysses S Grant who
without morals sold offices outright to the highest bidder. From that
point forward corruption remained and grew. As our country expanded within
its borders and States and cities elected their own politicians the
gangrene followed suit on every level whether it be the Governor of a
State or the local Police or Fire chief of a community.
So, where were we the electorate? The electorates never had a chance then
and have no chance today!
Let’s talk about the electorate, the
citizens of this country that votes for President, Governors, congressmen,
Senators, local officials and ballot measures. You only think you vote,
you have no real say. You are given a select group of nominee’s hand
picked by the two parties that control everything in America. One group is
Republicans and one group is Democrats. Both parties have one thing in
common; “Don’t shake the basket too hard, the eggs will break.” Nearly
without exception each party nominee has the same agenda to make as much
money as he-she can and to garnish as much power as possible. Are there
exceptions, of course there are sadly a very few; I’ll cover them later
but to continue with the electorate, the citizens of America, and what
they can do? They can vote for measures to change the way we do business.
Let me point out a few: in California some years back the people got angry
enough over a situation to garnish enough votes for a change in State law.
Illegal aliens were purchasing old cars (basically drivable car wrecks)
and driving in the State with no insurance. When one of these illegal
would have an accident including fatal accidents they would not only
abandon the car but also just go out and get another drivable wreck. Some
would continue to have accidents and some whose licenses were suspended
continued to drive until arrested.
A group of very angry citizens including myself garnished enough votes to
have an initiative placed on the State ballot to make driving with no
insurance illegal. It passed by wide margin only to have the California
State Supreme court declare it “Unconstitutional.” Other measures on
initiative ballots have been treated in like. A great majority will vote
for the issue, a group of special interest politicians will appeal the
vote and in many cases the State Supreme court disregarding the will of
the people will just toss it out.
Hastert staying; taking
blame
 Dennis
Hastert won't step down as House speaker now or after the election, a
senior GOP leadership aide told CNN today. Hastert will take
responsibility for congressional page scandal. "The buck stops here. The
safety and security of the students in the page program is imperative," an
earlier statement from the speaker said.
One of the “Good Old Boys.” Protecting his
power (and wealth) and his place in history. The congressman will take
full responsibility but will not step down because he just does not have
to. Who will make him? The congress, the Senate, President Bush, if anyone
did Mr. Hastert might just open Pandora’s box exposing more corruption by
many of “The Good Old Boys” that run this nation
Mark Foley Elected by the people and for
the people. To represent us to help us in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
"Confidence... thrives on honesty, on
honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on
unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
I wish to interject with President
Roosevelt’s remark “so where are these people now? Why do they not step
forward, the likes of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ben Franklin and
into the 20th Century Thomas Dewey, Adali Stevenson and infinitum, all
honest men and women totally dedicated to our forefathers dreams of a
better nation the constitution and what it stands for I’ll tell you where
they are: they are everywhere in small towns, in large cities many with
political aspirations. Why do they not come forward? They try to come
forward but represent to “The Good Old Boys” that run this country
something they don’t want:
Honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on
faithful protection and on unselfish performance.
They would not relish any change to their
status, to their greed and ambition, to their rightful place on this
planet. By admitting a new generation of politicians dedicated to the
causes that created this country would be to give up ego, to abandon the
cravings of self satisfaction. As long as these bums run the country, as
long as there is a status quo nothing will change, things will not get
better it will get worse. It will get worse because the youth of today see
the corruption and as there is nothing to do most become logarithmic,
depressed, enraged and as a result our youth look at society with disdain
and contempt many give up any hope or aspirations to achieve change. I
will go into this in another section. Mr. Foley has checked into a drug
and alcohol facility voluntarily. So you think voluntarily? This is
hogwash, he checked in because in all likelihood at the time of this
writing The Republican Party insisted he do so. And could avoid
embarrassing questions from the press and public. Mr. Foley is not alone
hiding in his closet of secrecy. Just review our politicians these past
few decades and their scandals some small some outrageous some just plain
stupid. President Clintons so called affair with Monica Lewinsky was
silly, a change of life type frolic that many men their age go through. I
certainly went through my own. But as President of the greatest country in
the World he must take the consequence of what could have been deemed a
decent Presidency to one of a clown. His cock was larger than his concerns
for a great nation, actually a bit sad. The leaders of this nation must
set an example for the rest of us especially our youth. I first became
politically involved when I was young with Adali Stevenson’s wonderful
sense of duty, responsibility and high ideals. I joined Bobby Kennedy’s
get out the vote in California only to see his death at the hands of a
sicko. I studied diligently the history of the nations greatest leaders,
especially Presidents Washington and Lincoln, men of unquestionable
loyalty and dedication, the great military men Generals George Washington
Grant and Lee, General MacArthur,
General Eisenhower Patton and also infinitum just too many
leaders to list all with dedication to country and highly principled. Lets
briefly look at the Generals of today and I’ll mention no names because I
frankly can’t put any of them in the light of their predecessors! General
George Patton was in so many words shoved aside for talking back to his
superiors and only allowed into the final conflict of the Second World War
if he would follow orders without complaint. He did not and charged when
he was not supposed to shortening the War as a result. General Douglas
Macarthur was sacked on the spot for describing to the President and
General Eisenhower how to win the Korean War! Today’s “generals” have all
learned a lesson from these men and just follow orders till their service
is over-then some but not all speak up.
"And like the old soldier in that ballad, I
now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried
to do his duty as God gave him the sight to see that duty."
Douglas MacArthur
CORRUPTION IN CONGRESS
The following few editorials represent as
part of the whole the equivalent of finding a needle in ten thousand
haystacks. Only a major overhaul of Congress Senate local Government and
consequently the way we do business by major amendments to the
Constitution will enable us to follow the lead of our forefathers and make
this country a just nation.
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Published on
Friday, January 7, 2005 by the Baltimore Sun
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Enabling Corruption |
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by Gary
Ruskin |
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On Sept. 27,
1994, more than 300 Republican candidates for the U.S. House
of Representatives stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and
endorsed the Contract With America, "to restore the bonds of
trust between the people and their elected representatives."
Those
Republicans rightly criticized the corrupt book deal of former
Speaker Jim Wright, a Texas Democrat, as well as the House
Bank scandal. They correctly observed that entrenched
majorities tend to become corrupt. Together, they held
themselves out as the party of reform, "to restore
accountability to Congress. To end its cycle of scandal and
disgrace." In response, the American people gave them
majorities in both houses of Congress.
Fast-forward 10 years. Not only have Republicans forgotten
their promises, they have become a mirror image of what they
criticized among Democrats.
Perhaps
the surest sign of a corrupt majority is an effort to stop
investigations of corruption. That's what House Republicans
did Tuesday, in rules changes to eviscerate the House ethics
process.
The ethics
process was already in bad shape, which is what both
Republicans and Democrats have wanted.
Time after
time, newspapers expose apparent corruption in Congress. But
it doesn't get investigated -- and especially not by the House
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, known as the
ethics committee. Here are three examples from news reports:
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House
Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri tried to insert a
Philip Morris provision into a bill creating the Department
of Homeland Security, at the request of tobacco lobbyist
Abigail Perlman. Ms. Perlman, who is now Mr. Blunt's wife,
is head of government affairs for Altria Corp., the parent
company of Philip Morris.
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House
Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael G. Oxley, a
Republican from Ohio, reportedly offered to relent on a
congressional investigation if the Investment Company
Institute hired a Republican as its top lobbyist.
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Rep. James
P. Moran Jr., a Virginia Democrat, received a $25,000
unsecured loan on generous terms from a lobbyist, Terry
Lierman, who is now the chairman of the Maryland Democratic
Party.
The House
ethics committee didn't launch a formal investigation of any
of these scandals.
As if that
weren't bad enough, House Republicans on Tuesday just about
killed off what little was left of the House ethics process.
They made it much harder to trigger an ethics investigation.
Under the
old rules, if the House ethics committee was deadlocked along
partisan lines, or couldn't decide whether to launch an
investigation, a review happened automatically. House
Republicans have replaced that with a rule that a majority of
ethics committee members must approve an investigation. That
means at least one Republican would have to vote to authorize
an ethics investigation of a fellow Republican. In today's
partisan Congress, that's very unlikely.
Perhaps
worse, Speaker Dennis Hastert wants to replace the current
chairman of the House ethics committee, Colorado Republican
Joel Hefley, with Lamar Smith of Texas, who is notoriously
soft on corruption. Mr. Smith is famous in ethics circles for
being chairman of the only ethics committee ever to have asked
a federal judge to grant limited immunity to the target of an
investigation, GOP Rep. Bud Shuster of Pennsylvania, who was
chairman of the House Committee on Transportation
Infrastructure. In 1997, Mr. Smith also was the only ethics
panel member to vote against reprimanding Speaker Newt
Gingrich and fining the Georgia Republican $300,000.
Both these
changes will lead to a climate where corruption is
increasingly possible. They will make it much easier to
purchase influence in Congress. That's great news for big
corporations and the wealthy, who have plenty of money to buy
influence with high-priced lobbyists and campaign
contributions. But it's terrible for the overwhelming majority
of us, who don't.
During the
last 30 years, we've been moving from a system of one person,
one vote to a system of one dollar, one vote. The Federal
Election Commission is toothless. The Public Integrity Section
of the Justice Department has flubbed some major cases. The
most important federal anti-corruption laws -- the bribery and
illegal gratuities laws -- have been gutted by courts. And the
ethics committees are in a shambles.
The bottom
line is that the battle against corruption in Congress has
collapsed. That's just the way both Republicans and
Democrats want it.
These
days, Democrats occasionally pay lip service to opposing
corruption. But when the cameras are turned off, they don't do
anything serious. They could file ethics complaints, but they
rarely do. What's the use of an opposition party if it doesn't
even fight against corruption in the other party?
Every
year, hundreds of members of Congress give speeches about
getting tough on crime. But when will a single member of
Congress get serious about fighting corruption in Congress?
Gary
Ruskin is director of the
Congressional Accountability Project.
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Congress is consistent at
corruption.
Some lawmakers act as though they are
beyond the reach of rules meant for others.
By Daniel Schorr WASHINGTON
Foley's folly - the sexually suggestive
messages that Rep. Mark Foley (R) sent to one or more former congressional
pages - is only the latest manifestation of Lord Acton's axiom that power
tends to corrupt.
In the case of our Congress, the corruption is of two general sorts -
money and sex. The money corruption hardly needs to be spelled out. Just
mention names such as Republicans Duke Cunningham and Tom DeLay, or
lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Trading votes on pending pork has become a routine part of the legislative
process. But the big ones are remembered - like the 1981 sting operation
called Abscam, in which a senator and six representatives were caught in a
trap when they thought they were being handed cash by an Arab sheikh.
In the case of scandals with sexual overtones, there was, for example,
Rep. Wayne Hays (D) of Ohio, exposed in 1976 as having put his mistress on
his official payroll. She later admitted she couldn't type, but typing was
apparently not part of her duties. The sex-linked scandal I remember best
involved Wilbur Mills, the powerful Democratic chairman of the powerful
Ways and Means Committee. He was caught in 1974, carrying on around the
Tidal Basin with an Argentine striptease dancer. Like former
Representative Foley, he attributed it to alcoholism. Then there was Sen.
Robert Packwood (R), accused of sexual harassment by 10 women in 1992.
In all of these episodes there was a sense that lawmakers, once ensconced
in office by the voters, were acting as though they were beyond the reach
of rules meant for others, from parking in "no parking" zones to making
advances to 16-year-olds. There is a sense of "you can't touch me," until
some scandal explodes that is too outrageous to ignore. But if the past is
any guide, power will continue to corrupt, perhaps absolutely.
• Daniel Schorr is a senior news analyst at National Public Radio.
THE ADMINISTRATION IN 2008
This administration, which will be
democratic, will talk the talk and not walk the walk. There will not be
one leader from the current want to bee’s Republican or Democratic that
will unconditionally state, “I will bring back the troops immediately upon
my being elected President.
” The special interest groups that provide the funding for all of those
that run our political system will not allow any significant changes to be
made that would disrupt the flow of blood money and as a result very
little will be done to make the changes needed to bring our troops home or
improve the numerous social problems in America.
There are Senators and Congressmen in the current administration who
probably have similar thoughts but they are unpopular with the American
public in general.
Senator Kennedy could be this kind of leader, a principal reason; he does
not need the special interest money!
I forecast by 2012 The American Revolution in the 21st Century will begin
in earnest.
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