Thread: The 15 Most Corrupt Members of Congress

The 15 Most Corrupt Members of Congress


Published on CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/report


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CREW’s fifth annual report on congressional corruption includes 15 members of Congress, significantly fewer than last year’s report. While corruption has remained a significant political issue, many elected officials seem to be taking greater care to avoid unethical conduct.

The list shrank primarily because out of the 24 members included in last year’s report, eight are no longer in Congress and seven others were omitted either because no action was taken by any law enforcement agency, or the House or Senate ethics committees, or CREW discovered no additional information to add. New to this year’s list are Senators Roland Burris and John Ensign, and Representatives Nathan Deal, Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Pete Visclosky. After having been off the list for two years, Rep. Maxine Waters has reappeared for unethical activities entirely unrelated to the conduct that landed her on the list in the past.

Of this year’s list of 15, at least 12 are under some sort of investigation: Vern Buchanan, Roland Burris, Ken Calvert, John Ensign, Jesse Jackson Jr., Jerry Lewis, Alan Mollohan, John Murtha, Charlie Rangel, Laura Richardson, Pete Visclosky and Don Young.

This year as every year, members have used their positions to financially benefit themselves, their friends and their families. Earmarks for large campaign contributors are commonplace and many members have traded legislative assistance for personal favors.

Although ethics reforms measures were passed last Congress and the House created the new Office of Congressional Ethics, there still appears to be little enforcement of ethics rules. In the Senate, Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were not disciplined in any way for their participation in Countrywide Financial’s VIP loan program. The Senate Select Committee on Ethics sank to an all time low, holding itself -- rather than the senators themselves -- responsible for the senators’ accepting the loans. The Senate Ethics Manual is readily available and it clearly states that loans can be improper gifts. If CREW can read and understand the manual, presumably, senators can too.

As always things are worse in the House, which consistently refuses to condemn any lawmaker’s conduct no matter how outrageous. The investigation of Rep. Rangel, which was only initiated at the lawmaker’s request in the first place, has dragged on for a year with no end in sight. If the committee ever sees fit to release any sort of report regarding Rep. Rangel’s many misdeeds, expect the ethics panel to use the occasion as a “teaching moment,â€

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)



Representative John P. Murtha (D-PA) is a nineteen-term member of Congress, representing Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district. Rep. Murtha chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Murtha’s ethics issues and violations stem from (1) his ties to the PMA Group, a now defunct lobbying firm under federal investigation; (2) his ties to Kuchera Industries, a defense contractor under federal investigation; (3) his ties to defense executives and former military personnel convicted of skimming money from government contracts; (4) actions he may have taken to benefit his brother’s lobbying clients; and (5) his chief of staff’s threats to a political opponent. Rep. Murtha was included in CREW’s 2006, 2007, and 2008 reports on congressional corruption.

PMA Group Investigation

Paul Magliocchetti worked with Rep. Murtha as a senior staffer on the Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense for 10 years. After leaving the committee, Mr. Magliocchetti founded the PMA Group, which was one of the most prominent Washington, D.C. defense lobbying firms. In November 2008, federal authorities raided the offices of the PMA Group and the home of Mr. Magliocchetti. The PMA Group is being investigated for allegedly violating campaign finance laws by using “strawâ€

How do we deal with such politicans? It's called the "VOTING BOOTH:"

find out who is running against them and make sure the opponent sees these reports so they can be used against the sitting elected official

Wow.....great post!! Thanks for putting this up there.

Those are confirmed corrupt politicians........

I would hope that someone.....anyone.....who lives in those states will make certain that those states are plastered with this information......wall to wall blanketed with it.

If they are not coming up for re-election, then hammer away until they are not only thrown out on their criminal asses but prosecuted as well.

Enough is enough and more people are waking up every single day. But, unless people know about it, they can't make a difference.

Remember....the old time practice of leafletting and public notice is making a comeback. It doesn't cost much to do and just think of how many people will see one public notice posted at, for instance, a bus stop during the course of a single day!!

We can do this peeps........it's not an impossibility.

Great find, CMW!
[quote]In 2008, both the House and Senate voted to direct the DOJ to launch an investigation into the 2005 earmark for the interchange at Coconut Road. After the calls for the inquiry, Rep. Young admitted that he sponsored the earmark and that his staff “correctedâ€

[quote="jamesw62"]


find out who is running against them and make sure the opponent sees these reports so they can be used against the sitting elected official




Excellent suggestion JamesW.

But one caveat......make sure you've done the homework on the opponent!!!

We've got to avoid jumping from the fire into the frying pan as we seem to have done all too often in the past

Originally Posted by azwreath

Originally Posted by jamesw62

find out who is running against them and make sure the opponent sees these reports so they can be used against the sitting elected official

Excellent suggestion JamesW.
But one caveat......make sure you've done the homework on the opponent!!!
We've got to avoid jumping from the fire into the frying pan as we seem to have done all too often in the past

agreed, but getting these people out of DC is number one.
yes the opponents need to be checked first, but can they be worse than these 15 listed?

Originally Posted by jamesw62

Originally Posted by azwreath

Originally Posted by jamesw62

find out who is running against them and make sure the opponent sees these reports so they can be used against the sitting elected official

Excellent suggestion JamesW.
But one caveat......make sure you've done the homework on the opponent!!!
We've got to avoid jumping from the fire into the frying pan as we seem to have done all too often in the past

agreed, but getting these people out of DC is number one.


You said it friend!!!



yes the opponents need to be checked first, but can they be worse than these 15 listed?



Or do they have the propensity toward that?

I guess my point is that we need to beware the wolf in sheep's clothing and I can think of no better example than obama himself.

So many, too many, wanted to do nothing more than get away from another feared Bush that they fell for obama hook, line, and sinker. And, I suspect, that this was precisely the result which had been expected by those who wanted to see this individual in power.

The corrupt can be very conniving and cunning when they need to be and we just need to be more cautious is all.

Quote:
As always things are worse in the House, which consistently refuses to condemn any lawmaker’s conduct no matter how outrageous.

And yet they go after Rep. Joe Wilson.