The High (Personal) Cost of Corruption

"Republicans in Congress are demanding that President Bush investigate whether the oil companies are gouging consumers on these gas prices. That's a good idea: Republicans asking Republicans to investigate other Republicans. And you know who they're going to blame? The Democrats."
--Jay Leno

"Congress is furious. They want to know how come these oil company profits are so high, but the money they get under the table has remained the same."
--Jay Leno


Recently, according to the Washington Post, Republicans returned to Congress from a two-week break from home feeling a bit, well, relieved. They seemed to think that all the corruption scandals plaguing their party and the following lobbying-reform brouhaha was not going to be that big a deal come November, after all. It seems that, in meetings with constituents, the voters were more concerned with problems like the high price of gasoline and health care issues.

Whew, many of them seemed to be saying. There would be no political consequences, because, they decided, the voters figured it was just all partisan politics and didn't really affect them.

But I believe the Republicans were wrong on two counts: One, that the voters didn't care. And two, that congressional corruption does not directly affect each and every one of us.

If lavish golfing trips, high-dollar meals at four-star restaurants, luxury vacations, sky-box tickets to sporting events, six-figure campaign donations (in $2000 increments, of course), and so on, were all there was to it, well, maybe you or I would not be touched by the extra-curricular activities of congressmen and women. (Okay, mostly men.)

But if that luxury vacation was paid for by, say, a pharmaceutical company, and afterward, that congressman allowed that same pharmaceutical lobbyist to then write legislation for a prescription drug bill which prohibits Congress from shopping around for lower prices for the consumer, and the congressman shoves that bill through committee behind closed doors late at night and rushes a midnight vote on it and the bill is passed, and you or your elderly parent has to deal with the consequences of the resulting bloated, industry-favoring law on a fixed income…then it becomes very personal indeed.

This is what has been going on in Congress--and more--for the past five years.

Today I'm going to break apart the mythology and the madness of the culture of corruption that has taken over this Congress and reached its tentacles into the White House, and I'm going to show just how personal it really is. I'm going to do it in four parts:

Rules, Roll Calls, and Republican Recklessness
The Currency of Corruption
The Personal Price of Porkbarrel
Reform, Republican-Style

So sit back, scroll on down, and fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride.