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January 6, 2006
The Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford

Greed On Parade

     Lobbyist Jack Abramoff has recently agreed to plead guilty to three felony counts carrying a maximum penalty of 30 years, and to cooperate with federal prosecutors in further investigations and prosecutions of corrupt politicians and staffers in Washington D.C. This is a breath of fresh air for those of us who are sick of politics as usual.

     Quid pro quo political favors in exchange for political donations have long been illegal, but have been a common practice for even longer. Abramoff now threatens to expose the inside story about how it works, and who some of the players are.

     Until recently, Abramoff was a high-powered lobbyist in Washington D.C. who collected tens of millions of dollars from his clients and “lobbied” to secure legislative favors for those clients. He now admits that he paid bribes to certain legislators in order to secure those legislative favors.

     Exactly what he alleges, and what evidence may exist to back up his position, has not yet been fully disclosed to the public. But you can be certain that federal prosecutors would not have cut a deal with him unless they were convinced that his testimony was accurate and could help convict other wrongdoers of serious criminal charges.

     I believe in the notion of innocent until proven guilty, and so I will not comment on the merits of any particular allegation that may be brought against a particular defendant in the coming months. Those specific allegations will be tested in the legal system, and either be sustained or rejected. But there are broader lessons that can be drawn from what we already know.

     We know that Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican representative from California, has pled guilty to taking over $2 million in bribes in exchange for legislative favors for defense contractors. We know that Abramoff has now pled guilty to paying bribes to one or more other legislators. We know that Tom Delay has been indicted by a grand jury for illegally laundering political contributions.

     We also know that the Republican Party has built an entire political philosophy around doing political favors for the very rich. Whether they are passing tax cuts, gutting safety and environmental regulations, awarding no bid contracts to campaign donors, conducting secret energy task force meetings, or ramming through special interest trade agreements, the GOP stands for Greed On Parade.

     Why does the GOP do these favors for the very rich? Notorious bank robber Willie Sutton had the most honest answer for this type of question. When asked why he robbed banks, he reportedly answered, “because that’s where they keep the money.” There are not too many poor people who can afford to pay bribes to politicians in exchange for political favors. The Republicans are just going where the money is.

     Of course, greed is not confined to any one political party. One of the reasons that the Democrats have failed to capitalize on this issue in the past is because they had their own share of greed-based scandals when they were in power. But if you want to know which party is more corrupt, you only need to follow the money. Without a doubt, the party that has waged all out class warfare against the poor and in favor of the filthy rich, is the GOP. That’s how they get their money.

     I do not mean to imply that all Republicans are corrupt. Locally, Andrew Halcro, Sarah Palin and Wev Shea are rare examples of Republicans who have taken a principled stand against corruption. I don’t always agree with them on the issues, but I do respect their honesty. But they are not in office, and are part of a distinct minority within the GOP. The leadership in the legislature supports Ben (I don’t have to explain my consulting fees) Stevens much more than they support Halcro, Palin and Shea.

     There is not much motive for the GOP to change until the voters start defeating candidates who engage in corrupt behavior. With the cooperation of Abramoff, federal prosecutors may now be in a position to expose the identities of some of those politicians. Lets hope that the voters throw a bunch of them out of office in the elections later this year.













Kevin Morford is a political activist and an attorney in private practice in the Anchorage area.  He can be reached at kmorford@insurgent49.com.
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The
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by Kevin Morford





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in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership.