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Republican Representative resigns in lew of bribery charges.

Trajan Octavian Titus

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Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R - CA) a former top gun ace resigned recently and pleaded guilty to commit bribery, mail and wire fraud and tax evasion. He also pleaded guilty to a separate tax evasion violation for failing to disclose income in 2004.

Inciting Howard Dean's call for Democrats to now refer to the Republican party as a culture of corruption in a written statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the case "is just the latest example of the culture of corruption that pervades the Republican-controlled Congress, which ignores the needs of the American people to serve wealthy special interests and their cronies."


http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/28/cunningham/
 
Trajan Octavian Titus said:
Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R - CA) a former top gun ace resigned recently and pleaded guilty to commit bribery, mail and wire fraud and tax evasion. He also pleaded guilty to a separate tax evasion violation for failing to disclose income in 2004.

Inciting Howard Dean's call for Democrats to now refer to the Republican party as a culture of corruption in a written statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the case "is just the latest example of the culture of corruption that pervades the Republican-controlled Congress, which ignores the needs of the American people to serve wealthy special interests and their cronies."


http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/28/cunningham/


So, what exactly was it you were looking to debate here? That Duke's a crook or the recent memo for the Dems to start calling a spade a spade? In either case, I don't see that there's much of a debate to be had.
 
JustMyPOV said:
So, what exactly was it you were looking to debate here? That Duke's a crook or the recent memo for the Dems to start calling a spade a spade? In either case, I don't see that there's much of a debate to be had.

No actually I was going to debate whether their really is a culture of corruption in the Republican party and seeing that this IS in the todays news section it doesn't really have to be a partisan issue.
 
Trajan Octavian Titus said:
No actually I was going to debate whether their really is a culture of corruption in the Republican party and seeing that this IS in the todays news section it doesn't really have to be a partisan issue.

Ok, that having been clarified... :smile:

I believe that the GOP has become a "culture of corruption" for reasons obvious, and some not so obvious. Obviously, the recent indictments of officials in the administration and the Congress don't detract from the argument that it has slipped in that direction. But that's not what I plan to use to argue the entire case as it goes much deeper than that. It's not going to be about about what appears to me (and many others) to be illegal spying by the Republican administration on American citizens. Nor will it be that they threatened the "nuclear option" to end the minority's ability to fillibuster legislation or political confirmations, or even that they try to pass legislation without debate on a frequent basis.

The fact of the matter is that the entire system, as it stands, invites the corruption of whichever party is in control at the time. The constant flow of lobby money, political favors, and, to call a spade a spade, out and out bribery of elected officials and even the parties themselves via legal loopholes, all contribute to the problem.

The same exact thing happened with the Democrats, but during much of the 40 years they controlled the Congress, they had Republican presidents to contend with, and were therefore kept somewhat in check. During the last 5 years, the Republican controlled Congress has been largely unchecked. (Not a single bill to come out of the Congress has been vetoed by this president. On the same token, this president has had little opposition in getting much of his agenda passed through the Congress.)

No matter which party was in the situation that we're in currently, it's simply inevitable that it would become a "culture of corruption". Until the rules are changed, it will happen every time one party controls both the legislative and executive branches, in my opinion.
 
JustMyPOV said:
Ok, that having been clarified... :smile:

I believe that the GOP has become a "culture of corruption" for reasons obvious, and some not so obvious. Obviously, the recent indictments of officials in the administration and the Congress don't detract from the argument that it has slipped in that direction. But that's not what I plan to use to argue the entire case as it goes much deeper than that. It's not going to be about about what appears to me (and many others) to be illegal spying by the Republican administration on American citizens. Nor will it be that they threatened the "nuclear option" to end the minority's ability to fillibuster legislation or political confirmations, or even that they try to pass legislation without debate on a frequent basis.

The fact of the matter is that the entire system, as it stands, invites the corruption of whichever party is in control at the time. The constant flow of lobby money, political favors, and, to call a spade a spade, out and out bribery of elected officials and even the parties themselves via legal loopholes, all contribute to the problem.

The same exact thing happened with the Democrats, but during much of the 40 years they controlled the Congress, they had Republican presidents to contend with, and were therefore kept somewhat in check. During the last 5 years, the Republican controlled Congress has been largely unchecked. (Not a single bill to come out of the Congress has been vetoed by this president. On the same token, this president has had little opposition in getting much of his agenda passed through the Congress.)

No matter which party was in the situation that we're in currently, it's simply inevitable that it would become a "culture of corruption". Until the rules are changed, it will happen every time one party controls both the legislative and executive branches, in my opinion.


Ummm...... :yt
 
I agree that both parties have been unethtical. However, the difference between the democrats and the republicans is that the republicans came up with this "Contract with America," where they essentially stated that they would be better than the democrats. Ummmm, that hasn't been the case....at all. I don't like it when someone says they are better just to win points. The same applies to this president. He claimed he would restore honesty and integrity to the White House. Yeah right.
 
aps said:
I agree that both parties have been unethtical. However, the difference between the democrats and the republicans is that the republicans came up with this "Contract with America," where they essentially stated that they would be better than the democrats. Ummmm, that hasn't been the case....at all. I don't like it when someone says they are better just to win points. The same applies to this president. He claimed he would restore honesty and integrity to the White House. Yeah right.

The difference is....the Dems don't get caught.




As often, anyway....
 
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