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State-by-State GOP Scandal Scorecard

Jill

Having a tough time keeping track of all the indictments, ethics violations and scandals plaguing the Grand Old Party? Well worry no more, friends, because the state-by-state GOP Scandal Scorecard is here. This handy-dandy tool lets you keep all the corruption straight. And thank goodness for that.

Thanks to Nora for passing this one on.

13 thoughts on State-by-State GOP Scandal Scorecard

  5. Jon, Abramoff could buy and pay for every Democrat in Congress and he still wouldn’t have enough votes to get anything passed. Moreover, do you think that Harry Reid, a Senator from Nevada, is going to be influenced by money from the Indian gaming industry?

    I do admit, it’s a bit unusual for Abramoff to have so many Democratic lobbyists in his group, given the K Street Project, though.

  6. It’s very simple.

    If the government has huge pots of money to spend, and great power over processes and events involving huge pots of money, then there will be corruption of the government. This is inescapable. Good cultural values and a vigilant press can keep the corruption to a certain discreet back-room-deal level, but can do no more than that.

    A smaller government (in terms of the patronage and favors within its power to hand out) is, ceteris parabus, a cleaner government.

  8. “A smaller government (in terms of the patronage and favors within its power to hand out) is, ceteris parabus, a cleaner government.”

    Uh Robert? What size of government would that be? One that is so small that it does not have to produce revenue, raise funds or buy anthing?

    Mayberry could be as corrupt as Tammany Hall it does not matter the size but the people in it.

    Now, I will agree that the bigger the government the more temptation to corruption and the stronger the majority party or the more power a party has the more temptation.

    Thus, we have an infestation of Repub scumbags. If the Dems held the postion and power they Repubs currently enjoy a majority of the scumbags would be Dems.

  9. Jon, Abramoff could buy and pay for every Democrat in Congress and he still wouldn’t have enough votes to get anything passed.

    This is sort of a weird argument. What exactly is your point…bribery is okay as long as it’s within the minority party?

  10. The point is that saying, “well, the Democrats took money from him too!” doesn’t really get you anywhere because the Dems are just not in any sort of positions to get Abramoff what he wants. It’s not exactly a surprise that lobbyists spread money around Washington, but if you’re going to bribe someone, you’re going to bribe someone who can get things done for you. The party that’s been out of power for years and years isn’t the party that can get things done for you.

    It’s not the fund-raising or the lobbying that’s a problem here, it’s the bribery, money-laundering and influence-peddling. And so far the only indictments for that have been on the Republican side of the aisle.

  11. Robert, have you been to Rhode Island?

    Smaller as a proportion of the society, not as an absolute. Rhode Island isn’t running a 2% of GDP libertarian state, last time I checked.

  12. Reid and Pelosi received funds from tribes that had were Abramoff clients (at some time). The chart doesn’t say that the tribes were clients at the time of the donations, nor that the donations were linked to Abramoff in any way.

    Compare that to all the R’s who are listed as “Recipient of contributions from Abramoff.”

    Pfffft. Try again.

  13. Robert:

    Rhode Island isn’t running a 2% of GDP libertarian state, last time I checked.

    Libertarians haven’t managed to run a town (not a state, or even a city) on “strict Libertarian principles” (ie, user fees instead of taxes). The inherent difficulties in paving streets and maintaining parks will cause such a collective to collapse before it gets anywhere.

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