Congressional Sleaze

It was supposed to be the new Congress. The one that wasn't tied to corruption and scandal. However, we are learning that this Congress is anything but a scandal free governing body.

As the details of sweetheart loans to those in the Congress get unearthed, one Congressman, Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, called for hearings on Monday to delve into the matter. His calls for the probe fell on deaf ears though because neither party wanted to find out where the trail of shady loan dealings went. Senator Dodd and others have already been called out for their loan dealings with Country Wide.

It is particularly interesting about Senator Dodd because he claims that he wasn't aware of anything other than a VIP loan. He claims not to have known about his points and other loan details. Mortgage loaners go over all such details before making a loan. Mr. Dodd had to know what he was getting into, and to think he was a candidate for President.

Then we have the Congressman from Louisiana William Jefferson who was caught red handed with $90,000 concealed in his freezer. He is awaiting trial for his misdeeds (Bribery) but is running for re-election regardless of his problems.

The Republicans are just as guilty of scandal, remember the public gay sex solicitation by Senator Larry Craig, R-Idaho in a public restroom at the airport.

Nancy Pelosi and her husband' s portfolio show part ownership of the luxurious CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, CA, which they were granted a permit to build in 1996 only if they created natural habitats for several local endangered species. To date, these habitats still have not been built. The golf course has also been cited for polluting groundwater. They have hired lobbyists to fight the regulations. Yep, no point in fulfilling an agreement when you have political power on your side.

Harry Reid worked his magic in Nevada and was caught without a disclosure on real-estate deals that netted him $700,000 in profit. Just an 'oversight' according to Reid.

Ahh, the sweet life of the powerful. This is just a short list of what is happening with our elected officials. The idea here was just to get you to understand how corrupt things are in Washington.
In short, the list is long and it is very apparent that there is just as much sleaze in Washington with the Democrats as there was under the Republicans. Nothing has changed except the taxes you pay and that will increase if the Dems win more seats during this election cycle.

A serious effort to 'throw the bums out of office' sounds good to me. If not a complete throughout of the bums, a real effort to institute term limits would help.

Cheers,

-Robert-