Corruption Of Corruption

Political corruption is a major problem in the US today. It involves almost all levels of government and affects people from all walks of life. Public office is a noble post and citizens put their trust in government officials to carry out their constitutional duties for the benefit of the citizenry. The problem comes in where both elected and unelected officials perform their duties with the goal of personal gain in full view of the law. The ethical and moral wrongs of corruption are unjustifiable in any context.

Tulia, a small town in Texas of just under five-thousand people, is a frightening example of how the judicial system is governed solely by racism as well as one corrupt man’s word. In 1999, nearly ten percent of the town’s African American population was arrested in a single drug bust. Of the forty-six people arrested, thirty-eight were African-American, furthermore all were convicted. The remaining seven arrested where know to associate more with the black community than the white in Tulia as well. With the towns income levels averaging at or below the poverty line, most arrested could not afford to hire a good attorney that cared or had the time to care, left therefore with one provided by the state. Consequently, convictions were up to ninety years in jail for allegedly selling three and a half grams, more commonly known as an eight ball, of cocaine in drug-free zones. In was only on appeals, that the convictions where revoked on insubstantial evidence.

One of the issues I am most passionate about is that of money in American politics. Increasing campaign costs, coupled with a decrease in the number of donors contributing to those campaigns, is a disturbing trend which has caused many to feel the need to question the state of our democracy—myself included. The problem of mainstream political corruption and legalized bribery is one that I was made aware of three years ago, and has since become one of the things keeping me up at night most often.

Corruption has no place in our government, period. The American people have a right to hold their elected officials to high ethical standards, and when their elected officials fail to meet such standards, the people have a responsibility to hold them accountable. In addition to standing for election every two years, Congress has ethics committee procedures it can utilize to censure or otherwise reprimand members who violate the rules. Members of Congress have to abide by the same laws as everyone else, and when laws are broken, they should be held accountable.

These corrupt officials would use their positions of power to do favors for those who controlled the economy or as Mark Twain put it “The chances are that a man cannot get into congress now without resorting to arts and means that should render him unfit to go there.”. What this meant

Corruption can come from many different people. When the same group of people are always in government it becomes a situation where this group of people runs government. And when someone wants to be elected they might do whatever the group of people wants to be in there favor. The Federalist paper number 68 it says “He might otherwise be tempted to sacrifice his duty to his complaisance for those whose favor was necessarily to the duration of his official consequence” (Hamilton). There are also people from foreign countries that want to be the leader of America just for the benefit of their home country. They

Often times, politicians turn towards their own personal agenda, such as furthering their political career and enriching themselves, rather than focus on the reasons why their constituents elected them to be public servants to the people. In the case of Chaka Fattah, a former United States Democratic Representative for Philadelphia, where the man served in Congress for over 20 years was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for “orchestrating a series of frauds to enrich himself and boost his political career” (Ax). With such a limited amount of time that a Congressmen and Senators would have in office due to term limits, they would be less likely to fall into corruption and pursuing their own agenda and refocus on the issues that the people elected them to deal with and

Corruption is when the Government is bribed by interest groups or corporations so that the bribers’ interests are put forward before the interest of the people. During the Gilded Age corruption in the senate was rampant. According to the political cartoon “The bosses of Senate”- (Progress and Poverty, 324), the corporations were the real entities behind running the Senate. The Senate, as the cartoon shows, is acting only in the interests of the different monopolies that are bribing the senate. However, this does not neccesarily mean that the Government cannot act in the intersts of its own people.

What is our safeguard against corruption performed by federal officeholders? It is impeachment. Impeachment is the Constitutional power given to the House of Representatives to remove a federal officeholder from office. “Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says, ‘The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’." (Longley). The power of impeachment has historical significance as only four times in our history has Congress had serious discussions of impeachment. Due to the requirement of a ruling vote from the House of Representatives and the Senate, there are issues and complications

The federal government occasionally passes legislation intended to regulate the amount of corruption that occurs during election season. However, the effects of these regulations have not at all been collectively positive. These regulations have unfortunately encouraged the increase in campaign contributions and spending by various nefarious influences.

Upton Sinclair’s book the Jungle  was about a Latvian family who decided to immigrate to America. They believed that America was a place to go and build wealth and thrive. When they arrive, they quickly realize that the great America is not all it’s described to be. The men in power are corrupt, the living conditions are deplorable, the area is overpopulated and there weren’t enough jobs for everyone. The jobs that were available were hard, and the factories were filthy. People often became ill and did not have enough money for doctors because they were underpaid. Sinclair wrote this book to open the eyes of the American public, and to finally incite change for the poverty stricken immigrants.

I feel frustrated when I see individuals who have gained national trust but have not taken office with the right intentions. Often times there are little men, such as lower income citizen who don't have a large political pull who get the short end of the stick. Sometimes theses officials are so powerful that society turns a blind eye on the small injustices that are being committed every day. These corrupt political moves can be

According to an annual survey done by Berlin-Based organization Transparency International, the world’s least corrupt nations in 2013 were Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand. The United States on the other hand landed in 19th place. (Infoplease.com)It’s not surprising to see the United States, land of opportunity, has dropped in ranking. Even every time when we watch the news or political channel, more and more scandals of corrupt politicians are revealed. Based off the citizens for responsibility and ethics in Washington or CREW, a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated in holding public officials accountable for their actions, about seventeen members of the past congress member were listed for most corrupt. The political scandals we

Redefining bribery would go a long way toward preventing campaign contributions from corrupting the political system. Defining bribery as any form of contribution that is connected directly or indirectly to influencing votes and public policy is imperative. Other suggestions that might help include complete anonymity on donations or complete transparency where all donors are known and can’t hide behind PACs. Term limits and outlawing earmarks would also help reduce the absurd amount of campaign contributions that are connected to unethical political influence. Finally, a limit on government spending, as well as a limit on debt and deficits, would perhaps plug up the open flood gates of the public Treasury at both the federal and state level. Only allowing tax payer money to be spent on that which is constitutional could also help bring the spending problem under control. Unfortunately, no amount of laws and limits can prevent corruption by someone who is determined to corrupt the

Political corruption is parasitic; it finds a host, and can almost always find a way to survive. Eventually, people grow dependent on this corruption as a means for income, thus forming a symbiosis between the people who benefit from it, and the elites that regulate it. People sometimes ignore the corruption surrounding them, feeling that as long as the politicians do their jobs well, their ‘extra salary’ can’t hurt (BNS).