Corruption Of Corruption

The Simpsons writers in the television show, “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish”, explains that there is corruption for those in power and it can be easy for those in power to become corrupt.

“Corruption, improper and usually unlawful conduct intended to secure a benefit for oneself or another its forms include bribery, extortion, and the misuse of inside information. It exists where there is community indifference or a lack of enforcement policies.”(Encyclopedia Britannica). Today political Corruption in all forms exists in every country in the world. In some countries it is more prominent then in others, but no matter where you go it still occurs. Recently in mid 2013 some political corruption was brought to light in New York. “Since 2007, state senators have been more likely to be arrested then to lose their seats in a general election,” (New York Public Interest Research group). In April of 2013 New York State

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.

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

In the case of William J Jefferson, Louisiana representative, was sentenced to 13 years of jail time due to 11 of 16 counts of corruption. This man use a number of fronts, to hide his bribery money, left a huge paper trail, and was even recorded in four different angles of accepting the bribery money, and have the audacity to try and prove he was innocent. He stated that the FBI gave him the money, so that he could give it to the Nigerian President, it was all part of the plan, and the only reason he helped the money will show all the facts of the plan would be understood. If that was the case, why did he hide the money in the freezer, inside a Pillsbury pie crust box? Its mind blowing that a politician, with all his years of education could

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

People search far and wide all the time to find the truth. According to Shana Lebowitz, “humans actually judge people psychologically based on their face, if they are able to trust another person” (P1). Americans in-particular have had an issue all throughout their country with both corruption and money flooding their political system ultimately preventing positive social change. The questions on campaign finance reform stems in two very different directions in political debate. One, is “Money Free Speech?" Two does it actually promote corruption like some political observers say and if so can it be stopped? Politian’s are first and foremost supposed to be a servant to the people regardless of their background, not to business and or themselves.

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.

American government corruption is no doubt on the rise and big businesses love to take advantage of that. Many companies will look to ‘pay off’ or support a politician in their election in order to get their vote in the passing of bills or other things that may benefit their company and gain power over the government. For example, Tom Cobett, the “fracking-friendly former pennsylvania governor,” as called by Jon Schwarz from The Intercept, accepted around $1.7 million from oil and natural gas companies and he proceeded to pass or support several issues that helped those companies.

Excellent point! According to an article, I came across with it states that” This U.S. Government Is The Most Corrupt In History” (Washingtonsblog, 2016). It would be catastrophic if the removal of local officials was as difficult as it is to remove the President as you mentioned in your post. The moral of the country and every citizen would be dragged on the floor with very little possibilities to be able to stand up. The recall of elected officials is a privilege to have, not to misuse it, but as a powerful tool against those who don’t know how to handle being in those higher level positions. I once heard on the radio a person said” Whenever there is an abundance of money, there will always be corruption” There is a lot of truth in those

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).