I noticed none of Oregon's Republican websites have written anything condemning Sizemore either so they don't have any right to point fingers.

So some guy gives a politician a campaign contribution and then gets a bill passed that benefits his business, or himself. That's not corruption? Give me a break. Its right up there with every other kind.

How about deregulation of Wall Street corporations, the war on Iraq, the Patriot Act, approving the Israeli military and their Likud and Kadima sponsors for their gross overreaction in Southern Lebanon in 2006 and their abuses of human rights since then in Gaza, the recent FISA bill and the first bailout hearings in Congress that were rigged to have only Bush's agents as witnesses for examples of bi-partisan corruption?

Go to any liberal blog and you won't find a soul defending B-Rod except trolls who are trying to stink up the comment board. The rule of law actually means something to us. I'm only sorry that Pelosi and the leadership didn't push Mr. Freezer Cash out of office. Because of his selfishness, they elected a Republic in one of the bluest districts in the country. Nice job wimpy Dem leadership.

Speaking of which, why in Goddess name is Merkley sending me an appeal to donate to Harry Reid? You know...the guy who allows Republics to put holds on appointments, but screws Ron Wyden the minute he comes back home for the birth of his twins. I thought the goal was more and better Dems, Jeff. Why have you abandoned this before you even get sworn into office? We need a strong challenger to Reid in the primary.

Congressional Democrats need to stop entirely the practice of earmarks. Earmarks and the processes that create them are an open invitations to corruption, from campaign contributions to cash under the table. They are not a good way to allocate funds. So while everyone is against corruption, and outrage at the Blagojevich situation is bipartisan, Democrats do need to end earmarks now.

I noticed none of Oregon's Republican websites have written anything condemning Sizemore either so they don't have any right to point fingers.

Exactly, Joan And remember what happened when Scooter Libby was convicted. Rather than applaud justice, the Republics and their media outlets were thrilled that Bush kept him out of jail and ripped Fitzpatrick a new one. Tonight they pretend this never happened, and are running with the fiction that Obama might replace Fitz, their new hero. You can give the Republics one thing: brand loyalty. No matter the crimes, illegal invasions, extreme deficit spending, awful economic policies, they always stick together.

Get used to it backbeat. Jeff is a solid party guy first and foremost. Don't expect any of this independent-minded bipartisan stuff from him. He owes his seat (and his soul) to Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and all their big money contributors that funded his campaign. Basically, he has no seniority, will probably not get very influential committee assignments and he has to start climbing his way up the ladder by doing the bidding of the national party bosses.

My response to the e mail asking for "Help for Harry" was unprintable on this blog.

Thanks Jeff. Yeah, if they can't speak proper English, they deserve to be mocked. I've even heard "Democrat Party" on KPOJ. Drives me nuts.

Margie, who would those "national party bosses" be?

Gordon Smith got elected originally because lots of Oregonians like me refused to vote for Bruggere---the man with no political experience, just support from the DSCC, money of his own, and lots of Democrats acting as if no independent thought was allowed after Bruggere outspent one primary challenger 10-1 and another 100-1.

There were multiple 3rd party candidates that year, across the political spectrum.

This year when the former St. Sen. Pres. was running against the Speaker of the Oregon House, it was more of an equal match. The fact Gordon didn't do the kind of town hall meetings Wyden does, and had turned into a different person than the guy who ran in 1996 is the fault of Gordon, not the fault of the DSCC which Novickians hated this year but didn't seem to find fault with in 1996.

As for bipartisan, let me echo the praise for Sen. Corker's work on the auto bailout I just heard from one of the Democratic Senators on CSPAN.

Earlier, Sen. Baucus and Grassley were talking about the same concern they had about legislation.

THAT is bipartisanship.

And this topic is supposed to be about corruption.

Those of us who admired both Fitzgerald's work on the leak case and his recent work on the criminal complaint against the Gov. of Illinois know that good prosecutors look at the deed, not at the party label.

Weren't there some US Attorneys fired for refusing to look at the party label of someone being investigated and act accordingly. Wasn't there a Dept. of Justice Inspector General report on that? How can a Republican IG report be partisan?

"As far as I can tell, the Dems are leading the charge to have the guy impeached"

I believe that is all they have running things in Illinois is Dems. Of course, none of theis affected Sen Obama.

I tell ya, From Pendegast to Blagojevich

Ironically, the only Democrats being hanged on this site are those in favor of the death penalty.

(For more info see the below Ax(wo)man blog on Marquis)

LT said: "Gordon Smith got elected originally because lots of Oregonians like me refused to vote for Bruggere---the man with no political experience, just support from the DSCC, money of his own, and lots of Democrats acting as if no independent thought was allowed after Bruggere outspent one primary challenger 10-1 and another 100-1." I'm sure 'lots of Oregonians' echo my thanks to you for Mr. Smith's service. Sheesh!

By their own internal logic, one could also say "Bad Republicans Hate Corruption".

The Democratic party has been aware of the Chicago machine for so long that any scandal from that direction demonstrates mass culpability for negligence, regardless of the individual relationships.

Good Dems Belong Unions, and Unions belong to Organized Crime.

NATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY CENTER ORGANIZED LABOR ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT

Union Corruption Update by State.

NOTE: Be patient there's so much corruption, that this page takes awhile to even load an Index of all the Corruption:

http://www.nlpc.org/statindx.asp

Read this with Union pride as a Good Dem would

What we claim is that - unlike Republicans - we don't try to rally around our bad apples when they're found out

Yeah. Nanci Pelosi's really coming down like a hammer on Charlie Rangel.

C'mon. Do you really believe what you write?

About five years ago I watched a former Congressman give a talk on television, I believe C-Span. The theme was corruption in Congress. My recollection is that his talk was non-partisan. He made these points: Congress and the system are basically corrupt. He mentioned that many representatives went to Congress with ideals but they soon became corrupted. He talked of raising campaign funds to run for re-election and mentioned an interview with a lobbyist. After the preliminaries of introduction he and the lobbyist sat down opposite each other. The lobbyist reached into his brief case, pulled out his check book, laid it on the table and opened it, then he asked the Congressman what his position was on an issue of interest to him. There was no talk of a quid quo pro but the message was clear. If I recall correctly the Congressman swallowed his scruples and told the lobbyist what he wanted to hear. I believe that was the first and last time that representative ran for re-election.

There are many things the people must do to reduce the corruption in elected bodies - not just Congress and state capitols but right down to county commissions and city councils - and reform of campaign finance must be near the top of the list.

Of course, it would also help if the people raised their standards and refused to vote for a candidate because he or she happened to be their crook.

Of course, it would also help if the people raised their standards and refused to vote for a candidate because he or she happened to be their crook.

The halls of Congress would echo with the sound of the wind, and leaves blowing on the street...

Steven, Glad to see you come to the defense of corrupt unions. Im sure your fellow Dems are proud. I mean geez, there was only 254 cases in 2008! LOL.

"this group of fringe partisan hacks..."

Oh, of course, to be expected...
Pointing out union corruption means your a partisan Hack.

Steven, who's your favorite union boss - Jackie Presser? Dems = unions = corruption.

I'm not exactly sure what you expect Nancy Pelosi to do, Vincent

She could ask Rangel to step down, at least from Ways and Means, for the good of the Democratic Party, for one. I'm not talking about some website he put up -- I'm talking about being investigated for failing to pay taxes and other fairly serious ethics violations.

Pelosi and friends promised "the most ethical Congress in history." They've failed miserably, and Congress' approval ratings reflect it.

Democrats are always the ones trying to tighten up ethics rules

That brush broad enough for you?

Bill Bodden said, "How about deregulation of Wall Street corporations, the war on Iraq, the Patriot Act, approving the Israeli military and their Likud and Kadima sponsors for their gross overreaction in Southern Lebanon in 2006 and their abuses of human rights since then in Gaza, the recent FISA bill and the first bailout hearings in Congress that were rigged to have only Bush's agents as witnesses for examples of bi-partisan corruption?"

But Bill, you still don't get it. If both corporatist, hegemonist parties commit the same crimes, then they're not crimes. If the U.S. or one of its clients carries out terrorism, it did not happen. Millions may be slaughtered and tortured, but, since we are the exceptions to international law, it's merely a sign of our altruistic dedication to democracy and human rights (and worth the price). And anyone who thinks differently wants the terrorists to win.

Steven, This is exactly what I thought would happen by pointing out Union corruption to a bunch of Dems. Union corruption goes way back, as long as the ties between the Democratic party and the Unions exist. The two go hand in hand. But Dems like you always defend union corruption, and probably the black eyes, bloody noses and broken bones that go along with union strong arm tactics.

Steven, you are my new favorite Vegetable.

I was looking up some things for my blog (blatant advertising - it's new, come visit! - jeremiahl.blogspot.com) and found out that around the end of the 1800's and the beginning of the 1900's, it was Oregon that was the joke of the country corruption-wise. Check here for details on a different site. It said both sides were pretty publicly in on it, and since Dems were mostly poorer then, it was cheaper to buy off a Dem candidate than a Repub. Public debauchery all around!

...Scooter Libby, for example.

Vets say that scooting behavior is a sign of worms. McCain brought the point home. Besides financial disclosure forms we should require medical ones of major candidates.

I'm not exactly sure what you expect Nancy Pelosi to do, Vincent

She can switch gears and realize that her pitiful performance since the midterms won't do for the next two.

Look at Lieberman. He's still chairing a committee, even after leaving the Democratic party.

and influencing our local Senator, I do believe. What else explains the fudging on Gitmo?

Eh, well... I don't care about Joe Lieberman as much as Democrats do these days. They're playing up the whole "stab-in-the-back" routine for all it's worth, but I thought he was an odious character a decade ago when he was fulminating against dirty lyrics in music pushing for censorship of the music industry.

Had the 2000 election gone the other way, he'dve been our Vice-President and, along with the equally repulsive Tipper Gore, would've had a field-day with all those "obscene" musicians and their dirty lyrics.

In any case, Barack Obama ran and won on a platform of vague promises of "change." It might be tempting for Democrats to interpret his victory as a electoral endorsement of their party, but I think that it's probably more accurate to attribute the Democrats' victory to a simple "throw the bastards out" mentality on the part of voters who were fed up with eight years of weak leadership and mostly misguided policies. Gordon Smith didn't lose Oregon because Jeff Merkley beat him decisively. He lost because around 5% of Oregon's most conservative voters abandoned the GOP for the Constitution Party.

Again, that's less of an endorsement of the Democrats as it is a refutation of the Republicans.

If the Democrats aren't careful (and I think it's safe to say that neither party, when they take solid control of the reigns of government has ever acted with anything less than arrogance and reckless abandon), then the winds of "change" might just blow against them when the midterm elections start heating up.

I'm not exactly sure what you expect Nancy Pelosi to do, Vincent

Well, she could have talked with some of the old timers to learn how her predecessor, Tip O'Neill, pushed President Carter around. If a speaker of the House can give a president a hard time surely something similar would apply to a committee chairman. On the other hand, maybe Rangel knows where Pelosi has some bodies buried and has her checkmated.

Welcome back, Harry. I note you caught me forgetting we are living in a combination of Orwell's "Animal Farm" and Alice's Wonderland.

The title should be "Good People Hate Corruption". Honesty (or lack thereof) is not limited to any political affiliation.

If we agree that the duopoly that runs Congress is corrupt and the people accept that corruption and the screwing they are getting what does that say about the American people? If you don't believe Congress is corrupt, please explain. Enquiring minds would like to know.

If the Democrats aren't careful (and I think it's safe to say that neither party, when they take solid control of the reigns of government has ever acted with anything less than arrogance and reckless abandon), then the winds of "change" might just blow against them when the midterm elections start heating up.

If this is just one more revolution of the merry-go-round, I think the next winds of change will more closely resemble being sucked into the vacuum of space where anyone who hasn't gotten it will explode from their overpressurized rhetoric!

"No Good Dem" = No true Scotsman

When will we see an end to this "culture of corruption"!

Good Dems Hate Corruption

Who would those "good Dems" be? If we don't demand perfection to qualify someone as "good" then clearly there are many good Democrats, but would "good Dems" include the approximate half of Democrats in Congress who voted for the war on Iraq? How about the Dems who followed then senator and now Vice-President-elect Biden to pass the notorious Bankruptcy Bill? How about Speaker Pelosi who has made it abundantly clear that if it is politically expedient to do so then she will ignore the Constitution? How about Senator Dodd and Rep. Frank who partnered with their Democratic and Republican committee members to rig the bailout hearings so that no witnesses would be invited to give contrary opinions?

Alexander Cockburn at Counterpunch has an interesting column on the Blagojevich affair and Illinois politics

Dave Porter:

Congressional Democrats need to stop entirely the practice of earmarks. Earmarks and the processes that create them are an open invitations to corruption, from campaign contributions to cash under the table.

Bob T:

Yeah, that's exactly the point made by McCain in one of the debates. A view allegedly shared by many Repubs going back to the 90s. But the Repubs are where they are now because they didn't do anything, probably because they had no interest in doing anything. They are truly the Stupid Party because of the way they blew their majority in a relatively short time (the Dems had the House of Reps for 40 years until Jan, 1995). They really know how to do it.

Bob Tiernan

Steven Maurer:

Now personally, I'm embarrassed about it, as much as I'm embarrassed for the nation over Palin's clothes shopping spree on the RNC's dime.

Bob T:

Which was a non-story compared to what else was going on and getting under-reported (Dems fell for that one, but then they wanted to).

All that spree proved was 1) Palin never had the money for an elitist wardrobe, and 2) media bias such as when there are reports on Mrs. Obama's wardrobe of gowns that cost as much as it would cost to feed Chicago's homeless for weeks ("Let them wear denim", I guess), all I heard was oh how lovely this one is. Whatever.

Bob Tiernan

Steve Maurer:

Rangel's tax delinquency on his timeshare in the Dominican Republic is something new to me.

Bob T:

Don't forget he has more than one rent-control apartment in NYC even though by law he's permitted only one.

Bob Tiernan

backbeat:

I'm only sorry that Pelosi and the leadership didn't push Mr. Freezer Cash out of office. Because of his selfishness, they elected a Republic in one of the bluest districts in the country.

Bob T:

Yeah, a Vietnamese immigrant -- I'm still waiting to see or hear a Progressive say that's a good thing, but it only counts when they're Dems.

Bob Tiernan

Yeah, a Vietnamese immigrant -- I'm still waiting to see or hear a Progressive say that's a good thing, but it only counts when they're Dems.

Perhaps the reason you are not getting any comments from progressives on this blog regarding this "Vietnamese immigrant" is that they (like this progressive) know little or nothing about him. Also, given this is the Blue Oregon web site it is unlikely that many of its habitues have much interest in Louisiana politics.

Very good point Bill. I can mention one personal association with the story from when I lived there. Lack of Vietnamese representation or empathy has been legendary in LA.

Most notable was an event on Halloween, sometime around the first Gulf War, where a Vietnamese teen-ager was trick or treating and someone simply looked through the peephole and blew him away with a shotgun, through the door, after he knocked on it. Got away scot free, based on a law that gives the homeowner pretty much the same rights based on perception that Oregon cops have. It really emphasized that the little day to day skirmishes with the shrimp trawlers have created real antipathy and that more voices were needed.

How about Chuck Schumer? Is he a "good Dem" who hates corruption?

Good Dems Hate Corruption

Steve Maurer:

My Tiernan, you just demonstrated why it's impossible to carry on a conversation with a die-hard Republican.

Bob T:

That's an odd label for someone who believes in drug legalization, de-crim of prostitution, and so on. Perhaps you're talking about someone else.

Steve Maurer:

Your morality breaks down to two fundamental ideas:

if someone you don't like is doing it too (or might be doing it, even if they're not). For example, "[Palin's shopping spree on the RNC donor's dime] was a non-story compared to what else was going on and getting under-reported...". Morality isn't "compared to" anyone else's behavior.

Bob T:

Apparently you did not grasp the point being made. You must be aware that the media too often covers things that are barely relevant to what's going on at the time--in this case a presidential election--and this wardrobe story received far more coverage and was granted far more importance than it deserved. If you think this was important to know in the level of detail we received, and that it wasn't an example of the media having fun making Palin look bad while Obama and Biden were given zillions of passes, then you too have the double standard. While reporters and Obama campaign workers flocked to Alaska looking for stuff on Palin, they should have been in Chicago and Springfield.

Not that I want to provide examples all day long, but picture most people have of Palin-Biden is that Palin was gaffe happy while Biden rarely makes them. The Oregonian headline about the VP debate was "...Palin makes no gaffes", yet during the campaign it wasn't Palin who said that FDR was president in 1929, or that FDR went on TV in 1929 to calm people, or that "Jobs" is a three letter word, or that the French and American military kicked Hammas out of Lebanon, or asked a parapalegic to stand up, and so on.

I wanted to know about examples of how Obama has experience and the talent at getting people with different opinions to agree on things (which he claims for himself) instead of bobble-head interviewers moving on to the next question without asking him to prove it.

I wanted to know more about a lot of things that were important, but instead the Palin dress thing was the top story for a couple of days. That must have been the "right wing" media at work again.

A side-bar here: There's an interesting British film called "Defense of the Realm" starring Gabriel Byrne as a journalist. A key character in the film is a Labor prime minister and the anti-Labor interests try to get him to resign by exposing dirt on him in one case by putting out some scandalous info on the PM so the reporters like Byrne would run with it without realizing that these were nonsense stories compared to what really neeed to be the headline news. The Palin dress story was one such story, and people like you got on the floor and lapped it up. In the film, the PM decided to ignore the calls for resignation and although he wasn't my kind of PM he was an admirable character for sticking to his guns and opposing his enemies from a principled stance.

Steve Maurer:

For example, your accusation that Rangel "has more than one rent-control apartment in NYC even though by law he's permitted only one", can't be true, because if it was, it would mean that there is a vast conspiracy among (even Republican appointed) federal and state law enforcement officials to refuse to bring him to justice.

Bob T:

Then do some more research -- it has been reported, and for several years or more.

Steve Maurer:

Now my morality says that there are things that are unseemly that are still not technicall against the law. In Palin's case, I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of middle and low income Republicans who donated hard earned dollars...

Bob T:

Yes, I prefer that people give zero money to parties and give to candidates instead.

The rest of your message did little to stay on topic.