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The Democrats’ corruption problem


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Stand by to receive the obligatory ‘both sides do it’ volley.

The Democrats’ corruption problem

Published: 4:25 PM 06/07/2011 | Updated: 12:54 PM 06/08/2011

This has been a bad couple of weeks for Democrats. The economy is sagging, support for President Barack Obama is declining, and Anthony Weiner and John Edwards are doing their best to draw attention to one of the Democratic Party’s main weaknesses — its corruption problem.

According to a 2009 study published in the esteemed American Political Science Review, Democrats are several times* more likely than Republicans to find themselves in federal court on public corruption charges. The study’s author, New York University professor Sanford C. Gordon, doesn’t really explore why this is, but I have some theories.

1.) Big-city corruption: America’s major cities are notoriously corrupt, so it’s no surprise that a decent percentage of big-city politicians — almost all of whom are Democrats — end up facing corruption charges (this is the one possible explanation for the Democrats’ corruption problem that Sanford addresses). But it’s hard to pin the blame for big-city corruption on Democrats, because the amount of resources, power and influence that big-city politicians wield means that big-city governments from Jakarta to Mexico City are wracked with corruption. The powerful urban machines that remain entrenched in many large U.S. cities make matters worse.

2.) The big-government mindset: For psychological reasons, even the most corrupt government officials need to find ways to rationalize their corruption. That’s something that liberal government officials may have a relatively easy time doing. Think about it: If you believe that the free market’s allocation of resources is inherently unfair and arbitrary, and you’re in a position to redistribute those resources, you might think: Hey, why not divert some resources to my friends and myself — after all, we’ll make better use of this money than most people would. On the other hand, if free-market economics and government thrift are central to your worldview, it might be harder to rationalize graft.

3.) Self-righteousness: Some liberals see themselves as underpaid “good guys” who have devoted their lives to making the world a better place. They might rationalize their corruption by telling themselves that even with their corrupt deeds, they’re still, on net, making the world a much better place.

4.) Democratic voters don’t really mind: Studies show that, for whatever reason, liberals just don’t care as much as conservatives do about corruption. As a result, Democratic politicians like Charlie Rangel know that they can get away with a lot. In 2009, Hoboken, New Jersey’s then-mayor, Democrat Peter Cammarano III, told an undercover FBI agent that he could be indicted and still win “85 to 95 percent” of the vote in a runoff mayoral election. It turns out that Cammarano pushed the envelope a little bit too far — he’s now behind bars.

* NOTE: I originally wrote that Democratic government officials were “three times” more likely to find themselves facing federal corruption charges. I’ve changed the wording from “three times” to “several times” to reflect the fact that Gordon found that the partisan composition of the defendants in corruption cases varies depending on which party controls the presidency. For example, Gordon finds that Democrats were 2.57 times more likely than Republicans to face federal public corruption charges during the Clinton administration but 6.13 times more likely than Republicans to face federal public corruption charges during the George W. Bush administration. Those numbers are based on representative samples of federal public corruption defendants during both administrations.

Peter Tucci is an editor at The Daily Caller.

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We all need to admit that almost every politician is corrupt and its not just one party...

Yes, the ' every one does it ' angle. :rolleyes:

Not everyone is as pure as the wind driven snow, but that doesn't make everyone equally guilty, either.

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You can get "American Caller" red thong underwear for only 15$

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We all need to admit that almost every politician is corrupt and its not just one party...

Yes, the ' every one does it ' angle. :rolleyes:

Not everyone is as pure as the wind driven snow, but that doesn't make everyone equally guilty, either.

I know and I'm not defending the democrats and I'm sure as hell not a democrat, I just get tired of each party trying to play the angle against the other party. Nothing ever gets done when they try to prove who is LESS corrupt.

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Chris Lee snapes a shot of his shirtless self, and quickly resigns.

Weiner snaps a pic of his privates...he's staying. He gets defended by fellow crook Charles Rangel, to boot.

When GOP members get ACCUSED of anything, they bail, and no one defends him.

Hell, Trent Lott didn't even DO anything wrong, and was forced to apologize.

THAT'S how fraking out of whack the difference is between the 2 parties.

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I have very conservative views but both parties suck and have little idea of what the people want. I would say the Republicans may have a slightly better idea of what the people want but its nowhere near where it should be. Party bickering in congress ***** everything up and recent presidents have been mediocre. Bush era very mediocre..........nowhere near Obama levels but still pretty bad

Corruption is only part of the problem.

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There's party 'bickering' because the 2 parties not only want different things, they want to go about achieving those things differently.

That's a separate issue from the parties being corrupt.

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Chris Lee snapes a shot of his shirtless self, and quickly resigns.

Weiner snaps a pic of his privates...he's staying. He gets defended by fellow crook Charles Rangel, to boot.

When GOP members get ACCUSED of anything, they bail, and no one defends him.

Hell, Trent Lott didn't even DO anything wrong, and was forced to apologize.

THAT'S how fraking out of whack the difference is between the 2 parties.

Ensin didn't resign until the Senate threatened to kick him out.

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Chris Lee snapes a shot of his shirtless self, and quickly resigns.

Weiner snaps a pic of his privates...he's staying. He gets defended by fellow crook Charles Rangel, to boot.

When GOP members get ACCUSED of anything, they bail, and no one defends him.

Hell, Trent Lott didn't even DO anything wrong, and was forced to apologize.

THAT'S how fraking out of whack the difference is between the 2 parties.

Ensin didn't resign until the Senate threatened to kick him out.

Yeah, so ? :gofig:

He resigned. Weiner won't . That's the point.

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Chris Lee snapes a shot of his shirtless self, and quickly resigns.

Weiner snaps a pic of his privates...he's staying. He gets defended by fellow crook Charles Rangel, to boot.

When GOP members get ACCUSED of anything, they bail, and no one defends him.

Hell, Trent Lott didn't even DO anything wrong, and was forced to apologize.

THAT'S how fraking out of whack the difference is between the 2 parties.

I guess Mark Sanford, the former President of the Republicans Governors Association doesn't count? Lied multiple times, eventually shown to have used inappropriate funds for his trip to Argentina, refused to resign even after republicans told him that he needed too, etc.

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I guess Mark Sanford, the former President of the Republicans Governors Association doesn't count? Lied multiple times, eventually shown to have used inappropriate funds for his trip to Argentina, refused to resign even after republicans told him that he needed too, etc.

I guess Bill Clinton counts too then. He lied under oath and Democrats fought to keep him from getting impeached.

I hope Weiner stays.

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I guess Mark Sanford, the former President of the Republicans Governors Association doesn't count? Lied multiple times, eventually shown to have used inappropriate funds for his trip to Argentina, refused to resign even after republicans told him that he needed too, etc.

I guess Bill Clinton counts too then. He lied under oath and Democrats fought to keep him from getting impeached.

I hope Weiner stays.

Absolutely he counts. I count Clinton just as much as Sanford or Weiner.

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Who cares????? 98% of them SUCK and need to be replaced with people who have no party affiliation. Since that's not going to happen without civil war I say.....deal with it! I HATE IT, but our country has always had bad apples in D.C.

Problem with it now days......the entire damn tree is ruined.

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Maybe we should investigate why a one-party "democracy" can be more corrupt than our system, yet have a better economy (in terms of growth) and have little public outlash. It's actually pretty simple.

Anyways, I think a two-party democracy can be successful but we need to find ways to make the people who represent us more accountable and limit the power parties have on these individuals. But how?

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