2006 Republican Party scandals

Political corruption is not new. "Culture of corruption" is a political slogan first used in contemporary times by the United States Democratic Party to refer to a series of political scandals affecting the Republican Party during the first two years of George W. Bush's second term as President of the United States. Since then the phrase has been applied to the United States Democratic Party as a result of multiple episodes of corruption in that party.

As a slogan, it fits into a family of similar phrases in which political parties characterize themselves or their opponents of having a set of values inculcated at the cultural level (e.g. Culture of Life, Culture of Death).

In recent times, the phrase was used by District Judge Frederick Motz while sentencing Maryland lobbyist Gerard E. Evans to 30 months jail for his part in a scheme in which he lobbied against non-existent legislative proposals to control lead-paint. The alleged co-conspirator, Democratic politician Tony Fulton, was found not guilty of 11 charges of fraud. The phrase was used in connection with a national political scandal by Howard Dean in an attempt to link allegations of insider trading by Senator Bill Frist to the then-emerging Abramoff Scandal. Dean asserted that Republicans "have made their culture of corruption the norm".

Use by Democrats

The phrase was thereafter repeated by other Democratic Party leaders, including Nancy Pelosi (responding to the indictment of Tom DeLay):

The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people.

The phrase was also been applied to link successive indictments and convictions of Republican politicians to the Republican party itself. These included:

• Randy Cunningham, convicted of accepting $1.3 million in bribes.
• Bob Ney, plead guilty to accepting bribes.
• Tom DeLay, indicted on charges of money laundering.
• Scooter Libby, convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to the FBI.
• J. Steven Griles, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

Politicians that were not indicted, but were commonly attacked as being part of "the culture of corruption" by Democrats included:

• Mark Foley, resigned after a sex scandal involving a 16-year-old male page.
• Bill Frist, reported to have maintained additional stock holdings outside of his blind trust, creating a conflict of interest.
• Curt Weldon, being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of trading political influence for lobbying contracts for his daughter. Weldon did not resign, but in his 2006 re-election campaign, the Washington Post reported that the Republican Party had "all but abandoned" him. [2]
• Dennis Hastert, for allegedly trying to cover up warnings about inappropriate conduct by Mark Foley, and from taking contributions from Jack Abramoff to the tune of over $100,000. [3]

Republican response

While usually avoiding using the phrase, Republicans have responded to Democratic charges by pointing out that some Democrats have also been involved in similar scandals. These Democrats include:

• Rod Blagojevich who on December 9, 2008, was arrested by FBI agents and charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as solicitation of bribery. The Justice Department complaint alleges that the governor conspired to commit several "pay to play" schemes, including attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacated United States Senate seat to the highest bidder.

• Eliot Spitzer who on March 10, 2008, The New York Times reported that Spitzer was a client of a prostitution ring under investigation by the federal government. Two days later, he announced his resignation as governor of New York, effective March 17, citing "private failings.

• William J. Jefferson, who was indicted for alleged acceptance of bribes after being videotaped accepting a $100,000 bribe from an FBI informant. A police search of his house discovered $90,000 of that money stored in a freezer. Some of the charges in the 96 page indictment include racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

• Brett Pfeffer, a former congressional aide, who admitted soliciting bribes on Jefferson's behalf and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

• Telecommunications executive Vernon Jackson, who pleaded guilty to paying between $400,000 and $1 million in bribes to Jefferson in exchange for his assistance securing business deals in Nigeria and other African nations.

2006 midterm elections

Political corruption was a key issue cited by voters at exit polls during the 2006 Midterm Elections, as the voters made their frustration known. [4] The Democratic Party regained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. William Jefferson was re-elected in his district despite the on-going investigation, which some political commentators such as Rush Limbaugh have decried as a hypocrisy of the "culture of corruption" label that the DNC had been branding the Republicans with.

Democrats also regained a majority of state governorships and control over a plurality of state legislatures.

Use by the media

Responding to the use of the phrase "culture of corruption" by the Democratic Party, authors Lynn Vincent and Robert Stacy McCain published "Donkey Cons" in April, 2006. A review on right-wing web site WorldNet Daily said: "Vincent and McCain do not claim that the Republican Party boasts only the good, the pure and the beautiful, as Aristotle said..." They contended that "the Democratic Party has a 200-year history of urban corruption, treason and subversion, mob control, alliance with corrupt unions, and aiding and abetting criminals that has no parallel in the GOP... Which was "supported by 650 end notes that should give pause to even diehard Democrats."

External links

• The Democratic Culture Of Corruption GOPUSA, Michelle Malkin, 2008-12-10
• Culture of Corruption: A Week of GOP Scandals (from the webpage of the Democratic Party)
• A look a the scandals from the left
• "In California, sigh of relief for GOP" by Linda Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor, June 08, 2006, retrieved June 21, 2006
• In Case You Missed It: 'A Rich History of Corruption' by John Fund of the Wall Street Journal (from the webpage of the Republican Party)
• Reviewing Donkey Cons, WorldNetDaily.com, April 26, 2006.
• "The Democrats' Culture of Corruption" Accuracy in Media, Cliff Kincaid, April 28, 2006
• DeLay indicted, steps down as majority leader
• Dean decries GOP's "culture of corruption"
• SEC issues subpoena to Frist, sources say
• Dean slam at GOP puts Democrats in tricky spot
• Republican Culture of Corruption Reaches Alaska (from the webpage of the Democratic Party)
• "Scandals Alone Could Cost Republicans Their House Majority", by Jonathan Weisman and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, Washington Post, November 2, 2006, page A01