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Thursday, December 01, 2005
A Bad Apple
Brazen Abuse of Office and Public Trust
Source: Houston ChronicleOne million dollars for a house down payment. Two thousand for a daughter's graduation bash. Thousands more shelled out for rugs, yacht trips, nice furniture and holidays. In all, the price tag for Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) came to $2.4 million -- a trifle for two defense contractors whose business soared to $163 million after the congressman began to take their bribes.
The whole outsize scenario seems like a throwback to another time. In fact, the scandal is special only in its lack of subtlety.
After falsely denying the charges, a weepy Cunningham fessed up Monday and resigned. His crimes could earn him 10 years behind bars when he is sentenced Feb. 27. "He did the worst thing he could do," U.S. Attorney Carol Lam commented. "He enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there."
In the era of the Robber Barons, such blatant cash-for-influence was common. Captains of industry listed congressmen and senators on their payrolls, doling out cash at regular intervals. Businesses would bankroll judges, who sometimes issued dueling injunctions to thwart patrons' arrests. Never legal, graft at that time was a way of life. Cynics argued that if every congressman were bought, the buyers cancelled each other out. Finally, revulsion at the corrupt culture launched the progressive movement. Republican and Democratic leaders both fought for a more professional government.
Of course, bribery and the use of public office for private profit persisted: Recent notable cases include Abscam and the book-deal scams that ensnared first Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright and then Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Cunningham, however, was a real throwback in his brazenness, notes William Black, executive director of the University of Texas' Institute for Fraud Prevention. Cunningham's purchases were showier, the flow of money to his coffers more direct. Even his attempt to launder cash, through a crooked house sale, was a timeworn technique of drug dealers.
But it's mistaken to take comfort at Cunningham's fall, as if he were an anomalous bad apple. In the past two decades, two phenomena again have made exchange of cash for influence in government an epidemic. One is the enormously increased cost of elections. The other is the infamous K Street strategy, in which congressional leaders pressured corporations and special interests to hire lobbyists loyal to one party. In exchange for campaign contributions, the lobbyists were allowed to draft or shape legislation.
The result has been steady, widespread corrosion of the public interest from a system in which temptation and corruption are everywhere. Few congressmen are buying Rolls-Royces or following drug dealers' manuals to hide their gains. But they have spawned a culture of unethical behavior that might have encouraged Randy Cunningham to think this was the modern way to govern.
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Posted by fm on December 01, 2005 at 12:43 AM