[HomerBohn]

The traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men.

He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist.

If the reporting of more graft and corruption in Congress were allowed to surface, a majority of Americans would unite with drastic consequences.

[Diogenesis]

"At the foundation of our civil liberties lies
the principle that denies to government officials
an exceptional position before the law and which
subjects them to the same rules of conduct
that are commands to the citizen."
Justice Louis D. Brandeis

[Sherman Logan]

When the House minority leader was questioned about taking bribes from tobacco lobbyists in June of 1995 in exchange for taxpayer subsidies, and then redistributing them to other congressional members on the House floor

I strongly suspect this is an inaccurate description.

In all likelihood these were "campaign contributions" and entirely legal. In theory there was no quid pro quo.

Now whether and to what extent campaign contributions should be regulated is an entirely different question. Maybe the checks Boehner was handing out should be made illegal.

But it's fair to note that liberals are in general in favor of "getting money out of politics" and conservatives resistant. And that as long as such contributions are legal, those who do not accept them will be greatly outgunned on the campaign battlefield by those who do.

[txrefugee]

RICO should be invoked in the endemic corruption rife in D. C.

[DeaconRed]

Our founding Fathers meant for congress to be like jury duty. Serve two years then go back home. They have made it a very cushy job. Once in all they do is campaign for the next two years. Lobby $$$ flow like water to the,
The Senate was supposed to be appointed by each State and represent the States. That is why each State gets 2 no mater how small. The house to represent the people the senate to represent the states.
Now thanks to an amendment the senate is also elected.
$$$$ have corrupted all 535 of them. Term limits is the only hope but will never get passed as they will NOT vote against their phony baloney jobs.
They keep passing laws that don't apply to them.
Just an example, Social Security would get fixed super fast if they had to be in the system

[9YearLurker]

How can that not be against House rules, let alone the broader law? Do they live by absolutely no standard at all?

[Candor7]

Except for a very few like Cruz and Lee, Congress is comprised of elected professional extortionists.Thats why their approval rating os so low, they have nothing to do with the People or what the People want.

[QT3.14]

Heck, that was figured out long ago:

There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress.

Mark Twain