Posted on 02/19/2002 4:02:02 PM PST by kattracks
An author of the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill passed by the House last week had telephones ringing off the hook in New York and Washington, D.C. Tuesday afternoon when he said during a radio interview that he and many of his fellow congressional representatives are "corrupt."
During a heated debate on the influence of big money in politics, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Ct.) told nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity that he could name "more than three" congressmen who he said had been corrupted by campaign donations - but declined to do so on the air.
Shays' bizarre confession prompted calls of concern to his Washington office by several colleagues, with Hannity revealing after the interview that at least three congressman had called his own New York City broadcast studio for clarification on what Shays said.
The full exchange went like this:
HANNITY: Can you name me three members of Congress, just three, that are corrupt because they receive donations?
SHAYS: Oh, I can name you more than three, but I wouldn't...
HANNITY: You can?
SHAYS: No, no, Sean, this is one thing we have to be very honest about in our society. You don't - you, I hope, were outraged at Enron, what happened at Enron. I was.
HANNITY: I'm more outraged about Global Crossing, but that's....
SHAYS: Well, O.K. But either way what happened was there were two things that Enron - Enron told us a whole host of things. But one of the things they taught us was that nobody spoke out about a corrupt system. And even Miss Watkins, who spoke out, only spoke out internally.
Now, I would be like Miss Watkins if all I did was to speak internally and tell my Speaker the system is corrupting us - cause I've done that. And what corrupts us....
HANNITY: You're saying that members of Congress, you have no doubt - how many would you say of the 435 members are corrupt? Cause you're saying....
SHAYS: Now, Sean, I want to say this to you. This is a system that corrupts everyone it touches - even me....
HANNITY: You have been corrupted by accepting donations?
SHAYS: Let me just explain to you how, and, you know, we may not be able to cover it all. But, I want to be honest with you like you would want an Enron employee to be honest with you.
And the bottom line is, certain bills don't come to the floor because the people are major contributors. Certain amendments don't get on the rules committee because people are major contributors. Some bills get to the floor because there are major contributors. Some issues that have been important to some people in the general public for years don't see the light of day because major contributors don't like it. And that's a fact. (End of Excerpt)
Shays' comments about congressional corruption set off a firestorm of controversy, so much so that minutes after the interview ended he was back on the telephone asking Hannity for more airtime.
SHAYS: I wanted to dialogue because I don't feel that everyone in Congress is corrupt. I think it's a corrupting system.... I was having people call me in response to one or two things you were saying and I really want to be clear on this because this is very important to me.
I believe that I work with some of the finest people who actually are members of Congress. But the issue is, do I think all members of Congress are corrupt? Absolutely not.
HANNITY: No, you didn't say that. But you said some.
SHAYS: But what I do believe is that we are involved in a very corrupting system.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Last time I really listened to Shay's was before the Clinton impeachment vote, when he staged the phoney Town Hall Meeting to hear how his constituents wanted him to vote. It was a farce.
sw
Because the DNC has need of $10,000,000.00 to pay off campaign debt. Little dickie gephart and pals are on a 'round-the-country tour trying to get $100,000,000.00 into the DNC coffers by Sept. 1, 2002.
Oh, wait, my mistake. Soft money contributions to a national party to pay off debt don't count under CFR.
Anyone with any character would not be corrupted, would do what is right, and if they can't they shouldn't be in congress. How can you trust people with a multi-billion dollar budget if they can be corrupted by a few campaign contributions. VOTE THEM OUT!
Richard W.
If he is a true servant of his constituents and to the American public it is his duty to make public the names of each and everyone of the Congressmen and Senators that have made deals with evil corporations that influenced their vote. This is a crime Rep. Shays is alleging. If he withholds that information, he is guilty of conspiracy to cover up the crime of selling legislative votes.
Rep. Shays needs to either recant his statement in a press release or turn over the names of these legislators over to the FBI or the Congressional Ethics committees so this serious crime can be investigated.
Sheeple: O K < : )
I wonder what the other people in Congress think about Shays and McCain saying that they are all crooks.
Oh, you put it so-o-o nicely!
Because they need enough time to figure out a way around the new system.
Oh, I wonder what he is going to do [not]!
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