Abramoff: Bribes' Biggest Victims?
Jack Abramoff engaged in massive corruption schemes, the dimensions of which have never been seen in Washington before. In them, he apparently found a web of Capitol Hill co-conspirators. In the end, Abramoff may be shown to have bribed or illegally colluded with as many as sixty Capitol Hill figures, members of Congress and staffers.
Who or what has been most victimized by all this corruption? The answer to that question can be seen in several paragraphs of the USA Today story on the case:
The developments appear to be damaging Americans' perception of their elected representatives.
A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Dec. 16-18 found that 49% of American adults say they believe "most members of Congress are corrupt." That's 1 percentage point below the level of 1994, when voters turned control of Congress over to Republicans. The GOP appears to be tarred by scandal slightly more than the Democrats; 47% said "almost all" or "many" Republicans are corrupt, compared with 44% for Democrats.
Among registered voters, 55% said the issue of corruption will be the "most important" or a "very important" factor in their decision on whom to vote for next year. The poll has a margin of error of +/—3 to 5 percentage points, depending on the question.
From the vantage point of politics as usual, Republicans are likelier to be hurt by these scandals than Democrats. Abramoff is a Republican, with tight connections to the Republican leadership. But he also apparently bribed Democrats and, when one considers it, engaged in bribing schemes which seem to have incited Republicans to vote against such conventionally Republican principles as limited government and fiscal responsibility.
Be that as it may, who really cares which political party is hurt most by this stunning and widespread corruption of our political system? Far more important than damage control or spinmeistering at this point is the restoration of trust in Congress and our political system.
Americans have long been skeptical of the integrity and veracity of their public officials. But reports on alleged and actual official corruption of the most blatant and disgusting dimensions had, even before Tuesday's developments in the Abramoff case, already produced an assumption on the part of about half of the public: If you hold political office, you're corrupt.
It's not true, of course. But it's a shame that enough corruption does exist that increasing numbers of Americans hold their own government in contempt.
The Justice Department is to be applauded for pursuing this case. It should be allowed to pursue this scandal wherever--and to whomever--it may lead, no matter which party is implicated.
The biggest victim of the corruption that Mr. Abramoff and his Congressional co-conspirators engaged in and enabled is our democracy!
In the end, for democracy to work, there must be a basic trust that even if government sometimes does things with which we disagree, its decisions aren't the result of lobbyists greasing the palms of legislators or other officials.
Every government official who took a bribe needs to do time.
And every person who gave a bribe or bilked a client should not only do time, but pay back every single penny.
The goal of the Justice Department and of the Congress needs to be restoring the trust of the American people in their elected officials and ultimately, in their democracy.
And for goodness' sake, Congress: Pass legislation now making it illegal for anyone who has ever served in the government to act as a lobbyist for life!