With the election season rolling closer the Democrats must be rather concerned that they are making headlines for (alleged) ethics violations. The latest news involves Maxine Waters.
While I think that politicians should avoid conflicts of interest, my first reaction to the report of her one alleged violation was that she seemed to merely doing business as usual. While the appeal to common practice is a fallacy, it seems reasonable to wonder why she would be singled out for this violation when other have not. Of course, consistency is rarely the way the political game is played.
One of the main concerns about these ethics issues is how they will impact the upcoming elections. Obviously, being associated with an ethics violation is not a plus to a politician’s chances. However, it need not be a fatal blow. After all, an examination of history shows that politicians often keep on getting elected even in the face of such allegations.
As the pundits have also noted, the Republicans are in a bit of a dilemma when it comes to pushing the matter. While Democrats are now in the spotlight, the Republicans have a long history of ethics violations in their ranks as well. As such, they might be reluctant to make this a major issue. Also, there is the interesting possibility that the Democrats can use this to their advantage. While Democrats are the ones being investigated, the Democrats are also in power. This can thus be used to “show” that the Democrats are serious (or wish to appear serious) about “draining the swamp.” This might help the party as a whole a little bit, depending on how they play it.
There is also the fact that Americans have come to expect and even tolerate such behavior. For example, Rangel’s adventures in taxes and housing have been well known for quite some time, yet it is only now that there seems to be even a remotely serious response. He doesn’t seem very worried at this point and perhaps he has no real reason to be concerned.
To switch to a more general point, the wealth of politicians often worries me. After all, while being in Congress or other political posts can pay well, the jobs generally do not pay extremely well. Yet a significant number of politicians are very wealthy. In some cases this is because they come from money or married money. However, it often seems to be the case that they are able to use their offices as cash cows. True, the most extreme violations that make it to the public eye do result in the occasional punishment, but much of what would seem to involve a conflict of interest is passed off merely as being lobbying or some other allegedly legitimate practice.
I suspect that the easy flow of money and influence means that the swamp will always be full. Perhaps a snake or two might be extracted (or sacrifice), but that swampy ecosystem seems rather robust. And, unlike the real ecosystems, it seems to thrive quite well with all the spills coming from big oil.
As usual, the solution is term limits. Politicians should go to Washington for a few years, do what they thing is right, and then return home.
Took them long enough to confront her on this.
That ‘crazy’ Glenn Beck found it soon after the deed was done-
“America, there is a show going on. This is incredible to me, and it’s incredible to me that no one in the press is doing their job and asking the damn questions! Who really was responsible for the CEOs at AIG? Where did they disappear to? Where are there bigger bonuses going to Fannie and Freddie, two government institutions run by… oh, my goodness, wait a minute. Run by Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd. Hey, by the way, didn’t we just find out that Christopher Dodd’s wife worked for AIG in Bermuda? Why did AIG have a business in Bermuda? That’s not a place to have a business. Oh, unless it’s a tax dodge. Oh. So she was working — he lives in Washington, or in Connecticut. She does, too, but she works in Bermuda for AIG. I wonder if there’s any connection there. Oh, my gosh, by the way, did you hear about that bank that Barney Frank helped out? It was funny. Barney Frank was sitting there and a local bank from his district walked in. It was a minority bank. And they walked in into a meeting with the treasury and Barney Frank and Maxine Waters, they are all sitting there and they say, hey, guys, we need some money, we need a bailout right now. And the treasury starts to say, no, no, wait, guys, this is not what this is for, we just want to find out — they went right to Barney Frank and Maxine Waters and talked to them and said, we need this money, we need it right now or we’re going to fold. They got the money. Treasury says they were surprised that all of a sudden how that one happened, how this bank just turned the tables on everything and they got their money right away. You know what’s weird? This is so incredibly weird. Do you know who’s on the board of directors of this bank? Oh, my gosh, I didn’t know. Maxine Waters’ husband. Maxine Waters’ husband. Isn’t that weird. My gosh, I’m glad we’re not paying attention to that story. I’m glad we’re just nailing the people who are working for a dollar a year, I’m just glad that we’re nailing their ass to the wall. You know, t he ones who had nothing to do with it.”- Glenn Beck March, 25 2009
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