PrintDecember 12, 2008
Parties of Corruption
Which party is more corrupt? Maybe you've seen lists. The National Taxpayer's Union has a pretty good list http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=343. The NTU's gripe, though, is not which party is more corrupt, but that Congressmen who are convicted felons continue to collect their very generous congressional pensions.
The NTU's list is of "Members of Congress Who Were Convicted of or Pled Guilty to Major Offenses, 1992-1999." NTU staffers had to compile the list from Washington Post archives and Congressional Quarterly Yearly Almanacs. (It takes real work to compile an apples-to-apples, fair list.) Here is that list:
- Nick Mavroules (D-MA). Tax evasion, accepting illegal gratuity, 1992.
- Albert Bustamante (D-TX). Racketeering, 1993.
- Carroll Hubbard (D-KY). Fraud and corruption, 1994.
- Carl Perkins (D-KY). Fraud, 1994.
- Charlie Rose (D-NC). Agreed to pay fine for financial disclosure irregularities, 1994.
- Larry Smith (D-FL). Tax evasion, 1994.
- Dave Durenberger (R-MN). Financial disclosure misdemeanor, 1995.
- Walter Fauntroy (D-DC Delegate). Financial disclosure misdemeanor, 1995.
- Gerald Kleczka (D-WI). Convicted of DWI, 1987. Arrested for DWI, 1990 and 1995.
- Mel Reynolds (D-IL). Sexual misconduct, 1995.
- Walter Tucker (D-CA). Extortion, 1995.
- Charles Wilson (D-TX). Agreed to pay fine to Federal Election Commission, 1995.
- Joe Kolter (D-PA). Fraud and conspiracy, 1996.
- Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL). Mail fraud, 1996.
- Wes Cooley (R-OR). Lying about war record in official voter pamphlet, 1997.
- Jay Kim (R-CA). Campaign finance violations, 1998.
- Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH). Financial disclosure irregularities, 1998.
- Austin J. Murphy (D-PA). Voter fraud, 1999.
By my count: 15 Democrats, 3 Republicans. Since then, we can add James Traficant (D-OH) and Randall Cunningham (R-CA). Call the score 16 to 4, Democrats leading.
That would make Democrats 4 times (or 300%) more corrupt than Republicans.
If you have a better list, please let me know (randall.hoven@gmail.com). But please, make sure the list is apples-to-apples. The NTU's list, for example, is only among US Congressmen and only for convictions of or guilty pleas to major offenses.
