Comments on: Jack Abramoff: The lobbyist's playbook
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- I think its urgent you email your congressman and let them know you watched this and disapprove of this practice. Since there has been abuse and fraud in congress, the super committee may want to consider their benefits, entitlements, retirement and salaries to be on the chopping block to reduce debt. ((as of now military health benies and retirement, basic entitlements, medicare and so forth is on the chopping block))
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- The only thing worse than a scumbag, is a rich scumbag totally devoid of anything that even looks like morals, scruples, or values.
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- I'll go to country-club prison for 3 years for 100 million dollars and a successful book when I get out. Where do I sign up?
How are we supposed to have a just society when the criminals are not paying for their crimes? This country is completely broken, and getting worse. It's heading towards Roman style Aristocratic corruption, where there are no laws, only powerful men taking whatever they want and fighting with each other. - Reply to this comment
- America quit acting like this some sort of news. How do you people think the Kennedys played two sons into the congress and then the whitehouse? It damned sure wasn't because everyone loved the Kennedys.This is just a news bite for thr rural non informed people who don't own a computer and don't want one.The non informed are the bacckbone of this country out in the heat ,snow rain. Farming our food that alot of subsidies from politicians are paying for thier fuel and seed. and yes even little gifts like a new pick up truck.
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- Abramoff, you wonderful, christian, republican cockroach, thank you!!!
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- We have brought this on ourselves fighting and declaring war on each others political party.
Capitalism at its best. - Reply to this comment
- To all those morons out there believing it's a republican "thing" or a democratic "thing" - it's not. This is politics. As they say, you'll never like sausage if you are forced to watch how it's made. Is there a solution? Probably not but one sure way to reduce it is to have term limits for ALL elected positions. If it's good enough for the president and his two terms, it sure is good enough for the congress.
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- As disheartening as this story was, it's not surprising nor is it "new" news. We ALL know how Washington works. Lobbyists control it. We are not a country For the People, By the People anymore, not since Congress got in bed with Big Business. And don't think it's going to change anytime soon.
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- Leslie Stahl has been on air as a political moderator/commentator since 1983-ish - that's over 28 years. To read that she's "shocked" is shocking - I tend to believe her "shock" is feigned. It's common knowledge that politicians have fundraisers where plates (seats at a table) go for USD 1k+ depending on proximity to the politician. It doesn't take rocket science to deduce that the normal tax-paying american cannot afford these kinds of sumptuous influence peddling affairs - which also serve to keep our government officials living in a deluded state isolated from the common people.
President Obama is beefing up his re-election warchest with these activities in a publicly blatant case of political prostitution. That ANY experienced political commentator would be shocked over this endemic and pervasive cancer to our political system is in itself incredulous.
Political commentators must also play politics, otherwise no politician will grace their show (for which they're also probably amply compensated - either directly or indirectly).
Like cockroaches - Abramoff was the one that surfaced and was caught - but behind him is an iceberg (aka a LOT) sized den of corruption and iniquity. Our government leaders become more emboldened and more abusive with each passing year.
Nothing need be done, as the American public are still lazy, apathetic, and simply not ticked off enough in numbers significant enough to do anything of significant impact - so let the abuse continue. - Reply to this comment
- This is the most dishearting story I have seen. I just became aware of the Jack Abramoff story a week ago and read the Wikipedia article. I was amazed that Abramoff was able to use a few hundred million dollars to buy off the Republican Congress. Then it sunk in that eventho only Republicans went to jail for the Abramoff Scandal crimes the same was happening on the Democratic side of the isle with other lobbyists as of yet not caught.
Then the thought that the only one policing the whole scandal ridden House and White House is the MSM and they are taking too much time to look into this problem.
On top of that the only ones that can write the laws to fix the problem are congressmen, so no hope of that working out.
On top of that the SCOTUS has a member that lets his wife take in $600,000 in pay from lobbyists and fails to report that as income on his taxes. And Clarence Thomas ruled that corporations can spend as much money as they want to influence elections.
In 2009 the Huffingpost reported that the "President issued Executive Order 13490, which bars anyone appointed by the President who has been a federally-registered lobbyist within the past two years from working on particular matters or in the specific areas in which they lobbied or from serving in agencies they had lobbied". This was a big step by the President but does not touch the House or the Supreme Court and I don't think anything will from within these two areas of the government. - Reply to this comment
