That cinches it, yes.
Posted on 06/09/2011 4:14:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
This has been a bad couple of weeks for Democrats. The economy is sagging, support for President Barack Obama is declining, and Anthony Weiner and John Edwards are doing their best to draw attention to one of the Democratic Party’s main weaknesses — its corruption problem.
According to a 2009 study published in the esteemed American Political Science Review, Democrats are several times* more likely than Republicans to find themselves in federal court on public corruption charges. The study’s author, New York University professor Sanford C. Gordon, doesn’t really explore why this is, but I have some theories.
1.) Big-city corruption: America’s major cities are notoriously corrupt, so it’s no surprise that a decent percentage of big-city politicians — almost all of whom are Democrats — end up facing corruption charges (this is the one possible explanation for the Democrats’ corruption problem that Sanford addresses). But it’s hard to pin the blame for big-city corruption on Democrats, because the amount of resources, power and influence that big-city politicians wield means that big-city governments from Jakarta to Mexico City are wracked with corruption. The powerful urban machines that remain entrenched in many large U.S. cities make matters worse.
2.) The big-government mindset: For psychological reasons, even the most corrupt government officials need to find ways to rationalize their corruption. That’s something that liberal government officials may have a relatively easy time doing. Think about it: If you believe that the free market’s allocation of resources is inherently unfair and arbitrary, and you’re in a position to redistribute those resources, you might think: Hey, why not divert some resources to my friends and myself — after all, we’ll make better use of this money than most people would. On the other hand, if free-market economics and government thrift are central to your worldview, it might be harder to rationalize graft.
3.) Self-righteousness: Some liberals see themselves as underpaid “good guys” who have devoted their lives to making the world a better place. They might rationalize their corruption by telling themselves that even with their corrupt deeds, they’re still, on net, making the world a much better place.
4.) Democratic voters don’t really mind: Studies show that, for whatever reason, liberals just don’t care as much as conservatives do about corruption. As a result, Democratic politicians like Charlie Rangel know that they can get away with a lot. In 2009, Hoboken, New Jersey’s then-mayor, Democrat Peter Cammarano III, told an undercover FBI agent that he could be indicted and still win “85 to 95 percent” of the vote in a runoff mayoral election. It turns out that Cammarano pushed the envelope a little bit too far — he’s now behind bars.
* NOTE: I originally wrote that Democratic government officials were “three times” more likely to find themselves facing federal corruption charges. I’ve changed the wording from “three times” to “several times” to reflect the fact that Gordon found that the partisan composition of the defendants in corruption cases varies depending on which party controls the presidency. For example, Gordon finds that Democrats were 2.57 times more likely than Republicans to face federal public corruption charges during the Clinton administration but 6.13 times more likely than Republicans to face federal public corruption charges during the George W. Bush administration. Those numbers are based on representative samples of federal public corruption defendants during both administrations.
Peter Tucci is an editor at The Daily Caller.
What bothers me more than the corruption is the the Republican answer to problems is more government, rather than more freedom. Of course more govt = more corruption.
There are too many conservatives here who think the answer to problems is more government.
Answer: Yes. They are raise to be chronic liars. If they are normal heterosexuals, they’re not democrat material. When socialism is mentioned, they salute. Abortion is an excellent revenue producing form of birth control to democrats and it yields lots of baby body parts for research and profit. ... Any more questions?
RE: There are too many conservatives here who think the answer to problems is more government.
Then why call them conservatives? There is a term already out there for people who want to expand government.
Is the Pope Catholic?
Does a bear crap in the woods?
Is Ubama a narcissistic little Marxist bastard?
I rest my case.
That cinches it, yes.
Dem politicians feel they are superior to us, and don't have to play by the same rules. Laws are for little people, not for the ruling elite.
What this country needs is a moral base and get back to ethics.
Power corrupts, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans.
How about this for Corruption....
Washington DC,
Washington District of Corruption
Being leftist obviates a moral core.
Their motto is if it feels good do it...just don’t get caught.
The Democrats are proud of their depravity.
You had to ask?
Life is a corrupting process from the time a child learns to play his mother off against his father in the politics of when to go to bed; he who fears corruption fears life.
The link takes me to an article other than Peter Tucci’s.
At first glance, the article seems to imply that Republicans were worse under Bush than Clinton. Disregard my earlier post.
I’ve seen #3 a lot on DU about weiner. ‘He works for the little guy, so whatever he does is ok’.
First, they actually believe he’s altruistic in his idealogy or goals. And second they believe that’s all there is to it.
That’s how Lenin got to be such a personality cult.
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