Indicted Lobbyist Exposes Corruption in Congress

Brent Wilkes, indicted lobbyist connected with the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal, talks about the corrupt system used in Congress. Cunningham is not the only one- it's the entire system in place. NY Times:

Mr. Wilkes had set up separate meetings with the lawmakers hoping to win a government contract, and he planned to punctuate each pitch with a campaign donation. But his hometown congressman, Representative Bill Lowery of San Diego, a Republican, told him that presenting the checks during the sessions was not how things were done, Mr. Wilkes recalled.

Instead, Mr. Wilkes said, Mr. Lowery taught him the right way to do it: hand over the envelope in the hallway outside the suite, at least a few feet away.

That was the beginning of a career built on what Mr. Wilkes calls “transactional lobbying,” which made him a rich man but also landed him in the middle of a criminal investigation.

Earmarks are special pork projects where a lawmaker secures X million for a certain contractor's project in their home state (and often receives an envelope full of "campaign contribution" cash in gratitude.)

The Cunningham scandal set off alarms about the proliferation of Congressional earmarks — money for pet projects inserted anonymously in spending bills — which critics say pervert public policy, encourage cronyism and waste federal money. The 12,000 earmarks in this year’s spending bills amount to $64 billion.

That's more money than we spend on education- $64 Billion on pork-barrel projects to fatten up the Congressman's wallet... I'm not sure of this so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that when a Congressperson retires they get to take home their leftover campaign cash... which would be $2.6 million for Mr. Young. Money pocketed for pork projects while there are 250,000 homeless veterans and many others that could use real help... yet our Congress has been busy pocketing easy cash.

Mr. Wilkes and his associates have given more than $706,000 to federal campaigns since 1997.. Since 2000, Mr. Wilkes’s principal company has received about $100 million in federal contracts.

That's 144 times his original investment. Don Young recently topped that for his crony (in Florida!) with a 244x return- a $10,000,000 contract for a $41,000 contribution.

The Corruption is so bad, Congress doesn't even try to feign innocence anymore:

Although they welcomed the checks, Mr. Wilkes said, the lawmakers seemed bored by a lengthy presentation. “I became the king of the 10-minute meeting.”

This is how Congress Operates:

The culture of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee is one of great power and little scrutiny. Mr. Wilkes said every member appeared to have a personal allowance of millions of dollars to disburse without public disclosure. Lawmakers, though, sometimes boast about money being spent in their districts.

In the spending bill for this fiscal year, each member took credit for an average $27 million in earmarks, with the chairman, Representative C. W. Bill Young, Republican of Florida, claiming about $125 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that tracks earmarks.

That's not just our Representatives from Alaska, this is Congress. In fact, last year Dem Louise Slaughter tried to help when she presented a report that documented the dirty tricks used in Congress, the waste of time naming Post Offices and other idiotic stuff, while ramming thru important legislation with little or no time to discuss it!

It is our duty as Americans, for our children, to kick out every corrupt sellout in DC and reign in this renegade President.

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"Ben Frank" for Congress