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January 27th, 2006

05:45 pm [Link]

Political corruption Washington Times by Thomas Sowell 01/26/06 The Jack Abramoff scandal has put political corruption front and center in Washington but this particular scandal, or even this particular kind of scandal, barely scratches the surface of corruption in government. It is not that all members of Congress, or even most members of Congress, are taking outright bribes. Government is corrupted whenever it is diverted from its avowed purpose and directed toward some other goal, especially goals that conflict with its purpose. This more general kind of corruption is much bigger than a few bribes and has far weightier consequences. Staggering as it is to think of the trillions of dollars in runaway spending by the federal government, that is just part of the story. ... What can be done about such corruption? ... What we can change are the incentives and constraints. At the heart of much government corruption is one simple thing: Re-election. ... What really needs to be done is to put a limit of one term in one office and a waiting period of several years before being elected or appointed to another office in government. In other words, make political careers impossible... http://tinyurl.com/ctuso Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends]

January 27th, 2006

05:45 pm [Link]

Political corruption Washington Times by Thomas Sowell 01/26/06 The Jack Abramoff scandal has put political corruption front and center in Washington but this particular scandal, or even this particular kind of scandal, barely scratches the surface of corruption in government. It is not that all members of Congress, or even most members of Congress, are taking outright bribes. Government is corrupted whenever it is diverted from its avowed purpose and directed toward some other goal, especially goals that conflict with its purpose. This more general kind of corruption is much bigger than a few bribes and has far weightier consequences. Staggering as it is to think of the trillions of dollars in runaway spending by the federal government, that is just part of the story. ... What can be done about such corruption? ... What we can change are the incentives and constraints. At the heart of much government corruption is one simple thing: Re-election. ... What really needs to be done is to put a limit of one term in one office and a waiting period of several years before being elected or appointed to another office in government. In other words, make political careers impossible... http://tinyurl.com/ctuso Informant: Thomas L. Knapp