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May 19, 2013
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 American Plutocracy: Corruption Is In the Eye of the BeholderPosted on Jul 31, 2009
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on The Huffington Post. To many observers, the recent New Jersey corruption sting, which resulted in the arrests of three mayors, two state assemblymen and five rabbis, seems rather surreal for the American social and political fabric. Most of the charges involve bribery or money laundering, but included on the docket are also more sinister deeds, namely organ smuggling. Corruption, it seems, is in the eye of the beholder. In other parts of the globe, it is boastfully blatant. People do not only accept graft as a reality of dealing with public officials, they expect it. In other regions such realities are sequestered to the shadows, but maintain an equally pernicious grip on the respective government and society. And in yet other societies, the corruption hides in plain sight. For, while some publics are well attuned to corruption in their government, others are blissfully and naively unaware. Transparency International (TI), the international community’s foremost corruption watchdog, compiles a global Corruption Perception Index every year wherein a variety of “yes-no” questions are posed to respondents from 180 different countries. The results are telling, and they lead to TI’s overall corruption rank for each state, the last available of which draws from the 2008 index. In Finland, which happens to have a country rank of 5 on the index, 69 percent of respondents consider it a bribe when a shopkeeper drops cash into a tipping box after a public official has granted him a license. In Croatia, the rate is 77 percent; in Pakistan, it’s 51 percent. And in the United States, which ranks 18th (tied with Japan), the rate of respondents is 52 percent. Advertisement Needless to say, the public’s perception of corruption in its respective government is in stark variance throughout the world, even sometimes within regions and among neighbors. TI defines corruption as “the misuse of entrusted power for private gain.” This definition then breaks down into “according to rule” corruption and “against the rule” corruption, wherein “facilitation payments, where a bribe is paid to receive preferential treatment for something that the bribe receiver is required to do by law, constitute the former.” According to a New York Times report earlier this year, someone who wants to safely traverse the roads of Afghanistan with a convoy of trucks must pay police officials $6,000, lest they tip off the Taliban. One may also buy off a judge for around $25,000; or get out of jail for $4,000. There are even reports of bribes being required for one to enter the airport or to have his electricity turned on. TI’s corruption barometer found that in Europe, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, political parties are perceived to be most conducive to corruption. In Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and the Western Balkans, suspicions lie with the civil service. And in North America, it is the parliament or legislature. Most police officers in America do not require greased palms for their services. But if one wishes to attend a chicken cordon bleu dinner with Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, it will cost him $10,000 (fly fishing and camping in Big Sky Montana with the same gentleman only costs a quarter of that though). Congressman Joe Crowley’s company, however, may be purchased for a piffling $100, including karaoke—unless one wishes to buy in bulk and also attend a “VIP After Party,” in which case the bill rises to $1,000. The going rate for lunch with Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas seems to be around $500, as is also the price for a savory “Taste of Michigan” luncheon with Congressman Bart Stupak. And for those who feel like splurging, a seat at the “Healthcare Community Dinner Honoring Pete Stark” will set one back a modest $2,500. Charlie Palmer steaks and health-care talk with Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, Mike Enzi and Richard Burr costs either $2,000 or $5,000, depending on one’s desired propinquity to the head of the table. Just as it goes without saying for the traveler entering an airport in Afghanistan, so it goes in Washington, D.C. (or as former Rep. Charles W. Stenholm tells The Washington Post: “it’s normal politics”). While members of the former are pilloried as abject reprobates, the latter cunningly invoke the “democratic process”— the freedom to speak and the right to buy ears. But are the two really so different? Granted, none of this is new, nor is it as depraved as black market organ trafficking. But its stench does begin to sting the nostrils ever so much more when crucial legislation is afoot, as it is now. Has the $787,641 to Max Baucus’ coffers (and, to be fair, he is but one of 535) from the health professionals industry since 2005 played any role in his shaping health-care reform legislation? Nobody can say for sure—presumably not even Max Baucus. But insofar as public perception is concerned, Congress does not enjoy the benefit of the doubt—it suffers its detriment. Such is also the case for conservative Blue Dog Democrats in the House, such as Mike Ross of Arkansas, who just days after voicing his criticism of the progressively minded health-care bills was wooed with extravagant fundraisers by health-care industry lobbyists. The 25 percent more in contributions that Blue Dogs receive from the health-care and insurance industries does not mean causation, but it is surely correlative. And indeed, the fundraising flurry during health-care reform has been legion, but it is in no way sui generis. The $500 lunches are a Washington staple, as is purchasing a provincial police chiefdom in Afghanistan ($100,000). It is no doubt a problem that hides in plain sight, and those in a position to rectify it are the very same people who benefit from it. Another issue though—and the one with real agency—is public perception, which remains hopelessly lost, like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to know what’s going on. The nature of the American plutocracy will come fully to light as the current administration attempts to implement its agenda; and it seems only prudent to ask if money will finally walk while the majority talks. Given the current state of things, and the health-care reform concessions in both chambers this past week, a prudent answer to that prudent question is probably: Don’t count on it.  TAGS:
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By Inherit The Wind, August 4, 2009 at 6:14 pm Link to this comment
Folktruther, August 4 at 1:07 pm #
Inherit, anybody who has been to New Jersey knows that something bad must be going on there. Outside of the Jersey Girls who demand a new 9/11 investigation I can’t think of anything good happening there. Even one’s local hash dealer on the street corner is flogging used body parts. apparently not making enough money at his day job of rabbi.
If I ever need a used pancreas I’ll keep you in mind. Otherwise, I’d rather be in Nebraska.
***********************************************
Ah, FT! It’s so refreshing when you are deliberately full of it!
Thanks for the laugh!
Didn’t Gene Hackman say “I thought I was dead too. But I was only in Nebraska”?
Report thisBy msgmi, August 4, 2009 at 12:37 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
The serpentine road from K-Street to Capitol Hill to Wall Street to Boro-Hall has lost its compass. Instead of serving the electorate, they serve themselves.
Report thisBy Folktruther, August 4, 2009 at 10:07 am Link to this comment
Inherit, anybody who has been to New Jersey knows that something bad must be going on there. Outside of the Jersey Girls who demand a new 9/11 investigation I can’t think of anything good happening there. Even one’s local hash dealer on the street corner is flogging used body parts. apparently not making enough money at his day job of rabbi.
If I ever need a used pancreas I’ll keep you in mind. Otherwise, I’d rather be in Nebraska.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, August 4, 2009 at 7:25 am Link to this comment
Page 2
A Congressman gets big contributions from insurance political action committees—then votes against health care reforms opposed by the industry. What’s the difference between that and a city council candidate agreeing to look favorably on a zoning change in return for a $5,000 campaign contribution?
A few words in a statute, that’s the difference. The amount of money. The way in which the contribution is recorded. Otherwise, it’s still the sale of votes—one legal, the other not. Morally, it’s the same operation.
I do not condone what happened in Jersey City, Secaucus and Hoboken. Those who broke the law should be prosecuted and punished, but, please, let’s not paint an entire state and its people and all the people’s elected representatives the color of corruption because of what really was, compared to corruption probes in the past, a sting operation—most of it begun only within the last few months—that could have the coincidental effect of helping Solomon Dwek skate from major bank fraud charges.
And, while we’re talking about the law, let’s remember other laws—and what Kahrer likes to call “core values”—as well. Like the laws guaranteeing the presumption of innocence. Or the right of the accused to a fair trial. The core value of fairness.
The feds released what amounted to a small book of narratives. Great detail. Great quotes. Might as well have been written by Harlan Coban. Little stories about money stuffed in cereal boxes and one jerk complaining $2,500 wasn’t enough.
But it’s only one side of the story. Not even a grand jury filtered this—all charges were done by complaints. Amazing how many people who otherwise believe government is flawed make exceptions for prosecutions—except for the military, the most powerful function of government.
One wonders if these defendants can get fair trials. One wonders if New Jersey can get a fair shake.
Recall the question posed by former U.S. Labor Secretary Ray Donovan from Short Hills after he was acquitted of corruption charges. He looked around the federal building in New York and asked: “Which office do I go to, to get my reputation back?”
Where does New Jersey go to get its reputation back?
Stereotyping is so easy.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, August 4, 2009 at 7:24 am Link to this comment
Page 1
As everyone is making a big deal about this NJ sting op, (and the anti-semites are all playing up the 5 rabbis involved), here’s a take from a NJ critic, right here in the Newark Star-Ledger:
A call for perspective on New Jersey corruption
Posted by Bob Braun
The Star-Ledger August 03, 2009 5:30AM
The authoritative radio voice of Robin Lustig, anchor of the BBC World Service, gets on the line. “What is it about New Jersey?” he asks. “Why is it so corrupt?”
Oh, great. He’s in London, where the national government is enduring a scandal involving parliamentary expense accounts, a scandal that brought down the House speaker and the justice minister—and he’s asking me about corruption in New Jersey.
Time, maybe, for a little balance. You’ve heard the words describing the recent sting that netted 44 people. Massive. Sweeping. Unprecedented. Historic.
Wasn’t helped by Ed Kahrer, the FBI’s chief of white-collar crime in the state, who said, “New Jersey’s corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation. Corruption is a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state.”
Not long ago, his Chicago counterpart said the same thing about Illinois.
Maybe there’s some sort of competition going among G-men. Some organization recently listed North Dakota as the most corrupt state in the union—with Jersey way back in ninth place—based on corruption convictions per 100,000 residents.
Some perspective. Yes, 44 people were arrested—but a lot of them had absolutely nothing to do with government and were not even from New Jersey.
The sting nabbed three mayors and two assemblymen. That’s bad, no question, but those who see this as the End Days should read history. Like when Mafia boss Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo boasted about Newark Mayor Hugh Addonizio that “he gave us the city.” The subsequent investigation brought down almost the entire city government.
How about Jersey City and Hudson County under John V. Kenny? These were multimillion-dollar scandals involving all manner of bribes and kickbacks.
The recent scandal is bad, sure—all scandals are bad. But this is the feds using a human wrecking ball named Solomon Dwek—charged in a $25?million bank fraud—to entice the all-too-human and incredibly dumb into taking bribes as small as $2,500.
Read the affidavits. For some of these guys, Dwek had to go back repeatedly and ask them to take the cash. No, not entrapment—you can just say, “No”—but spare me this is as bad as government by mob or multimillion-dollar kickbacks on city contracts.
Virtually all these alleged bribes were discussed as campaign contributions. Some defendants were political neophytes and it’s not even clear they knew the rules for donations—or what constitutes a quid pro quo that turns a contribution into a bribe.
Of course, ignorance is no excuse—but it’s also not grounds for teeth-gnashing conclusions that Jersey suffers from a cancer “destroying the core values” of the state.
Perhaps Kahrer should visit Washington and spend time in the halls of Congress. It’s like Halloween trick-or-treat with legions of lobbyists selling their wares and elected representatives accepting contributions associated with those lobbyists’ causes.
Report thisBy boggs, August 3, 2009 at 5:49 pm Link to this comment
Corruption may be in the eyes of the beholder but it can also be found in the pockets of the bought and paid for. They come from both sides of the aisle.
Report thisBy Blackspeare, August 3, 2009 at 7:43 am Link to this comment
You have to remember that the “corruption” arrests in NJ/NY were part of a sting operation. A sting operation is, in essence, entrapment for the unwary and opportunists. The truly crooked politicians are too smart to be caught by such a trap.
The name of the game for the FBI is arrest numbers not convictions so even if someone is asked to play along to help catch others and then accepts the envelope——gotcha! The FBI is not concerned with the courts let the accused get a lawyer and settle the matter in court.
Report thisBy Blackspeare, August 3, 2009 at 7:32 am Link to this comment
FreeWill——you said, “Hum? If rabbis were involved with selling human body parts…Would they be considered Kosher???”
That would be true only if the rabbis belonged to the “Kosher Nostra.”
Report thisBy FreeWill, August 2, 2009 at 4:19 pm Link to this comment
Hum? If rabbis were involved with selling human body parts…Would they be considered Kosher???
Report thisBy John Hanks, August 2, 2009 at 9:37 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Republicans always make sure that they get a license before they steal.
Report thisBy hippie4ever, August 2, 2009 at 9:29 am Link to this comment
bogi666, I tend to agree with you but didn’t state that categorically because of Ethiopia, which was never colonized, never conquered, yet remains at #166 just ahead of Mozambique, which endured horrific oppression under imperialism. Perhaps it didn’t remain an island among the fallen, indefinitely.
Report thisBy bogi666, August 2, 2009 at 9:14 am Link to this comment
hippie4ever, the corruption in Africa is a carryover from the former colonizers who exploited Africa, sending the wealth back to the colonizer. The Africans, except Mandela, just do the same thing.DIAMOND,FYI, the eye of the needle refers to what was known as the “needle gate” a much smaller gate of entrance which was more difficult for the camels to get through when the main gate is closed. The concept is the same however and I am not being critical, just wanted to pass this on.
Report thisBy hippie4ever, August 2, 2009 at 8:55 am Link to this comment
What the map shows is the greater the poverty, the greater the corruption, but the article doesn’t address that causation to my satisfaction. Perhaps it’s the “chicken and egg” debate once again. Furthermore, the high level of corruption in Africa and So. America might be the legacy of imperialism, which is itself a corrupt system which attempts to steal raw materials to maintain an unsustainable industrial base.
Why are the descendants of the Vikings the most ethical people in the world? Did they experience an epiphany beyond “first pillage, then burn?” Or is something else responsible—perhaps a singular ethnic identity which makes cohesion possible, as a fluke? Or maybe the Danes are subjected to intense brainwashing in school, only for the altruistic reasons.
Or perhaps capitalism and its cousin, imperialism, are the codification of greed and theft. But then how do we explain the intense corruption of Russia and many former Soviet-bloc nations? Fanaticism among the newly converted? Yet that ignores the corruption in the USSR which was legendary, and eventually resulted in collapse (along with Reagan’s jihad).
I have this sinking feeling we’ve found the enemy and it is us. We are corrupt, in many little ways, and when we concentrate social power in government the corruption concentrates as well.
Report thisBy GW=MCHammered, August 2, 2009 at 8:01 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Another little reminder from capitol hill..
http://www.usdebtclock.org
Report thisBy Anarcissie, August 1, 2009 at 7:03 pm Link to this comment
There are lots of rich people who give a damn. They still manage to stay rich. And the poor manage to stay poor, too. It’s a great system if you like that sort of thing.
Report thisBy Cliff, August 1, 2009 at 3:51 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Hey, the honorable mayor won’t be out of work too long.
Report thisHe now qualifies as a czar or cabinet head in the Nobama administration.
By diamond, August 1, 2009 at 3:20 pm Link to this comment
I think you’re in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It’s not impossible for the rich to be virtuous. Jesus said it was as hard for a rich man to get to heaven as it was for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Obviously it’s difficult. The temptation is to just be rich and not give a damn about anyone else. But there are exceptions to the rule. I know of one rich philanthropist who gives away half of his income (that’s right 50%) every year and he intends to go on giving away half of his income from now until his death at which time the bulk of his fortune will be invested and used to carry on supporting his third world causes. He takes shanty dwellers in Thailand and other countries out of the shanty and into clean housing, with clean running water and good sanitation. So that the people retain their dignity, there is a small loan given which they pay back at a very low payment, no interest charged. In time this money will make the fund self-sustaining. The rest of the cost the philanthropist pays. Similar to the micro loans system developed in Bangladesh. He said that it costs $40 to give a person in the third world (2/3 of those blind from cataracts are in the third world) back their sight. His money finances a program that does this and he thinks it’s a bargain at that price to be able to change someone’s life so radically. There are people like him all over the world, using their money to help others living in poverty and illness.
Corruption doesn’t only have to be about the rich. A policeman who takes a bribe is not rich, but he is corrupt. Corruption occurs because a nation lets it occur, not because some people are rich and some aren’t. Though I agree that corruption is more likely to occur in countries where there is a large underclass of desperate people. Countries like America for example. With a social justice agenda put in place, the right laws in place and standing anti-corruption bodies set up in every state corruption can be reduced to levels that don’t destroy democracy. The arrest of these people in New Jersey is a good first step but a lot more needs to be done because corruption eventually makes a country ungovernable.
Report thisBy Clash, August 1, 2009 at 2:52 pm Link to this comment
Propagandists, scammers, schemers, thieves, and liars, the unintended consequences of a system that is failing, nationalism, socialism, communism and all the other isms are only labels in that same system, used for changing one group of the elite to the next, ready to use their brand of deceit for the control of indentured humans for their own gain.
The system, production, the conversion of the living into the dead, used for thousands of years to produce surpluses, allowing the dominant culture to enable the elite, those not involved in the physicality of production, the time and resources to assume control of society’s wealth throughout history.
A system, that has promoted the most corrupt ideologies, the extraction and control of resources, the science of religion, and the religion of science, their trappings have brought this upon the world, a corruption that permeates throughout every aspect of daily life.
Historically this system has had a short life span and in the end will be only temporary not unlike all things in the natural world.
Report thisBy ChaoticGood, August 1, 2009 at 12:14 pm Link to this comment
Democracies only last as long as it takes for total political corruption to evolve. About 200+ years are about the norm. Then a revolution and redistribution of wealth, then it starts all over again. I believe we are at a crisis point in the evolution of American politics. The old corrupt business as usual is being discredited every day and the steep decline in membership in the Republican Party demonstrates this. The movement to the political left is underway and is unstoppable.
It is amusing to listen to the attempts of the “dittohead” bumper-sticker crowd to debate complex issues only armed with simple “truths” and demonstrable falsehoods and appeals to nationalism and racism.
Report thisBy artie, August 1, 2009 at 11:43 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Rabbis selling body parts!
Report thisBy Rodger Lemonde, August 1, 2009 at 8:30 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
We have the best government that money can buy.
Report thisDoes that make me an optimist or a pessimist?
By godistwaddle, August 1, 2009 at 8:28 am Link to this comment
“The rich are the scum of the earth in every country” (G. K. Chesterton—conservative Catholic writer)
“Behind every great fortune there is a great crime” (G.B. Shaw)
“I’ve never met a rich person who deserved continued life.” (godistwaddle)
Report thisBy Folktruther, August 1, 2009 at 7:12 am Link to this comment
The US power system is over two centuries old. When it’s economic and political institutions decay, and the leaders see there is no future for it, moral constraint evaporates and plutocracy runs wild. Political leaders are not concerned with the future of the country but merely their own.
The worst aspect of this vast institutionalized corruption is that it is enforced by violence and deceit, both in the world arena and at home. There is no alternative but to lie about it, as Obama does to maintain its legitimacy, and to kill those who don’t beleive the lies.
Since increasingly in the world there are those willing to die to oppose Us military plutocarcy, and the deceits that justify it, one can expect an increase in American violence and barbarism. It is the only way to maintain the incrreasing inequality.
Report thisBy Anarcissie, August 1, 2009 at 7:09 am Link to this comment
I think it is more interesting that corruption, and the general power and influence of great wealth on both sides of the law, are condoned and even celebrated by so many Americans. That, to me, is the mystery.
Report thisBy bogi666, August 1, 2009 at 5:05 am Link to this comment
Corruption and NAFTA. NAFTA enables money laundering, legally. I was formerly an auditor and I can walk around certain cities in Mexico and tell which “businesses” are just fronts for laundering money. It’s obvious and not surprising. I also ran across a few businesses in the U.S. that were obvious fronts for laundering money and I don’t mean cleaners.
Report thisBy bogi666, August 1, 2009 at 5:00 am Link to this comment
The U.S. and States Representatives have legalized corruption, campaign contributions and after elected office high paying jobs in the private sector. This is hubris by these elected officials toward those who pay their salaries with tax monies. The U.S. is probably more insulting than those countries where bribery is considered a cost of doing business because the bribed do not restrict the bribers whereas in the U.S. the bribers are discriminated against by the bribed. This has to be unconstitutional and violates the “unequal protection under the law”, oops that’s “equal protection under the law” or is it? U decide.
Report thisBy oldhip, August 1, 2009 at 3:58 am Link to this comment
I truly apologize for this 2nd posting, I mistakenly hit “Submit,” when I meant to re-edit it.
Not a lot one can say about the sad truism of the article. It has been a truism since long before even Julius Caesar imperialized Rome.
The last administration just took it to its nth degree in its theft, the largest successful theft of a nation’s wealth in written history, without revolt by the people, euphemistically referred to as “wealth transfer” ... What a nice phrase for theft. And it is still going on as I write this comment. Have you even noticed the bonuses being paid by the bankers to their officers?
Or maybe to who actually rules this nation now? A visit to this link, if you haven’t already, would be very educational for most Americans that are living the delusion of hope.
The few links at “Those Telling It Like It Is In Reality, Not How We Hope…” can also be of enlightenment?
Report thisBy oldhip, August 1, 2009 at 3:17 am Link to this comment
Not a lot one can about the sad truism of the article. It has been a truism since long before even Julius Caesar imperialized Rome.
The last administration just took it to its nth degree in its theft, the largest successful theft of a nations wealth in written history, without revolt by the people, euphemistically referred to as “wealth transfer” ... What a nice phrase for theft.
And it is still going on as I write this comment. Have you even noticed the bonuses being paid by the bankers to their officers?
Or maybe to actually rules this nation now? A visit to this link, if you haven’t already, would be very educational for most Americans that are living the delusion of hope.
The few links at “Those Telling It Like It Is In Reality, Not How We Hope…” can also be of enlightenment?
Report thisBy marcus medler, July 31, 2009 at 9:56 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Seems to me, an American politician wants reelection more than anything else. If you want his/her vote to go your way he/she must preceive a loss. Money or even large blocks of votes will not motivate their vote as much as fear that they will fail at reelection. Single payer health proponents,for example,to be convincing must scare the daylight out of these professional seat holders. I may have no knowledge of a man eating bear in the woods but if I believe there may be one, I avoid the woods. These guys are pushovers once an advocacy group plays to their great fear of losing. To claim seven out of ten in their district want single payer,means nothing, because they are elected by just 2 out of ten. However, if only four of those seven convince him/her that they will vote him/her “out” if he votes against that one issue his/her vote will go for self(office) preservation.
Report this