"Bribe Menu"
Prosecutors call it a corruption case with no parallel in the long history of the U.S. Congress. And it keeps getting worse. Convicted Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham actually priced the illegal services he provided.Prices came in the form of a "bribe menu" that detailed how much it would cost contractors to essentially order multimillion-dollar government contracts, according to documents submitted by federal prosecutors for Cunningham's sentencing hearing this Friday. [...]
The sentencing memorandum includes the California Republican's "bribery menu" on one of his congressional note cards, "starkly framed" under the seal of the United States Congress.
The card shows an escalating scale for bribes, starting at $140,000 and a luxury yacht for a $16 million Defense Department contract. Each additional $1 million in contract value required a $50,000 bribe.
Maybe there is no parallel in the overt stupidity displayed by ex-Congressman Cunningham and his enablers in the Republican controlled Congress, but when it comes to the size and scope of the evil deeds, stay tuned. People ask all the time "why would these people need so much campaign cash if they are consistently re-elected by overwhelming margins?" It's cause the most grand pay-to-play scams at the are not just about incumbent protection ... they are about pure unadulterated power at the highest levels of the United States government. It's about being dubbed, "The Mayor of Capitol Hill." It's about being able to flip six seats at once in the 2004 congressional elections in Texas. Of course, in places like, ohhh, let's say the Florida U.S. Senate race, they are about achieving financial parity with a well-liked Democratic incumbent. And yes, in some cases it's about putting greed and purely personal gain above national security. All for things like yachts and mansions other goodies the vast majority of Americans will never even see, let alone alone own. That's why a functioning ethics committee and looking into the public financing of campaigns is so important, and also something you will never see from a Republican party that believes neither in accountability nor oversight.
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