Ten Most Corrupt Political Figures of 2007

[kirbyfan]

Judicial Watch: the Ten Most Corrupt Political Figures of 2007

Judicial Watch published its list of the ten most corrupt political figures for 2007. Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton tops the list:

1. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY): In addition to her long and sordid ethics record, Senator Hillary Clinton took a lot of heat in 2007 - and rightly so - for blocking the release her official White House records. Many suspect these records contain a treasure trove of information related to her role in a number of serious Clinton-era scandals. Moreover, in March 2007, Judicial Watch filed an ethics complaint against Senator Clinton for filing false financial disclosure forms with the U.S. Senate (again). And Hillary's top campaign contributor, Norman Hsu, was exposed as a felon and a fugitive from justice in 2007. Hsu pleaded guilt to one count of grand theft for defrauding investors as part of a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.

Number 2 isn't a surprise either:

2. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): Conyers reportedly repeatedly violated the law and House ethics rules, forcing his staff to serve as his personal servants, babysitters, valets and campaign workers while on the government payroll. While the House Ethics Committee investigated these allegations in 2006, and substantiated a number of the accusations against Conyers, the committee blamed the staff and required additional administrative record-keeping and employee training. Judicial Watch obtained documentation in 2007 from a former Conyers staffer that sheds new light on the activities and conduct on the part of the Michigan congressman, which appear to be at a minimum inappropriate and likely unlawful. Judicial Watch called on the Attorney General in 2007 to investigate the matter.

I was, however, surprised by numbers six and eight: Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama. Take a look:

6. Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR): Governor Huckabee enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls in December 2007, which prompted a more thorough review of his ethics record. According to The Associated Press: "[Huckabee's] career has also been colored by 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor's office." And what was Governor Huckabee's response to these ethics allegations? Rather than cooperating with investigators, Huckabee sued the state ethics commission twice and attempted to shut the ethics process down. 8. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): A "Dishonorable Mention" last year, Senator Obama moves onto the "ten most wanted" list in 2007. In 2006, it was discovered that Obama was involved in a suspicious real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, Antoin "Tony" Rezko. In 2007, more reports surfaced of deeper and suspicious business and political connections It was reported that just two months after he joined the Senate, Obama purchased $50,000 worth of stock in speculative companies whose major investors were his biggest campaign contributors. One of the companies was a biotech concern that benefited from legislation Obama pushed just two weeks after the senator purchased $5,000 of the company's shares. Obama was also nabbed conducting campaign business in his Senate office, a violation of federal law.

These two men portray themselves as being above corruption when, in reality, they both appear to be right in the thick of it. This is not what you'd expect from a Baptist minister who lauds himself as being a Christian leader. The Weekly Standard has more.

[pkfirefighter]

No. 1 on this list comes as no surprise.

[Jacko]

Is this the "This Really Made Me Laugh" thread?

[sctx]

Originally Posted by Jacko

Is this the "This Really Made Me Laugh" thread?

personally, I'm crushed by these revelations......... I thought all of our elected officials were corrupt....... but now, I have the notion that there might be one or two that aren't

[TAPPY]

What ???? where are all the politicians from Louisiana ???

[sctx]

Originally Posted by TAPPY

What ???? where are all the politicians from Louisiana ???

shopping for larger freezers???

[StewartG]

I didn't even have to go to a third party to expose the bias of your source, KF!!!

Look, its right there on the "about us" section of the judicial watch home page!

Originally Posted by Judicial Watch website

About Us

Judicial Watch, Inc., a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.
Through its educational endeavors, Judicial Watch advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people.
Judicial Watch fulfills its educational mission through litigation, investigations and public outreach.

To learn more about us, you may watch this promotional video and use the links below:

[StewartG]

Originally Posted by TAPPY

What ???? where are all the politicians from Louisiana ???

Nowadays they are mostly Republicans...

They will show up somewhere near the bottom of the list, in order to maintain some shred of credibility for this conservative group.

[Jacko]

Originally Posted by StewartG

I didn't even have to go to a third party to expose the bias of your source, KF!!!

Look, its right there on the "about us" section of the judicial watch home page!

Besides writing moronically, they also write a little oxymoronically....."conservative, non-partisan"




(are those real words?)

[Bluespicker]

I was thinking the same thing....how can you be conservative and non-partisan?

[kirbyfan]

Originally Posted by StewartG

I didn't even have to go to a third party to expose the bias of your source, KF!!!

Look, its right there on the "about us" section of the judicial watch home page!

Truth hurts eh Stew?

[StewartG]

Those are the actual words from the actual website.

Clearly the authors are a product of the George W. Bush edumacation system.

[StewartG]

Originally Posted by kirbyfan

Truth hurts eh Stew?

Just close your eyes, relax, take a deep breath and keep repeating that over and over...

[DBT Fan]

Hmmm...I would think that Bush and Hellary would be fighting for the top spot...John Conyers is no surprise at all

[StewartG]

Originally Posted by kirbyfan

Truth hurts eh Stew?

Oh, and by the way...

In the interests of maintaining your status as a "conservative non-partisan," () you wanna tell the viewing public where "Judicial Watch" gets its money? (I'll give you a hint, the last name is "Scaife" and the first and middle names are "Richard" and "Mellon.") Here are a few links about the money behind Judicial Watch:

Who Is Richard Mellon Scaife? - April 27, 1998

Richard Mellon Scaife - SourceWatch

Washingtonpost.com: Scaife: Funding Father of the Right

And by the way, do you want to tell the audience about the fact that Judicial Watch achieves its political ends almost exclusively via the use of civil lawsuits filed against Democrats and those others with which its "money people" do not agree? Do you want to tell the viewing audience that the vast majority of litigation brought by Judicial Watch is ultimately unsuccessful or simply dismissed?

Or is it too hard to use the very same fingers you have used to type your diatribes about lawsuit abuse, frivolous lawsuits, etc. to let the folks know about Judicial Watch, the money, their means, their methods, and their propensity for clogging our courtrooms?

But I guess its okay to file a lawsuit for political reasons against a political opponent, especially someone like the Clintons. Its only those lawsuits filed on behalf of bereaved parents and grieving widows that constitute "lawsuit abuse."