AP Poll: Lawmaker standing falls among public.
Corruption seen as deep-rooted; public view of GOP-led Congress at risk
Associated Press.
MSNBC (as reported online) US - 8 December, 2005.
WASHINGTON - Indictments, investigations and a congressman’s guilty plea for taking millions in bribes have left most Americans convinced that political corruption is a deeply rooted problem, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll.
Missteps and misconduct that have reached into all levels of government — from the White House and Congress to governors’ offices in Connecticut and Ohio — have helped drive 88 percent of those surveyed to say the problem is a serious one.
Scandal has touched all politicians. President Bush’s approval rating was 42 percent, slightly better than his standing in the previous AP-Ipsos poll, due in part to improvements in the economy. Still, 57 percent of those surveyed disapproved of Bush’s handling of the presidency.
More ominous as the 2006 elections loom was the public’s opinion of the Republican-controlled Congress.
Sixty-five percent of respondents disapproved of lawmakers’ work in Washington and only 31 percent approved, the worst numbers since AP-Ipsos began asking the question in January.
Several of those interviewed said corruption was endemic to a political system awash in colossal amounts of lobbying money and beset by an insatiable demand for campaign cash.
“It’s kind of the nature of politics, working with money and finance, things happen every day that are questionable,” said David Innerebner, a conservative-leaning missionary from Hayward, Wis.
‘Everything seems to be corrupted’
In 2004, federal lobbyists spent $2.1 billion — the equivalent of the gross domestic product of the Republic of Congo or the amount the U.S. government spends annually on energy assistance for low-income Americans. In that same year, candidates pursuing the presidency and seats in Congress spent more than $3 billion.
“It seems like everything seems to be corrupted,” said Sylvia Kind, a dietitian from Akron, Ohio.
Some of the experts who make their careers focused on government ethics and reform were struck by the strong public perception of politicians.
“From the local mayor or sheriff all the way up to the president, it means people have a real distrust of their government,” said Larry Noble, head of the Center for Responsive Politics campaign watchdog group.
Added Jan Baran, a Washington lawyer who specializes in ethics rules and campaign finance: “The message to politicians is to get their house in order.”
Names in the news
People questioned in the survey had no trouble reciting the names associated with offenses and inquiries:
- Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, faces money laundering charges.
- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is under a federal investigation for a well-timed stock sale.
- I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, has been indicted on five counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI in the outing of a CIA officer.
DeLay, Frist and Libby have said they have done nothing wrong.
- Last month, Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., resigned after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering government work to defense contractors. His list of excess included money for a Rolls-Royce, antique furniture and two Laser Shot shooting simulators.
- A Justice Department investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff threatens to ensnare at least a half dozen Republicans and Democrats and Bush administration officials.
“They’re so power hungry they’d do anything to stay in power,” said Renee Becher, a 51-year-old homemaker from Dahlonega, Ga. “They’ve made our country become like Rome.”
The AP-Ipsos survey found that 91 percent of women consider corruption a serious problem, compared with 84 percent of men. Overall, 67 percent said the number of people involved in corruption ranges from moderate to a lot.
The ethical edge
Democrats were considered more ethical by 36 percent, while 33 percent cited Republicans. That difference is within the poll’s 3 percent margin of error.
Some 40 percent of women said Democrats were more ethical than Republicans, while 32 percent of men offered a similar view.
“I think there are those in the Republican Party that have their problems and I think it’s politically motivated that they bring these to the limelight,” said Paul Deshaies, a retired prison chaplain from Lancaster, Ohio.
The scandals could cost incumbents in next year’s election. The low regard for Congress nearly mirrors the numbers recorded in polls conducted in December 1993, several months before the Republican tidal wave that ended 40 years of Democratic control of the House.
Worldwide, the United States gets higher marks. The 2005 index on corruption perceptions ranked the U.S. at 17, not far behind Germany, Hong Kong and Canada, according to Transparency International, a nongovernment global watchdog on corruption.
KEY POINTS & SOLUTIONS:
- Corruption in governments is certainly nothing new. The two words are often synonymous with each other. When you have a political system that simply allows people 'to buy their way into power' though, what do you expect?
The simple truth is, people are often easily corrupted when it comes to money. More often than not, they lack any real depth of character and so can be easily persuaded by others to take advantage of their position for personal gain.
The only people that you cannot corrupt, are people of 'true wisdom'. It is very hard to explain such an idea and character. Truly wise people are compassionate and all-embracing. They live in service of humanity and help it develop in wisdom and understanding. Unless one knows this reality, one will not be able to fully appreciate it. On a simple level, such people do not want anything for themselves. They do not aspire to achieve wealth, status or power. It is therefore pointless trying to bribe or corrupt them for they see money as nothing more than printed 'pieces of paper', status as nothing more than an egotistical illusion, and power as trivial compared to the immensity and intelligence of the universe. Humanity plays its egotistical games of status and power but from the point of wisdom, these are just childlike expressions of an immature mind.
The key objective of Political Leadership Standards (PLS) is to 'protect humanity'. It has had to suffer countless wars and pain at the hands of war mongers and ignorant people for so many centuries only because it has no leadership standards. Millions have lost their lives and continue to do so today, due to the fact that there are no safeguards in place when electing politicians. Today any person with a selfish, power crazed mentality can buy their way into political power and control some of the most powerful countries in the world. This complete lack of 'character standards' is why leadership is so incredibly poor in the world and why so many problems exist. Unless we are willing to change this, the problems will inevitably continue until they hit a point of total worldwide environmental breakdown.