Quick Poll

Should local school systems consider dropping some or all sports to help offset budget deficit problems?

Recent Polls

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Deberah Williams

Everyday Finesse

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Sunday, November 13, 2011 in Opinion

Turnover time

By Alex McRae

The Newnan Times-Herald

All it took, according to Abramoff, who details his exploits in a new book called "Capitol Punishment"-- was a big pile of cash and deciding which members of Congress to spend it on in order to make sure his clients' needs were met.

Abramoff says buying politicians was child's play. A few free tickets to sporting events or concerts, free golf outings at luxury resorts, a trinket or two for the spouse, and when it was time to influence legislation, Abramoff had the inside track and easily whipped his pet legislative ponies to the finish line ahead of his lobbying competitors.

Abramoff went to jail for what he did. Hundreds of other lobbyists are still plying the same trade. With the same success. Abramoff says the best way to get the ear of a member of Congress is to offer a job to a high-ranking congressional staffer.

"At the end of the day," Abramoff says, "most of the people that I encountered who worked on Capitol Hill wanted to come work on K Street, wanted to be lobbyists."

Why? Because K street is where the really big money is in D.C. Your congressional representative knows it, and will do anything to get along with his congressional pals until he or she can snag a plush lobbying job and make a fortune buying political favors from his former colleagues. And paying the appropriate gratuities, of course.

Are there any good, ethical members of Congress? Yes. You could write all their names on the back of an overpriced postage stamp. History shows that even the best-intentioned elected official eventually succumbs to the desire to further their personal ambitions and fortunes at the expense of the public they once vowed to serve.

It only takes a few hours in the gilded cesspool of Washington, D.C. for a once-principled politician to be wined and dined into a state of self-important rapture that leaves them desperate to stay around for just one more term of pork-packed delights.

Meanwhile, the citizens get the chitlins.

Over the next 12 months, the presidential election will get all the headlines, but the congressional and Senate races will determine the fate of this country.

Presidents are important for setting the national tone and suggesting legislation, but the laws are made and the money is appropriated by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

In 2012, one-third of the U.S. Senate and all 435 members of the House of Representatives will be up for election.

Abramoff's new book is a timely reminder that sending incumbents back to Congress and expecting them to change their behavior is like sending a drug addict back to an opium den and expecting them to clean up their act.

The only way to stop our politicians' addiction to cash and power is to send every member of Congress packing.

A year from now, this nation will have reelected the current president or chosen a new one. It doesn't really matter. Unless we install a new Congress dedicated to public service instead of personal gain, our national decline will continue.

•••

(Send your e-mail comments to: alex@newnan.com )

Comment On This Story

Times-Herald.com does not necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Responsibility of comments rests solely with the writer. Comments posted in ALL CAPS will be deleted.

Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. Comments will be posted by a moderator after being scanned for abusive language, relevance, etc. See our Comments FAQ for more details.