DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... 60 Minutes

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57...ain;contentBody

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57319075/jack-abramoff-the-lobbyists-playbook/?tag=strip

I can't say I'm entirely surprised by either of these stories, but I am surprised that they are actually seeing the light of day. For those of you who haven't seen them or haven't heard about them, the first one details the "soft" corruption of Congresspeople doing insider trading, b/c apparently they are exempt from laws prohibiting that. It crosses both sides of the aisle. It is technically legal, but much like the banks' behavior leading up to the crisis, I find it abhorrent.

The second revisits the Jack Abramoff story; he basically tells how he bought Congresspeople. I was surprised in that he said the easiest way to do it wasn't trips, drinks and other goodies (although that happened too). It was as simple as offering a Congressional staffer a job on K Street.

This kind of stuff absolutely drives me nuts. The post-WWII American success story absolutely depends on public-private partnership. One cannot be effective without the other. The evidence for that isn't just the history of this country, but also looking around the globe right now. The most successful growing economies are following the playbook we used to follow; effective education, infrastructure, immigration, R&D and regulatory policies (these are Tom Friedman's "five pillars," not my own invention).

These kinds of behaviors by Congress have made the country completely lose faith in government, making the public part impossible to do. These actions are not just unethical IMO; they will have serious ramifications for the long term health of our economy as well.

So how do we argue the idealistic high road of decency anf fairness with the Bought? Driven by selfish greed and willingness to advance themselves, but especially at the expense of others. Strikes me as "Un-American Dream" behavior. I expect reps to look out for my pursuit of happiness (legal!) and improvement. They are below 10% in my book.

Ha,, nothing new,, but your right, hitting the air waves finally is pretty cool...

The whole Government is bought and paid for by the rich. They are above the law. The insider trading story should outrage Americans, but they just shrug their shoulders and move on... we've become sheep.

I served in the military to protect freedom. When a handful of financial elitist make the rules to suit themselves... there can be no true freedom. The market is also controlled and manipulated by these same people. They control food, energy, health care and most importantly MONEY. They formed the Fed. The Fed is private sector. They are allowed to print money whenever they like...

Government is just a tool used by these people to keep us in check. They own the Military and the Police. They make and enforce the laws. They call ALL the shots.

I don't care if it all collapses.

I agree with getting rid of the fed.

The rest of your post? Not so much.

Face it - if you give a person food, they'll come back tomorrow for more food.

Teach them how to earn a buck, and what a freaking dollar is worth - and that their is NO free ride, they'll be okay too.

Earning a buck? Floors need mopped. Factories need and want people that can actually read - people that feel a sense of duty to show up for work and actually WORK.

The hand outs shouldn't be government mandated - sorry, that just creates a whole new class of dependents. Look at this country.

With every new program we have to help the "poor", we get more "poor" people that live off the system. Long story short, over all, we don't help the poor improve - we make more people poor.