Culture of corruption

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"Culture of corruption" is a political slogan used by the United States Democratic Party to refer to a series of political scandals affecting the Republican Party during George W. Bush's second term as President of the United States.

The phrase was originally coined by District Judge Frederick Motz while sentencing Maryland lobbyist Gerard E. Evans to 30 months jail for his part in a scheme in which he lobbied against non-existent legislative proposals to control lead-paint. The alleged co-conspirator, Democratic politician Tony Fulton, was found not guilty of 11 charges of fraud.

The phrase was first used in connection with a national political scandal by Howard Dean in an attempt to link allegations of insider trading by Senator Bill Frist to the then-emerging Abramoff Scandal. Dean asserted that Republicans "have made their culture of corruption the norm".

1 Use by Democrats
2 Republican response
3 2006 midterm elections
4 Use by the media
5 External links

[edit] Use by Democrats

The phrase hase since been repeated by other Democratic Party leaders, including Nancy Pelosi (responding to the indictment of Tom DeLay):

The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people

The phrase has since been applied to link successive indictments and convictions of Republican politicians to the Republican party itself. These include:

Randy Cunningham, convicted of accepting $1.3 million in bribes.
Bob Ney, plead guilty to accepting bribes.
Tom DeLay, indicted on charges of money laundering.
Scooter Libby, indicted on charges of perjury and lying to the FBI.

Politicians that have not been indicted but commonly attacked as being part of "the culture of corruption" by Democrats include:

Mark Foley, resigned after a sex scandal involving a 16-year-old male page.
Bill Frist, reported to have maintained additional stock holdings outside of his blind trust, creating a conflict of interest.
Curt Weldon, being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of trading political influence for lobbying contracts for his daughter. Weldon did not resign, but in his 2006 re-election campaign, the Washington Post reported that the Republican Party had "all but abandoned" him. [1]
Dennis Hastert, for allegedly trying to cover up warnings about inappropriate conduct by Mark Foley, and from taking contributions from Jack Abramoff to the tune of over $100,000. [2]

[edit] Republican response

While usually avoiding using the phrase, Republicans have responded to Democratic charges by pointing out that some Democrats, such as William Jefferson, who is currently under investigation for alleged acceptance of bribes after a police search of his house discovered $90,000 in cash stored in a freezer, have also been involved in similar scandals.

[edit] 2006 midterm elections

Political corruption was a key issue issue cited by voters at exit polls during the 2006 Midterm Elections, as the voters made their frustration known. [3] The Democratic Party regained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate as well. They also regained a majority of state governorships and control over a plurality of state legislatures.