The Stevens indictment may very well cost the Republican Party dearly. Not for the first time, Republicans give people the impression that when it comes to corruption, etc. they are not only not better than Democrats but possibly even worse.

Will the Republican Party as a whole be held responsible for the crimes of one individual? Or will voters consider Stevens to be a crooked politician and not specifically a crooked Republican?

In a move that is reminiscent of Darfur and the Congo the just “reelected” President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has come up with a new tactic to assert the power he so blatantly stole:

Mugabe thugs raping teens: aid staff

DOZENS of teenage girls have been made pregnant after being taken into the bush and raped in torture camps by President Robert Mugabe’s youth militia operating near Mudzi, a town 160km northeast of Harare, human rights workers allege.

Read the rest on: Freedom’s Cost

Although Europe ignores it, the Turkey’s PM Erdogan is turning into the Turkish version of Vlad. Putin, writes Kemal. (more…)

The Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Alphonso Jackson, became the upenteenth Bush Administration official to resign today. He cited tending to “family and personal matters” (of course) but the consensus is that it has more to do with the housing crisis and ethics investigations. From the LA Times for instance:

The investigation into Jackson began in 2006, after he publicly disclosed that he had revoked a contract because the vendor told him he did not like President Bush. Amid an inspector general inquiry, Jackson told investigators that he had misspoken

Someone needs to come up with a word for “lying or otherwise saying something I’ll soon come to find politically toxic” OTHER than misspeaking, if only for the sake of originality.

The Associated Press reports that “an aide to President Bush has resigned because of an alleged misuse of grant money from U.S. Agency for International Development and his former employer, a Cuban democracy organization.” “Felipe Sixto was promoted on March 1 as a special assistant to the president for intergovernmental affair and stepped forward on March 20 to reveal his alleged wrongdoing and to resign” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel told reporters this last Friday. (more…)

This is another in a series of stories that received some play in Chicago at the time it occurred but never made it past the state line for some reason.

It is especially curious that this story never took off nationally because far more than most people realize, Mayor Richard M. Daley is a player in national Democratic politics - perhaps not as powerful as his father but almost certainly the current Mayor Daley has more clout than any other big city Democratic mayor in the country.
(more…)

Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I’m saying is, what are you prepared to do?
Ness: Anything and everything in my power.
Malone: And *then* what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way because they’re not gonna give up the fight until one of you is dead.
Ness: How do you do it then?
Malone: You wanna know how you do it? Here’s how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way…
(From “The Untouchables”)
(more…)

Where is the wisdom of Mike Royko when you need it?

Royko was by far Chicago’s most beloved political columnist. His scathingly brilliant, uproariously funny writings on the Chicago political machine not only shone a light in the dark corners of corruption, favoritism, and mobbed up businesses of Richard J. Daley’s City Hall, he had fun doing it.
(more…)

The Washington Post reports:

Federal authorities accused Rep. William J. Jefferson yesterday of using his congressional office and staff to enrich himself and his family, charging the Louisiana Democrat with offering and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to support business ventures in the United States and several West African nations.

The 16-count indictment also accused Jefferson, a former co-chairman of congressional caucuses on Nigeria and African trade, of racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury and capped a long and tumultuous FBI investigation.

The grand jury said Jefferson, 60, had solicited a bribe for himself and family members in a congressional dining room, falsely reported trips to Africa as official business, sought to corrupt a senior Nigerian politician and promoted U.S. financing for a sugar factory in Nigeria whose owner paid fees to a Jefferson family company in his home state.

Nice.

The Politico adds that “House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) moved quickly to force the expulsion of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from Congress following his indictment Monday on federal corruption charges.”

If the Democrats want to prove that they want to fight corruption, they’d better do everything in their power to distance themselves from Jefferson. Do not defend him in any way, shape or form.

Oops:

LONG-STANDING rumours that the former French president Jacques Chirac holds a secret multi-million-euro bank account in Japan appear to have been confirmed by files seized from the home of a senior spy.

Papers seized by two investigating magistrates from General Philippe Rondot, a former head of the DGSE, France’s intelligence service, show Mr Chirac opened an account in the mid-1990s at Tokyo Sowa Bank, credited with the equivalent of £30 million. It is not known where the money came from, nor whether it is connected to various kick-back scandals to which Mr Chirac’s name has been linked over the past decade.

Last year, Mr Chirac “categorically denied” having a bank account in Japan.

The seized documents have been described by the magistrates as “explosive” and are believed to contain copies of the former president’s bank statements.

A magistrate close to the investigation told the satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaîné: “Subject to verification of the documents, there is enough material to open a new judicial investigation for breach of trust or for possession of money received from corruption. Moreover, the investigating judges have everything necessary to trace the network back to its ringleaders.”

Umh. Small change? Piggy bank? Wasn’t me? How did that get there? It’s my wife’s money? I sold (out) my cars, houses, country? I found it and wanted to give it back to the rightful owner? The spy set me up? Conspiracy? Saddam gave it to me?

It will be interesting to see whether Sarkozy will let Chirac off the hook or not, considering “Chirac is reported to have struck a deal with Mr Sarkozy, whereby the latter will push through judicial reforms ensuring the ex-president escapes prosecution.” One problem for Chirac: “the magistrates are expected to move before the reforms are passed this summer.”

The moral of the story: never trust a Frenchman.

Cross posted at The Moderate Voice.

A great OP-ed at the Opinion Journal about the German Paul Wolfowitz:

Imagine that a top civil servant at a major multinational institution arranges a job for a fortysomething female colleague that comes with a $45,000 raise and brings her yearly salary to about $190,000, tax free. Now imagine that the couple has been photographed at a nudist beach–him wearing nothing but a baseball cap.

The latest sordid twist in l’affaire Wolfowitz? Not at all. This is the story of Günter Verheugen, first vice president of the European Commission in Brussels. In its contrasts and similarities with the “scandal” now absorbing the World Bank and its president, it offers timely instruction on the nature and power of modern bureaucracies.

In April, Mr. Verheugen, a former German parliamentarian for the Social Democrats, appointed economist Petra Erler as his chief of staff. In August, the couple was spotted au naturel on a Baltic shore. Mr. Verheugen–who also has a wife–has dismissed allegations of impropriety as “pure slander” and asked the German newsweekly Der Spiegel whether “two adults [can’t] do as they wish in their private lives?”

He has a somewhat strange view of what constitutes “slander” and what does not, but okay, fair question. The answer:

In fact, they can’t: The EU Commission’s Code of Conduct, which he helped draft, observes that “in their official and private lives Commissioners should behave in a manner that is in keeping with the dignity of their office. Ruling out all risks of a conflict of interest helps guarantee their independence.”

This is ludicrous, right? Corruption, and moral depravity in general for that matter, at the highest level. He has got to go, that must be clear to everyone, especially to those European politicians who called for Paul Wolfowitz’s resignation (virtually all European politicians).

Don’t think, however, that the commissioner is out on his ear: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier defends him as “an irreplaceable Brussels heavyweight,” while Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says Mr. Verheugen has his “full confidence.” That’s more support than Mr. Wolfowitz will ever get from his European friends, who are clucking noisily about the need for the World Bank to preserve its “credibility” and for its president to be “beyond reproach.” (It’s also more than he’s getting from the Bush administration, which is offering token words of support while quietly shopping former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani as a potential successor.)

Ahwell, boys will be boys.

The Telegraph reports that British Prime Minister Tony Blair was involved in what’s known as the “cash-for-honors scandal.”

A document, obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, discloses that Tony Blair, Lord Levy and Jonathan Powell were at the centre of a “cash for access” policy to raise millions of pounds from the moment the party came to power in 1997.

It lays out in detail a strategy that would lead to a 13-month police inquiry and the arrest of some of the most senior figures in the Labour hierarchy.

The emergence of the document is deeply embarrassing for the Government, coming two days after detectives submitted their final report from the cash-for-honours investigation to the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS will decide who, if anyone, should face criminal charges…

The report refers to the need for “creating a reason to give” money to the party and stresses the importance of the Prime Minister having “private meetings” with substantial donors. It also tells of the need to “flatter” the desire of donors to offer policy advice.

The report was written by Amanda Delew - an ally of Lord Levy - who was head of Labour’s high-value fund-raising programme for five years.

Entitled Post Election Strategy for High Value Donors, it was written after Mr Blair swept to power on the back of his party’s relentless criticism of Tory sleaze. Within months, the Prime Minister was boasting that his Government would be “purer than pure”.

The report even states “The support of both Tony Blair and Jonathan Powell is critical… Major donors need to feel they are at the centre of things. Tony Blair… must continue to have private meetings with some of the more interesting supporters.”

And: “Major donors expect to be invited to No 10, if this cannot take place then income levels may be affected.”

This is huge. “Purer than pure” my, as the English would say, ‘behind’.

Blair is (most likely) involved and quite some, if not all, leaders of Labour. Investigators are considering pressing charges against more than the five main suspects.

I want to find out more about this matter, but one thing is clear: New Labour is, as one Elfyn Llwyd said, “corrupt to the core.” All the major players seem to be involved. Blair himself (probably) knew about it and it is completely unacceptable. Using politics to reward ‘donors’; completely unacceptable. All those involved should resign immediately and be held accountable in a court of justice.

Bring back the Tories.

The FBI raided the home of Representative John Doolittle yesterday. The reason: the ties between the Doolittle family and Jack Abramoff. Think Progress has more (links). Also more at the Washington Post.

Rep. Doolittle said in a statement, “My wife has been cooperating with the FBI and the Justice Department for almost three years and that cooperation is going to continue in the future. I support my wife 100 percent and fully expect that the truth will prevail.”

Well, lets hope that the truth will prevail indeed. Somehow, though, I fear that ‘the truth’, won’t make everyone involved happy, to say the least.

It is quite saddening that these raids are necessary, but it is good to see that those who are investigating this, continue to do their important work.

A great post at Obsidian Wings about Wolfgate. Wolfowitz is under fire because he arranged a raise for his girlfriend making her the highest-paid person at the State Department - yes, she ears more than Condoleezza Rice does. Hilzoy writes:

Question: why do people do this stuff? When you’re a public figure, your conduct will be scrutinized. This is beyond obvious. I would have thought it would also be beyond obvious that in view of that fact, if a public figure tries to pull this kind of thing, he or she is very, very likely to end up regretting it. So I would have thought the obvious thing to do, just on prudential grounds, would be to bend over backwards not to break the rules in order to get your girlfriend a salary that’s considerably higher than the Secretary of State’s. It always amazes me when people don’t get this. — I mean: I would of course hope that they’d do the right thing on principle, but in cases like these, the right thing is also very obviously the smart thing. And yet, over and over again, purportedly smart people do things like this. One of life’s little mysteries, I suppose.

Yes, well, at least according to MetroActive:

SEN. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in these pages, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum’s ownership of two major defense contractors, who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein.

As MILCON leader, Feinstein relished the details of military construction, even micromanaging one project at the level of its sewer design. She regularly took junkets to military bases around the world to inspect construction projects, some of which were contracted to her husband’s companies, Perini Corp. and URS Corp.

Perhaps she resigned from MILCON because she could not take the heat generated by Metro’s expose of her ethics (which was partially funded by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute). Or was her work on the subcommittee finished because Blum divested ownership of his military construction and advanced weapons manufacturing firms in late 2005?

The Jawa Report and Redstate wonder why the MSM isn’t picking this story up.

One has to be careful not to jump to conclusions - that is why I hope that the media pick this up as to determine whether there’s truth to the story above or not.

It sure smells fishy, doesn’t it?

Former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani gladly accepted Steve Forbes’ endorsement yesterday and “embraced Mr. Forbes’s signature issue, saying he liked the idea of a flat tax”, which is, as the NYT’s Richard Perez-Pena points out, “something Mr. Giuliani denounced when Mr. Forbes was running for president.”

If there were no federal income tax, “maybe I’d suggest not doing it at all, but if we were going to do it, a flat tax would make a lot of sense,” Mr. Giuliani, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said yesterday, standing beside Mr. Forbes at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square in New York. But he said it was not clear whether dissolving the current system, so ingrained in the economy, would be feasible.

Back in 1996, Giuliani said that implementing Forbes’ plan would be “a disaster” and “a mistake”. Seemingly, his opinion on this matter has evolved (something that’s happening to quite some politicians suddenly).

Giuliani is, obviously, socially not conservative enough, so that means that he has to score (conservative) points on fiscal issues.

As a conservative liberal, I support a flat tax as well. A “progressive” system is, in my opinion, not defendable. Those who say that those who have more should give more seemingly believe that those who have more should not just give more, but that they should give relatively more as well.

In the Netherlands we have the Social Party which wants to introduce an 80% tax for high incomes. 80%. Just think about that. Let that sink in for a while.

You’re working hard, sacrificing time you could also spend with your family, to do what you love doing and to earn money. Next the government comes in and takes away not ‘merely’ half of it, but 80%.

80.

50% is, in my opinion, too much already. This is the individual’s money, not that of the government / society. Some seem to have adopted this strange notion that one only keeps money one earns oneself by the grace of the government / the collective. In other words: you don’t have any right to complain, because the government could, if it wanted to, take (just about) everything. Instead of taking everything, it ‘limits’ itself to, say, half of it.

The reasoning described above is in breach with European liberalism and American conservatism.

And if the government needs the money, needs more than say 33%, well, I guess that means that the government is spending too much.

Cut spending, don’t raise taxes.

UPDATE
Talking about taxes:

House Democrats today will propose the largest tax hike in American history, one which will add more poor people to the tax rolls and which will further burden millions of small businesses. They will position this as fiscal discipline while refusing to trim federal spending…

Cut spending… raise taxes… cut spending… raise taxes.

Raise taxes it is.