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In anarticlepublished in Townhall.com, the author decries the level of corruption inCongress, and attempts to explain it by a historical change in public funding frombeing largely controlled by state and local government, to infrastructure projectmonies now almost totally appropriated by the Federal Government.The Attack of the Body SnatchersIn a classic 1956 film,Invasion of he Body Snatchers,normal people were transformed into creatures without feelings, yet, in all other ways, indistinguishablefrom normal human beings. This transformation occurred after being attacked byalien creatures from outer space. These transformed humans could only berecognized by a swelling on the back of the neck. This swelling resulted in namingthese captured, dehumanized individuals, the label, “Pod People,” who I’ll simplycall “PPs.”We too, have our own very real PPs with whom we must contend. We call them
sociopaths, psychopaths
, or
anti-social personalities
. It has beenestimated that from 1 to 4% of the U.S. Population is composed of sociopaths(almost entirely males). While there are many behavioral variants, the sociopathis recognized by his complete and total indifference to the effect of his actions onother people.“… characteristic of the psychopath are shallow emotions, theutter absence of empathy, guilt, or remorse,glibness/superficial charm, manipulativeness, inconsistency,deceitfulness/lying and a grandiose sense of self-worth.These very characteristics when coupled with high intelligence, a drive for successand personal power, point this individual to a successful career as a religious leader,business executive, elected official, or political appointee. Once having achievedinitial success, the PP is quick to ensure continued success. If a member ofCongress, he is reelected, becoming more secure and holding greater control ineach successive term in office. At the same time he builds layer upon layer ofprotection allowing him to expand his predatory wealth and power building activitywith complete impunity from either detection or consequences.Of course, every so often, their actions catch up with them. William Jefferson andhis money in the freezer, Ted Stevens and the current conflict of interestinvestigations, Tom Delay, Mark Foley and the page boys – the list goes on and on.Getting caught comes from a number of factors. In many instances, the scandalsimply was too egregious to keep hidden or be ignored. FBI or other agencyInformants often play a significant role.This certainly was the case with Foley. He had been engaged in predatory behaviordirected at underage boys for many years, while posing as a protector of children bysponsoring legislation designed to protect these same victims. When the scandal;came to light, there was no surprise; his colleagues not only knew what he was upto, but had covered up for him. The brotherhood of PPs take care of their own, butthis one got just away from them. Those who knew had to run from him to protectthemselves.
 
Consider your expectations when the results of the ’06 election came in. Youexpected that there would be a change in course in Iraq, some beginnings oflimitation and control on the Bush/Cheney administration’s destruction of theConstitution and the rights granted by it, efforts at stopping the endless corruptionin Congress. Have you seen any of progress on any of those things?By no means is it to be inferred that all, or even a majority of Congress are PPs. Yet,because they have, over time, achieved positions of leadership, power, control, andinfluence, they systematically direct the legislative process to meet their own ends.Because any efforts at reform ultimately would require the assent and approval ofthese PPs, we have the classic problem of the “foxes guarding the chicken house.”The Counterattack BeginsIf reform cannot come from within, then how can it be accomplished? The solutionlies with a concerted effort to replace the PPs with decent human beings. Toaccomplish this, several steps are essential to this process:
•
Identify targets for removalThere are plenty of warning flags available which can separate the PPs from thehumans. One of the easiest way to do this is to look at the “Pork Score” achievedby each of the suspects.As but one example, an examination of one of the leaders of the Anti-War, TroopWithdrawal movement, John Murtha, is well in the running for the “Pig of the  Year” award.INDIANA, Pa. — In April 2004, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.)celebrated the groundbreaking for a gleaming new officebuilding here, designed around its anchor tenant, a Rockville,Md.-based technology company called Aeptec Microsystems.
Murtha
pursued millions of dollars worth of legislativeearmarks for the company, and Aeptec's federal contractsblossomed after it opened a branch in his district in 2001,rising from about $13 million in 2000 to $45.6 million in 2003and $33 million in 2004, according to fedspending.org, adatabase of federal contracts. The company had beenrepresented by two lobbying firms with close ties to
Murtha
:
KSA Consulting
and
the PMA Group
.If we turn to the big Murtha campaign contributors, sure enough,PMA Groupissitting in the 4
th
rank with a donation of $31,000 for the ’05-’06 election.This is by no means the end of the Murtha pork story. Take a look at just some ofhis recent activity with respect toDefense Appropriationsearmarks.In early August 2007, it was revealed that Rep. Murtha,Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee onDefense, secured the most earmarked money in theFY2008Defense Appropriations bill. According to the congressionalwatchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Murtha
 
garnered 48 earmarks totaling $150.5 million. Coming insecond was subcommittee ranking memberBill Young(R-Fla.),with 52 earmarks totaling $117.2 million. The $459.6 billiondefense appropriations bill, which included an overall 1,337earmarks, costing $3.07 billion, was expected to be consideredon the House floor on August 3. Despite those earmarks, themeasure still included less than half of the earmarks includedin the previous year's appropriations bill, in keeping with aHouse commitment to reduce earmarking by 50 percent.However, the earmark total only consisted of earmarksdisclosed by the committee, and many undisclosed earmarksmay still be present.Murtha has also managed to get himself entangled in some very nasty scandals,including the famousAbscam bribery dealwith some “Arab Sheiks.”Abscam was the FBI's operational name for its 1980 "ArabScam" sting. The sting was executed using FBI agents posingas two fictitious sheiks seeking to bribe local, state and federalofficials and eventually netted the convictions of sevenmembers of Congress. Rep.John Murtha(D-Pa.) wasvideotaped agreeing to help one of the sheiks in exchange foran investment in his district and showed a willingness topossibly accept money in the future, but took no bribe and wasnot indicted in the scandal.Murtha is known as a dealer of earmarks, trading earmarks forvotes on bills. On the floor of the House he occupies a corner,known as the "Murtha corner", where minority Democratscome to ask for earmarks and majority Republicans come toask for votes for their legislation. Murtha has delivered votes tohelp Republicans block a number of Democratic initiatives: "toinvestigate federal contracting fraud in Iraq, to reform lobbyinglaws, to increase financing for flood control, to add $150million for veterans' health care and job training, and toexempt middle-class families from the alternative minimumtax." Those who vote with Murtha have been rewarded with alarge supply of earmarks for their districts.
[8]
 In 1989 Murtha became chairman of the DefenseAppropriation Subcommittee. There he imposed new rules andprocedure that forced Defense appropriations bills to bedecided behind closed doors. The practice has continued sinceRepublicans took the majority in 1995.Murtha’s history is prototypical of many of the 535 members of the House andSenate. However pure the original motivation for candidacy, once having beenelected, the temptation to take advantage of the opportunities for corruption arefar too overwhelming to ignore.
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04 / 29 / 2011<span class="translation_missing">en_US, this_document_made_it_onto_the</span>Rising List!
socialista

It comforts me to think that the corrupt criminal behavior of the United States Congress could have been possibly caused by alien infestation instead of just ineptitude and greed.

reply08 / 09 / 2007
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