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The 22 Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington

by Maggie Van Ostrand

Just when you think you have nowhere to turn for relief from the political shenanigans of our elected officials, along comes Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

On 12 September, CREW requested the Inspector General of the Department of Education to commence an investigation into why No Child Left Behind Act federal funding is being spent on educational products sold by "Ignite! Learning," a company founded and headed by Neil Bush, younger brother of the president. Neil Bush, CREW tells us, "has no education background, [and] is best known for his role in the failure of Silverado Savings and Loan, which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion." That's even more than any state's lottery including California's which had promised the taxpayers the money would go to schools, if only we'd vote "yes." We don't know where the money ended up.

CREW's research shows that "Ignite! Learning" products do not meet the rigorous criteria set by Congress for the types of educational approaches and products on which No Child Left Behind funds can be spent.

CREW's three-month investigation revealed that school districts are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, including No Child Left Behind funds, on Ignite's Curriculum on Wheels (COW), a cart-mounted video projector and hard drive loaded with a year's supply of Ignite's social studies, science, or math curricula, at a standard price of $3,800-$4,200 each.

Ignite's website has no mention of Neil Bush or any other Bush, though their mailing address is in Austin Texas which is a clue of sorts. We've got to hand it to CREW for digging up ownership information when Ignite apparently doesn't want to put it on its own site. Ignite's website does, however, state that they indeed meet federal criteria for funding, but they don't say why or anything else understandable. That's how we can be sure they are owned and operated by politicians. It will be a great day when a politician can speak or write so his constituents know what he means.

Why is it that dedicated teachers all over the nation have been digging into their own pockets to pay for students' books, when they can ill afford to do so. In the cases of students who are able to buy their own, they're forced to buy "sets" of shrink-wrapped books, including ones they don't need for their courses, don't want, and will not read. It's kind of like being forced by supermarkets to buy a dozen bars of soap shrink-wrapped together when you only want to buy one or two.

Aside from exposing the president's brother's deal, CREW has had success in other areas, such as their "22 Most Corrupt Politicians" list. We're not making this up. In fact, Congressman Jerry Weller (R-Ill), recently named to the list, announced on September 21st that he will not seek an eighth term. He's on the influential House Ways and Means Committee and was on the House International Relations Committee.

His reason, as stated during a Joliet Illinois Chamber of Commerce luncheon: "I'm 50 years old; I've given half of my life to public service." Note the word "given," as in "free." Right there, we know he's lying. He may have sold or rented his life to the public, but he didn't give it.

He'll be unique if he actually retires and doesn't go into the lobbying business and make even more money than he made on selling his ocean-view property in Nicaragua by reporting a fake low purchase price to outwit the tax man. Turns out he failed to report assets he bought and sold in Nicaragua, misused his position to sell foreign property, accepted campaign contributions from Puerto Rican interest "in apparent exchange for supporting legislation that benefited Puerto Rico, and his acceptance of campaign contributions in return for assisting a telecommunications executive in a dispute with a foreign government."

There's also an ethical question about Weller's qualification for a waiver allowing him to exclude his wife's assets and liabilities from his financial disclosure forms. Want to bet a lot of property will be transferred to her if he gets that waiver?

Hat's off and three cheers to CREW for nudging Weller out.

Following is CREW's third annual list of the 22 most corrupt members of Congress which they call a "compendium of corruption." If you want to know WHY they're on the list, just click on the name and you'll get to the reason. Be sure you're sitting down when you do this because you might be shocked at what you'll learn.

The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress are:

1. Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)


2. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)


3. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)


4. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)


5. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)


6. Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)


7. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)


8. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)


9. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)


10. Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)


11. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)


12. Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA)


13. Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)


14. Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA)


15. Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)


16. Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)


17. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)


18. Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)


19. Rep. David Scott (D-GA)


20. Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL)


21. Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM)


22. Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

• Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-ID)


• Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)