Not all money is illegal, of course, since politicians running for office need money to pay for their campaigns. But some money given to members of Congress is given illegally and influence is given illegally. And the benefits that the lobbyists receive is money and power and free trips and a life of luxury, in most cases.
Take lobbyists, for example. The lobbyist is hired by a company or an organization; his or her job is to go to Congress and find members who will vote for the things that lobbyist's boss wants to have done through legislation. Jack Abramoff is a lobbyist, and he has pleaded guilty to "fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials"; he pleaded guilty, according to the Washington Post, in a deal that provides him with a lesser sentence if he will tell prosecutors inside information about others involved in his schemes.
According to the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia, Abramoff was not the only lobbyist involved in this "Indian lobbying scandal," in fact Ralph E. Reed (the former head of the Christian Coalition), Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon were also working with Native Americans and with Abramoff. "Abramoff and Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multi-million-dollar profits," the Wikipedia story explains.
The following information answers the questions: which group has control over Congress; what benefits do they receive; and how do they do this at the national level in the state of California?
In the course of the scheme, the lobbyists are accused of illegally giving gifts and making campaign donations to legislators in return for votes or support of legislation," according to Wikipedia's story. U.S. Congressmen Bob Ney (Republican from Ohio) and an aide to U.S. Representative Tom Delay have been "directly implicated." Delay has resigned from his position as House Majority Leader because of several other scandals he has been involved with. What Abramoff did, among many other illegal things, was to become a lobbyist for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
He was paid millions of dollars...
How bad is corruption? A poll by CNN / USA Today reports that "49% of American respondents" believe "most members of Congress are corrupt" and 55% said that corruption will be "the most important" or "a very important" issue to take into consideration when they vote in November, 2006.
Works Cited
Cable News Network. "Poll: Half believe Congress is Dirty." Available from www.cnn.com/2006/politics/01/01/poll.congressimage.(2006).
Holland, Gina. "High Court Trims Whistleblower Rights." Associated Press. Available at http://www.sfgate.com.
Schmidt, Susan, & Grimaldi, James V. "Abramoff Pleads Guilty to 3 Counts." Washington Post
2006), available at http://www.washingtonpost.com.
Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. "Jack Abramoff Indian Lobbying Scandal." Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abramoff-Reed_Indian_Gambling_Scandal.
