EDITORIAL CORRUPT POLITICS LUDLOW AND CUNNINGHAM'S CRIMES UNDERMINE PUBLIC'S CONFIDENCE.POLITICIANS who wonder why the American public is so cynical about politics need only look at the last few days' news. On Friday, we learned officially about the indictment and plea bargain plea bargain n. in criminal procedure, a negotiation between the defendant and his attorney on one side and the prosecutor on the other, in which the defendant agrees to plead "guilty" or "no contest" to some crimes, in return for reduction of the severity of the of Martin Ludlow Martin Ludlow (born 1964) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council, USA, from 2003 to 2005. He represented the 10th district. He was elected May 20, 2003 and resigned on June 30, 2005. , the former Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City Councilman who became county union boss, and about the prison sentence dished dished adj. 1. Concave. 2. Slanting toward one another at the bottom. Used of a pair of wheels. Adj. 1. dished - shaped like a dish or pan dish-shaped, patelliform concave - curving inward out to former Rep. Duke Cunningham
Randall Harold Cunningham (born December 8 1941), usually known as Randy or Duke . Ludlow is a local politician and a Democrat, while Cunningham is a Washington politician and a Republican. But neither party nor location seemed to make a whiff of a difference. In the end, both succumbed to the many temptations of public life. For Ludlow, that temptation was power. Facing a tough race for the City Council in 2003, he tapped into his labor connections to help skirt campaign-finance laws. And so SEIU SEIU Service Employees International Union SEIU Special Education Intake Unit SEIU Secondary Education Interdisciplinary Unit SEIU Software Engineering Institute Union LOCAL 99 provided ``free'' employees to his campaign, paying them out of workers' dues. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , he corrupted the democratic process and wanted to win so badly he was willing to steal the election. For Cunningham, the temptation was money. Defense contractors were willing to pay him handsomely - cars, yachts, mansions and high-priced furnishings - for his help in securing lucrative federal contracts. In other words, he corrupted the democratic process in order to enrich himself. For all politicians, the temptations of money and power are constant, with special interests clamoring to get an edge in the political process. This is why the special interests have come to dominate our political system at all levels, whether it's unions securing unaffordable un·af·ford·a·ble adj. Too expensive: medical care that has become unaffordable for many. un contracts in City Hall or corporations calling the shots on Capitol Hill. It's the rest of us who end up paying the price. That both got caught only brings minor consolation. Yes, Ludlow will have to pay some fees and has lost his livelihood, and Cunningham will go to prison for eight years. But even though justice may be served in these two cases, there remains the widespread perception that it's being denied in so many others. The sagas of Ludlow and Cunningham remind us that only the political class' most egregious violations are punished. Those who peddle access in smaller ways, often by means that are technically legal - even if plainly unethical - operate with impunity. The result is the same either way: Higher taxes, poorer public services.Indictments, prison sentences or tougher laws will never restore public confidence in our political systems. Only when the politicians stop serving special interests - and put the public good first - will they regain the public's trust. |
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