Money is easy-come, easy-go for Congress

Your Jan. 5 editorial, “Cleaning up Congress,” misses the basic reason that corruption riddles Congress: extravagant government spending. Our representatives are in charge of spending trillions of dollars each year. With that much money running through their fingers, the job has attracted people who know how to enrich themselves from the mere act of spending, while persuading us to send them back for more.

Starting with exorbitant campaign financing to get the job, then moving to pork-barrel politics during the job, we have created not the “wise and frugal” government that Jefferson envisioned but a bloated aristocracy of sticky-fingered spenders.

BILL DECKER

San Diego

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Re “GOP Tries to Outrun Scandal,” Jan. 5

Will someone please explain to me the process whereby politicians think they can launder money given to them, money the donor obtained fraudulently or otherwise illegally, by passing that money on to a charitable organization? Does the money itself become clean? Do the politicians themselves become somehow clean by passing on tainted money to a charity? And what happens to the charity that accepts the tainted funds? Does it not become tainted by accepting the funds? I presume the original donor remains quite tainted, even though the politicians become clean. Finally, I would like to know what Jesus would do in a situation like this. Would he not recommend restitution?

MILTON GONSALVES

Cathedral City

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So, the soon-to-be-indicted are returning some portion of Jack Abramoff’s bribes, um, I mean gifts. Funny, they’ve already used the money and influence to get what they wanted. Their action is the equivalent of my shooting you and then giving your family the brass shell casings from my gun so that they can recycle the metal to cover your funeral costs. Since these folks endlessly trumpet their values, I guess there’s some value in that -- 3 or 4 cents anyway.

KEVIN CAVANAUGH

Costa Mesa

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Re “Eight simple steps to Swiffer Congress,” Opinion, Jan. 5

Jonathan Turley’s commentary confirms what I have said for years: The most corrupt body in the country is the United States Congress. I will concede that not all members are on the take. But they all know about it, and no one does anything about it.

DICK DE SANTIS

Manhattan Beach