Are Democrats and Republicans equally corrupt?

[Autonomy]

By "equally" I mean quantitatively and qualitatively. Is one party or the other more often involved involved in scandals, and are the nature of those scandals more serious?

Which party is more corrupt?:

[babylonsister]

1. You don't know, really? It's pretty evident to me.nt

[EstimatedProphet]

2. Republicans of course!

And I'll tell you why: they are elitist. Republicans believe that they are better than the common rabble. They think that the world is supposed to look like a twisted Norman Rockwell painting, full of wholesome looking white people being served by friendly minorities that smile really big for a quarter tip when they shine shoes.

[KittyWampus]

39. Interesting take. I'd say the difference lies in level of Organization

but your citing elitism is very well taken.

The GOP is controlled by the WASP Mafia and the Jews onboard are fucking stupid tools. I am certain the very inner circle would turn on them ASAP.

[EstimatedProphet]

41. IMO that's their fundamental problem

They started to turn to the white elite as their focus after Teddy Roosevelt left the party for more progressive ideals. It's firmly entrenched in WASP elitism now-even if you go back as far as 'traditional' conservatives like Eisenhower, the Republicans were still about skin color and country clubs.

[radwriter0555]

54. Republicans are racking up more CONVICTIONS than ELECTIONS these

days, even with their election cheating.

Nice little meme, isn't it?

[KingFlorez]

3. Republicans

They have a large number of persons involved in the same scandal and have numerous other scandals. It's no so much partisan as it is that the majority party tends to go corrupt.

[JDPriestly]

4. At the moment, the Republicans are more corrupt.

But, some Democrats are corrupt now, and many corrupt Democrats have been powerful in the government in the past. Read Briody's book: The Halliburton Agenda. It describes the rise of Johnson buoyed by Bron & Root/Halliburton wealth and scheming.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[pacalo]

11. Nah, they just have more millionaires/billionaires in their party.

And when Republicans get elected to public service, most have to fill their pockets to stay in power because the middle class/poor voters -- excluding the fundies & those with wedge issues/biases -- would never vote against their interests :eyes: .

[Der Blaue Engel]

14. Welcome to Democratic Underground

:hi:

[NI4NI]

6. Dems may have some scandals

BUT Republicans COMMIT CRIMES! There lies the difference.

[Blackthorn]

9. Both are cut from the same cloth...

If anyone thinks a Democrat in the WH in 2009 will signal a return to sanity is sadly mistaken.

[Der Blaue Engel]

13. So why are you here? n/t

[emulatorloo]

47. pretty clear, don't you think? EOM

[Blackthorn]

51. Because this is a great website for news and analysis.

Don't get me wrong, I support Democratic principles and would be more liberal than most people here.

I have a particular world view and that includes Democrats and Republicans being two faces of the same coin. Refer back to the recent threads around here regarding the Congressional vote on Iran. Only 17, SEVENTEEN, Democrats voted against it. I mean, I find it incredibly naive to assume that only the opposition are scum.

I guess my point is that I look at these things from a far different perspective and that includes both Repubs AND Dems screwing the American populace. They just do it in different ways.

Food for thought: Clinton worked on 8 years of surpluses so Georgie could afford his tax cuts and his adventures in the Middle East. Both people working to the same ends, but with completely different faces.

[babylonsister]

19. I pray a Dem in the WH will be better; what do you think? Who might

be better?
You answer is avidly looked forward to. :eyes:

[Yollam]

27. There are those who hope that more GOP rule will produce enough misery...

...that full-blown revolution might result.

I'm not sayin' I'm one of those folks, but I'm not sayin' that I ain't either.


Just because someone doesn't believe in the existing system doesn't mean they don't belong here, IMO.

[Der Blaue Engel]

49. But not "supporting Dem candidates and generally supporting progressive...

...ideals" does mean they don't belong here.

The question "why are you here?" doesn't mean "get the fuck out," it means, "please explain this apparent dissonance so I can understand you."

edited for punctuation

[Richard Steele]

23. For the second time: So why are you here?

If you really believe waht you said there, then why are you here?

[babylonsister]

35. I'm hearing crickets, I tells ya! nt

[sendero]

64. I won't answer for him....

... but I feel only slightly different than him so let me answer.

Sure, the average Dem's overview of the purpose of government and what government should and should not do is a lot better in theory than a Reps. But what practical effect has that produced?

The fact is, Bush has accomplished most of his odious agenda with not only the compliance of the Dems but the actual support. The only issue on which he did not get his way is SS. The fact is our government has descended into one totally controlled by monied interests because of the way campaigns are financed and because of the undue advantage of incumbency.

None of this is party-specific. The Dems are just a wee bit better than the Repugs, and that is all. The two-party system has a stranglehold on America, and nothing is going to get more than a little better until it is broken, one way or another.

In theory, Dems are a lot better for average Americans than Reps. In practice, while I would say mostly that they are not as blatant about the upward redistribution of wealth, they are willing participants in it. And we can whine all we want about the current fiscal nightmare, but Dems have done precious little to stop it.

[EstimatedProphet]

42. You want not corrupt? The least corrupt president this century

was a Democrat. Jimmy Carter.

[HughBeaumont]

61. Not to mention a far better job creation/mo. number than Lancelot Link!

[pacalo]

7. The Republicans head every committee & coddle corporate

interests. If there were any corrupt Democrats, we'd have heard about it long before now through the corporate-owned media. Another hint: It took 8+ years of intense scrutiny & lots of billionaires' money to get Clinton with nothing more than a blue dress, which proves to me that Clinton was a damn good public servant.

[catnhatnh]

8. A garbage poll, in my opinion....

....the stage is too large and parameters are not set...if the first free cheeseburger is corruption,than yes...but if it only counts when people die for the lack of body armor,no...Anyone,anywhere who has ever spent a dime or directed purchases for any larger group knows this.....I knew,and every salesman knew he had a discretionary budget to spend to "improve relationships"...and like real life,certain lunches were ok and others were not...

[blue sky at night]

10. this is a joke right..............

I mean come on, do you have enough notepads to write down all of the Shit the Repukes have done in just the last few years?

[LaPera]

12. Money corrupts all, that's why there has to be checks & balances...

With a one party system(republican)now in power there are no checks and balances, they are doing whatever they please.

[billbuckhead]

16. Republicans don't believe in government so they have more incentive to be

Today's RepuKKKes just see government as crony capitalism.

[Marr]

15. Politicians are politicians. However-

One party is openly and unabashedly the party of corporate power, while the other at least claims to be the party of workers. Democrats cannot be completely corrupt and survive politically. Republicans HAVE to be.

[Autonomy]

17. I think that's basically accurate

Republicans can't win with the 1% vote of the people the REALLY represent, and Democrats represent the people who just don't have a taste for blood and would recoil in horror if their guy was part of that stuff.

[Old and In the Way]

18. Corruption is institutionalized at their national Party level.

I've got this idea that no one gets to run for national office as a Republican unless they are vetted by the national Party. You have to be bribable and willing to put the interests of the Party and their financial contributors ahead of the country's. If you are a person of integrity, sorry, they really don't want you in the club. zFrom the inside, you could be a real liability to the Syndicate.

[cyclezealot]

20. can't answer this poll. yes/no/maybe

lOOK at individuals. see where they get their cash. The difference I'd say. 97% Repugs are traitors to American's people. Democrats about 57% deserved to be guillitoned. Yeah, some of those 57% have positivies compared to Repugs. but on the big issues effecting economics and corportate control, they are not nearly enough compared to the 97% of the Repukes.
example the 97% and 57% all have lousy answers to your lack of jobs or medical care.
as they say, follow the money.

[Imagevision]

21. Democrats-Republicons -- good cop - bad cop scenario...

same motives...staying loyal to big biz -- they founded this country and will always continue to run it.
Howard Hughes: "I want to support a presidential candidate -- it doesn't matter which party".

[conflictgirl]

22. Depends on practice vs. theory

In practice, I think they often end up both looking pretty corrupt. But in theory, I think Republicans are way more evil than Dems. Unfortunately it seems like these days, regardless of which party to which you belong, corruption is an almost inescapable part of the political game.

[sandnsea]

24. The Republican PARTY is corrupt

SOME Democrats are corrupt. Therein lies the difference.

And let's not forget, LBJ would probably be a Republican today, and he probably wouldn't bother with any of those pesky civil rights either.

[rman]

25. Repubs more corrupt but not by a very big margin

95/75 according to Ted Kennedy.

[Yollam]

26. I voted "both parties" because scandals are not the only corruption.

To me, "corruption" means being in the pocket of big oil, big arms makers, big business, and once upon a time when there was such a thing, big labor.

There are tons of dems, like Feinstein and Biden, who are 100% corporate whores, IE corrupt. They may have somewhat better voting records, and overall the party may be somewhat less mired in sleaze than the GOP, but they are not by any means pure enough for me to click "republicans" alone. It is the elected dems' own corruption and sold-out nature that has been largely made them so spineless and unable to stand up to the GOP and Bush's recent crazed power grabs and crimes.

[rucky]

28. 80% corrupt Republicans, 20% corrupt Democrats.

of all the corrupt politicians.

[Little Star]

45. 80% of Republicans are, 60% of Democrats are

So I voted Republicans are more corrupt

[Raksha]

55. I seem to recall Robert Kennedy Jr. saying that 95%

of the Republicans in Congress are corrupt...and 75% of the Democrats. So I voted that Republicans are more corrupt.

[depakid]

29. Trouble is

When the dems enable Republican policies- or when DINO's cross over and vote for them, it creates the impression that both parties are indeed equally corrupt, even though we all know that's far from the case.

Lieberman spearheaing the drive for financial deregulation- and opposing corporate accountability, for example- or supporting the bankruptcy bill, sends a message to ordinary Americans that the Democratic party sells them out just the same as the Republicans do.

And, unfortunately- in many cases, that's all too close to true.

[Peter Frank]

30. The FB & Ci are equally corrupt... n/t

[kdmorris]

31. In some ways, that's like asking

Are men and women equally physically strong? SOME women are as strong as SOME men, but in general, the average man has more physical strength than the average woman.

I'm sure that there are SOME Democrats that are as corrupt as SOME Republicans (can you see any appreciable difference between Joe Lieberman and John McCain?), but, in general, Republicans have corruption down to a science. So, in answer to your question, the answer is yes. They are involved in more scandals and those scandals are always bad, involving Mafia-type crimes. (Democrats seem to have a lot of sex. That seems to be what most of their scandals involve).

[LisaL]

32. I would say, Republicans are more corrupt. But there are some

corrupt democrats out there too.

[Vidar]

33. Republicans are more corrupt, but the Democrats are not far behind.

[southernleftylady]

34. whoever is in power is more tempted to do "bad" things

[Giant Robot]

40. Exactly!

Both parties have equal ABILTY to be corrupt, but currently the Republicans are the most corrupt because they have all the power. I would bet if the Democrats were in power like the Republicans are now, there would be plenty o corruption to go around.

Let's not fool ourselves. The Democratic party is a party comprised of people, not saints from on High. And people make bad choices, do stupid things, and generally screw up. We cannot afford to pull the wool over our eyes by saying we are good and they are bad. Yes, this time that may be true, but that cannot comfort us forever. We need to be vigilant about what our elected representatives do.

[originalpckelly]

36. There will always be a few people in either party who are corrupt...

but in the Republican party those people made it to the top.

[Kansas Wyatt]

37. Republicans win the Corruption Title, but Democrats

Compete for the title as well.

For some reason, when politicians achieve the power of elected office on the national setting, they immediately forget where the hell they came from and who they are suppose to represent. A lot of this has to do with the fact that both, Democrats and Republicans fawn over Corporate America to get campaign cash. Piss on the simpletons they left behind, they just don't have the bucks, unless it comes from large untaxed religious radicals. That is they way the system is currently set up, and it's just business as usual to them. Don't like it? Run for Congress, and change it, but you may want to get re-elected in a few years and you've gotten use to the power you now have. By the way, your opponent's party is lining up a lot of Corporate cash to beat you, but granny and the working stiffs can't even spare a few bucks.

Now that we have established the fact that Washington, D.C. is an enormous pile of systemic corruption dung, it is inhabited by larvae (political & 'think tank' transplants, not the normal average citizens of Washington). These parasites, who claim to represent Americans, do not have a clue about the average American's life, problems, struggles, and needs to exist in a 'New World Order' that has been thrust upon them by parasites in Washington representing Corporate America, instead of actual Americans.

Lost in the enormous pile of dung, is a few politicians who are tirelessly working to represent the people who sent them there in the first place, but they are immediately silenced and covered up by the dung masters (beetles from the MSM).

Okay, piss on it, this is too complex. Just make campaigns exclusively financed by the Federal Government, with very limited and equal television and radio time, and candidates must actually print their exact positions for representation in equal publications side by side. Want to write about gays, evildoers, and emotional drama, rather than how Americans are going to make ends meet, how they cannot afford to get sick, why agent mike is crawling up your ass with a microscope, what the Constitution really says, etc. etc. etc.? Well, then that's your prerogative.

[KittyWampus]

38. No, the Democrats don't have the equivalent of a Mob Ring that extorts

money and uses connections to prostitution and hit men.

[Quantess]

43. FOUR votes for Democrats?!

Someone actually thinks Democrats are more corrupt than Repukes?!
What on earth were those four people thinking!?

Oh, I know....it's Clinton's penis' fault again! :crazy:

[Autonomy]

46. BEWARE THE CLENIS!!!

It shall bring down this holy Christian nation.

[AngryAmish]

44. There is not a single corrupt Democrat.

We are the pinnacle of goodness.

[shadowknows69]

57. I want to live in your world Amish

;-)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

48. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Kinda goes with the territory of being a politician.

[B Calm]

50. Republicans have always had their arm around big business

[shadowknows69]

52. Slight edge to the Republicans

But the Dems could be even more corrupt if they take notes and really apply themselves.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

53. Heckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk Nooooooooooooo!

There have been some real gems of corruption who were Democrats, original Daley in Chicago for one.

But day to day, no.

Repubs value money and feel it defines them. Therefore they are much more susceptible to corruption in general.

[moondust]

56. Not even close.

I've grown tired of hearing Repukes and the MSM ludicrously trying to equate the two.

[slybacon9]

58. DEMS=for middle class. REPS= no middle class.

and one of those values requires a LOT more corruption than the other.

[B Calm]

59. I once asked a guy why he voted republican. He said

if I voted for Democrats they would pass enviromental rules and force my employer to abide, thus causing my employer to close down the factory.

[CPMaz]

60. Right now, it's the Repubs in a walkover...

but let's not fool ourselves - even now, there are individual Dems as dirty as any Rep.

Right now, the Reps are the electorally stronger party, so they get more of the bribes and other perks; when the Dems are stronger, they'll reap the illicit rewards.

Bottom line: say what you want about the haters out there, the anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, anti-anything wingnuts, the biggest threat to the rule of law is the epidemic of corruption, and not just at the federal level.

[sendero]

62. Republicans..

... but, averaged over a long period of time, only by the thinnest of margins.

[lonestarnot]

63. depends. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.