DC May Fire Yet Another Mayor Over Corruption Scandal

One-party rule promotes increasingly bad candidates

New York City has yellow taxi cabs, Los Angeles has Hollywood starlets, and Washington DC has corrupt politicians. Especially at the local level.

DC's latest Mayor, Vincent Gray, is being asked to resign over alleged campaign finance violations. Three of his campaign staffers have pleaded guilty to illegally steering over $650,000 into his election coffers, but it's unknown if Gray was aware of their actions.

The latest scandal prompted local columnists to bemoan the current state of DC's regularly inept and corrupt city government - saying that DC is basically under "one-party rule," and the local Democratic primaries need to open to independent voters, rather than only allowing party members to cast votes.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post suggests that DC's local politics serve as an omen of local government across the country. "The voters," he writes, "have checked out...And these candidates, confident that nobody is paying attention, brazenly ignore the already-flimsy campaign-finance laws."

Via the Washington Post

Is corruption in city government becoming more common?

[autiger]

Hey.. Lers see if Jesse Jackson will run.. He's not corrupt..

[Stratton]

Let's not forget it was the teachers' unions that forced out the previous mayor when he dared to let the school chancellor try to clean up the DC schools and actually put the needs of students ahead of the needs of the union.

[marine1]

It might just be time to establish a wistle blower rewards program? These people have abused their constituents since the beginning of time and it is way past time that it stop. Triple the prison sentence, loss of all retirements, no exceptions. Of all the people in this country, these are the ones that we should all be able to trust. I believe that they have a fiduciary responsibility to their constituents and should be held accountable to the fullest and highest degree for ANY abuse.( Lock their asses up untill the sun no longer shines when they screw over the people).

[marine1]

Sometimes I wonder if we would not be better off if it was required that half the politicians,(at all levels) have no more than a high school education with a advance study in common sense???

[Justus]

Folks if we all do not awken we will drown in debt. Every major city is under water and keep pulling us down with them The Democrats have stolen America blind and wasted what they could not steal!

[DapperDave]

Yeah, 'cause lord knows Republicans NEVER steal, lie or cheat. -- rolling eyes --

[Justus]

There are no real differences in people because of a party name. They are all mostly selfish and lookout for self. We send new people to Congress with great ideas but those we keep there two long make them change their minds to coincide with the leadership or they get nothing done. The answer is term limits!

[DapperDave]

We have a similiar problem here in Florida, with a state legislature that has been under complete Republican control since 1996.
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - John Emerich Acton

[Bobolinsky]

You have a point, but Florida is doing better than democrat-dominated states like Illinois, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, California, and Connecticut.

[Jack-Black]

At least he did not get caught on camara smoking Crack with a hooker in a motel room...He would never have been re elected if that had occured.

[blacklist88]

Corruption has always been at the city, state, and national level.if you want to stop it or at least reduce it, people need to grow a spine, educate themselves, and demand that these officials pay for their crimes.

[MarkJM]

As one who lives in the DC Metro region, I can tell you first hand that DC is a joke, not only with Gray and his corrupt administration, but the Cosby Kid Reject City Council as well. All of them have skeletons revealed from their proverbial closets. I don't look highly on Congress, but with the constant string of excessive spending and corruption that still plagues this city, I say revoke Home Rule. DC has only gone downhill since then. I say residents of DC should be folded into MD and the District should be a federal one with no local governments.

[john]

...deleted my previous post......but, still creepy little man...