Ouch

A friend of ours in Washington, DC just sent the story below to us . . . the story broke while Democrats are accusing Republicans on the floor of the U.S. House (yes, we are C-Span junkies) of being the party of corruption. Seems one of their own took bribes . . . and was caught . . . under our current rules and laws. Fact is, the problem aren't the rules, it's the character of the people we send to Washington.

Dave Obey will probably vote against a lobbying reform bill today. This legislation would increase transparency on lobbying activities, require members of Congress to stand by their earmarks, require a system to approve privately-funded travel by members of Congress, and would require people like William Jefferson to lose his Congressional pension if convicted of being bribed.

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/13145-1.html

Businessman Pleads Guilty to Giving Jefferson $400K in Bribes

A Kentucky businessman pleaded guilty today to paying more than $400,000 in bribes to Rep. William Jefferson and his family for allegedly receiving the Louisiana Democrat’s help in obtaining contracts from the U.S. Army and African telecommunications firms.

Vernon l. Jackson, chairman and CEO of iGate Inc., of Louisville, Ky., admitted in a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alexandria, Va., that he had begun paying bribes in January 2001 to a company owned by Jefferson’s wife and children.

According to the plea deal, Jackson paid the company more than $367,000 between February 2001 and September 2004, with the vast majority of those funds being routed to Jefferson’s family in 2004.

Jackson also picked up in excess of $87,000 in travel costs for Jefferson and others, with some of that money going directly to Jefferson.

A former Jefferson aide, Brett Pfeffer, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit bribery and aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes by a Member of Congress.

Jefferson has publicly denied any wrongdoing.