BALITANG BETERANO
By Col.(Ret.US) Frank B. Quesada
Former Senate Committee Secretary
Veterans and Military Pensions
Associate, PMA ‘44
CLEAN UP THAT GRAFT IN
CONGRESS !
The height of corruption in
Government more particularly in
Congress, as well as the
Administrative branch – have
confronted the citizen taxpayers
with much rage, irritation and
resentment.
Let the Clean Ones Come
Forward
Politicians from Pres. G.W.
Bush down through the ranks of
Congress, controlled by the
Republicans, not to leave out
Democrats, that have been openly
reported as having also taken
largesse from lobbyists.
Thus, ‘wholesale sell out of
the citizen’s welfare in exchange
for bribes, was part of the
prevailing barefaced political
turpitude.” Greed has taken over
the everyday norm up in the Hill,
which the former White House
news correspondent, P.J.O’Rourke
Described congress in his best
seller as “the parliament of
whores.”
Greed and Arrogance
Aside from such billions of
“cumshaw” taken by crooked
politicians for their own “take,”
the Federal government takes
away between an fifth and quarter
of all our money every year., said
P.J.
“And that is eight times
compared to the Islamic sakat (the
alms-giving required from their
believers. Government,
gets
more than things in a protection
racket demand, more even the
discarded first wives of famous
rich men receive in divorce courts.
“added PJ.
National Fraud
The national fraud of
hoarding the
“blood money”
honestly earned by US military
retirees and veterans withheld by
Congress for their on pork disposal
is also a national disgrace,
according to the veterans.
To deny the retirees and
veterans their own pensions and
benefits is no less the same as what
was done against Fil-Am WW-II
veterans. The filthy trick involved
was to retard payment, in order for
many of them to die – so there
would be less or no more retirees
and veterans left to claim for their
pensions and benefits..
Guilty As Hell
Legislators ( most of them
with an exception of a few) are as
guilty as the lobbyists in this
“legalized bribery” going on for
years with impunity. In order to
stay in power, and enjoy the
crooked ‘inturpitude,” millions of
dollars exchange hands in the evil
process. It is . albeit, now
worldwide pandemic in nations.
This “pervading graft takes
a crooked lobbyist to bribe the
solons, and make the solons as
their
accomplishes
in
an
instrument of betrayal of trust. In
a graft case in court, the giver as
well as the receiver are both
guilty.”
Cupidity and Tolerance
Greed and power have taken
hold in the House of “Old Boys
Club,” under the nose of the
slumbering and irrelevant Speaker
and President of both corrupt
Houses of ill-repute. The clean
ones cry, while the dark souls hide
in the dungeon of sin. Swindling
the citizens has been a statussymbol of shameless deceit and
double-talk of cujlprits..
Aphrodisiac Power
Ann Feathers of the
Washington
bureau
of
the
Pittsburg Post Gazette and the
Toledo Blade said, “No call-girl
ring has been busted on Capitol
Hill (albeit he aphrodisiac power
will be with us until the end of
time.) But this latest spade of
revealed corruption will do far
more harm
because it is so
entrenched , so sophisticated and
so sickening.”
A Soiled Profession
Lobbying for the citizen’s
and community welfare has been a
noble calling, except when they
bribe legislators. What is unfair
and illegal is when lobbyists with
big bucks secretly buy legislators
to secure the votes of hungry
crooked lawmakers.
It is all for the love of
money which has been the root of
all evils.” If we want to know what
God thinks of money, just take a
look at the legislators He gave it
to. Every bloody cent he took also
feeds his family and his vices.”
From my Experience
In my past career as a
congressional committee secretary,
I have seen more than enough of
this graft as the rust that have
eaten the steel of democracy. This
country since then have backslided
down the slope towards the gates
of Hades. It is reminiscent of the
of the Fall of the Roman Empire.
The Upright Ones
On the other side of the
coin, albeit, there are still
legislators who refuse to have
anything to do with evil lobbyists.
Just how many these clean ones
are – we do not have the exact
number.
Veteran’s Experiences
The Fil-Am war veterans,,
albeit has their own cross to bear
with the presence of alleged
corrupt advocates posing as
lobbyists. One of them, slick
operator, have just been banned by
the RP Department of Justice from
any function
of the official
veterans lobby for full equity
settlement of unpaid compensation
and benefits of veterans for the last
60 years of government repression.
(SEE: Dept. of Justice’s Ban.)
Studied Reforms
Prof. Jonathan Turley of
pubic interest law of George
Washington University – said,
“There are just eight simple
reforms to end such bribery and
influence peddling.”
Turley wrote: “Although
there were calls for reform , the
smart money in Washington D.C.
has to be on the long arm
lobbyists. He enumerated the
following:
“(1) Close the Outside
Income loophole. Members of
Congress routinely legislate in
areas they have direct and sizable
financial interests. That is because
the ethics code prohibition on
outside income doesn’t include
money earned from investments,
such as stocks.
“ Seventy-five percent of
randomly selected solons has stock
transactions that directly coincide
with their legislative activity.
“And the way to deal with
this problem is to require solons to
put their investments into a blind
investment portfolio or trust.
“(2) Bar quid pro quo
arrangements. Members accept
sweetheart financial deals from
individuals who get generous
government contracts
and
legislative perks . Some members
have gotten
no-interest loans.
Others have made 500 percent
profits on deals in just as few
years.
“The simple solution is to
force solons to recuse themselves
from any legislation or official
action that benefits their business
associates or immediate family
members.
“(3)
Deter
Nepotism.
Family members of solons have
been increasingly bold in seeking
office and appointments in their
father’s offices. Again, in this csse
the solution is simply recusal.The
rule is that no member of congress
or his or her staff should be
allowed to participate in any
appointment or hiring of a family
member.
“(4) End Family Lobbying.
Lobbying are not allowed to give
money directly to members, so
they routinely give it to solon’s
spouses or children. How? They
hire them. Members of the families
of solons work in Washington’s
lobby
firms
.regardless
of
qualifications or experiences.
Members should be bared from
any involvement with legislation
or from committee assignment s
that bear on issues a f ily member
represents.
“(5)
End
so-called
Educational Trips. A rule bars
solons and congressional junkets
paid for by lobbyists. However, as
long as the lobbyists use a “shell
research group and calls the trip
(actually a vacation) educational,
members can go and take their
families. All trips paid for by an
outside group should be banned.
“(6) Bar
Private Jet
Travel. Congress allows members
to accept flights on private or
corporate jets, often with lobbyists
tagging along., if members reimburse those companies in the
equivalent of the first class ticket.
The problem is that the value of
such travel is far greater than the
first class ticket, Members should
reimburse the total cost of the jet
charter.
“(7) Change the valuation
of no gifts. Members are supposed
not to accept gifts worth more than
$50. But I violations happen all
the time. Valuation of gifts should
be independently valuated.
“(8) Create a truly
independent ethics office form
both houses. As of now, each
House controls it own ethics rules,
and as it is – ethical behavior is
just one more commodity traded in
the political market.”
Who Polices Whom?
Above
loopholes
are
maintained by both Houses for
their own convenience and abuse.
“Who really polices whom? This is
a clear case of the lawmaker as the
number one law breaker.”
In the case of the with-held
pensions and benefits of US
military retirees and veterans,
“Who polices and watch the abuse
of authority and government
lawlessness?” Just themselves.
It is now the reason why
there are movements of war
veterans like the, “1 Million
‘angry’
Veterans
March,”
conducted in Washington DC to
tell the American public that
enough is enough of fraudulent
misconducts.
Veterans see that the two
party system has long been dead.
And that both parties just take
turns abusing the citizen taxpayers
by cheating the veterans and
retirees. It has been a neat racket
by members who are supposed to
protect the constituents, but in
reality they mistreat, curse and
insult the taxpayer that voted them
to serve as public servants, but not
to be the greedy masters.
Both parties are fast losing
veterans support of the scoundrels
up in the Hill. No sooner, The
good ones, albeit, are safe from the
public’s apathy. But how few are
they? # #
Note: This columnist is an
accomplished student of a grant
by the U.N. in an advanced study
of “Structures of Governments and
Comparative
Politico-SocioEconomic Managements.”
He served as a senior Senate
Committee Secretary, after retiring
from the US Armed Forces as a
Colonel. And retired from US
Federal Circuit Court (9th Cir.). ##