"Culture of Corruption" - read Crooks

I'm still waiting for somebody to drop the niceities and throw out the more politically loaded word "crooks." (where are you Al Sharpton?) But for the time being, we'll have to be satisfied with the continuing uncovering of more criminal behavior in the republican congress. (USAToday)

One day after a New York investment group raised $110,000 for Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis, the House passed a defense spending bill that preserved $160 million for a Navy project critical to the firm. The man who protected the Navy money? Lewis. .....

In the opinion of Larry Noble, executive director of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, the timing of the fundraiser within days of a favorable vote "looks like influence buying." Noble is a former chief lawyer for the Federal Election Commission.....

None of the people connected to Cerberus had ever given money to either Lewis or his political action committee before the fundraiser or the vote on the bill Lewis sponsored, a USA TODAY analysis of their political contributions shows.

This guy was not some little podunk congressman; he was the chairman of the appropriations committee, a post he credits to Cerberus' donations.

Tell me you're not a crook, rep. Lewis.

(He's also tied to Brent Wilkes of "Duke" Cunningham fame. And "safe seat" Duncan Hunter's name has come up around this one, too.)