Lou Reed Quotes

A thief is more moral than a congressman; when a thief steals your money, he doesn't demand you thank him.

The real cost of corruption in government, whether it is local, state, or federal, is a loss of the public trust.

The day corruption charges are levelled against me, I would retire and sit at home.

Whether I'm reading a national publication or one of my local Chicago newspapers, I don't need to turn too many pages before I stumble upon another scandal. Not only do ethics violations deteriorate the public trust, but they also disrupt and undermine legitimate debate and policy.

The assumption has to be that members of Congress are, like eunuchs in a harem, physically incapable of a conflict of interest.

Political scandal has become devalued. There are so many of them.

The hanky-panky in public service that really matters is about money and not sex.

Corruption is the exchange of public benefits for private gain.

The new political gospel: public office is private graft.

New York is having awful corruption scandals. The charges involve politicians acting in such an insanely stupid way, it shatters our longstanding confidence that taking money was the one thing they know how to do well.

Tolerance of corruption, explicit and implicit, has made it impossible to govern…. We need absolute transparency of all the assets of government officials.

The Trump administration is shaping up to be one of the most corrupt since the Gilded Age.

And my whole life I've been focused on questions of anti-corruption laws, on constitutional law, and it's essential that the power of this office be maximized to stop corruption at the national level.

New York... where people come for their Ph.D. in corruption.

I come from a state where four governors have gone to jail since I've been alive. Two of my last four predecessors in this seat went to jail or are going to jail.

Corruption is when people in public office use that public office for private or selfish ends. This is one of the most central debates in the last 40 years in law, what is corruption.

If a politician takes a bribe to do what he thinks would have been best for the public anyway, he still goes to jail. If he's president, under a Constitution that refers to impeachment specifically for 'bribery,' as well other 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' he should still be removed.

Right here at home, we have seen what happens when a politician breaks that public trust, when they are dishonest and corrupt.

No government functions without the grease of corruption.

If you talk about corruption, you can talk about a lot of things in life.

Bob Torricelli, Democrat member of the Senate, was basically about to be thrown out of office on corruption charges, and he went to the floor of the Senate to deny everything. And we juxtaposed his denials with an attorney from someone in an action against Torricelli who was listing all of the gifts and all the bribes that Torricelli had been given and offered in exchange for policy considerations on the Senate floor. So he's on the Senate floor denying it.

[Senator]Torricelli [D-NJ] will leave public office with just the clothes on his back, a Rolex watch and other assorted jewelry, a TV set, a couple of racks of Italian suits, some Jets tickets, a grandfather clock and three paper sacks filled with small, unmarked bills.

Corruption exists because there is too much, not too little, market.

Watergate is the great liberal illusion that you can have public virtue without private morality.

Like a snail crossing a sidewalk, the Clinton Administration leaves a lengthening trail of slime, this time on America's national honor.