Richard Cohen Quotes
The assumption has to be that members of Congress are, like eunuchs in a harem, physically incapable of a conflict of interest.
implicit in the weak ethics rules of the U.S. House of Representatives
Richard Cohen, Syndicated Columnist, The Washington Post, June 14, 1988
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
She was the first Black woman to be elected to Congress and was the first Black woman to actively campaign for the Presidency
He was protesting President Truman’s appointments of old friends.
The House Majority Leader Tom Delay, with a history of ethics violations, got caught in some very serious ones and convinced the House majority leadership to change the rules of the Ethics Committee to prevent the minority from initiating any investigations or inquiries. The Ethics Committee was the only House committee that has an equal number of majority and minority members and before this change, either side would initiate an inquiry.
She and her husband had been flown across the country for a campaign fundraiser by a private businessman in his corporate jet. Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was also on the flight. Her husband was censured for an ethical violation but Hastert was not.
While New York City and a few other jurisdictions—states and local—have more stringent laws and ethical standards for politicians than does Congress and Federal Officials, but most have lower standards. In some of the jurisdictions judges can try cases and rule in favor of a company or wealthy individual who gave the judge the money to campaign with and get elected.
Between the politicians and the financial industry lobbyists the laws are written so that there is sufficient room for enough self dealing so that members of Congress can get rich using methods that are questionable but have been legislated as legal and the Congressional rules have been written so that they are “not unethical”. Many members of Congress leave the institution much wealthier than when they entered but have received salaries that are insufficient to build that kind of wealth. Many then accept lobbying or other jobs at very high pay representing the people and corporations who have been the subjects of their legislative efforts. Other members do not avail themselves of the “legal” self dealing as the practice is not universal.
Richard Martin Cohen is an American writer best known for his syndicated column in The Washington Post, which he wrote from 1976 to 2019.
