Henry F. Ashurst Quotes

Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.

People in Washington do things that they shouldn’t do because they owe somebody.

There is no reason for a lobbyist to give us gifts. They are supposed to give us information.

And when the guy [politician] says “Yes, I took money, but it didn’t influence my vote”? Oh, come on. The company that’s giving you the money thinks it is going to influence the vote. Why else would they give you the money?

Big contributions from those who are seeking government favors are a menace to honest government.

Deciding whether a contribution is corrupt is difficult without knowing the motives of the donor.

Conflict of interest and lack of transparency, though they are global features as we saw post-Iraq, almost define Indian cricket.

History's just been made for sale to an inside deal.

If someone really wants my company's business, why shouldn't he be able to do everything he can - including paying me off - to get that business? Because bribery encourages people to make decisions based on the wrong criteria, which means in the business world that it distorts the efficient allocation of resources.

Honest Graft

Getting an advantage at the expense of somebody else—that really is what graft is.

When you've got a guy who's in position to influence who gets what, the potential is always there for corruption.

Congressmen are not bribed anymore. They simply have a lot of friends who are willing to help them out whenever they find it necessary.

Bribes and special deals were offered to members to say yes.

How can it be illegal or unethical if the most important man in Congress is doing it?

The main thing is the ‘rule of corruption’: helping the horse both to race and also to get a mouthful of hay. It’s what all civil servants are secretly thinking. Our expectations for our civil servants are far too high, far too grandiose. The pressure is more than their flesh-and-blood bodies can stand.

Many government officials have very high moral standards at the beginning of their duties, but after a while some officials sway from the right path and easily fall into the temptation of bribery and fraud.

I would never, ever trade any campaign donation - that's absurd - for some type of favor to anyone.

I could never have any corruption from the state because I never had any business with the state.

We did not pay for favors.

Here is where you get into the danger zone, when the government official starts talking about U.S. government business and then also talking about what personal business favors they might want. And when the conversation goes down that road, it does risk crossing the line into solicitation of a bribe.

I can tolerate anything but corruption and nepotism.

In some of the countries where we operate, there is a tradition of corruption, in which the political elites work with business in the framework of unsavory relationships.

And you know, almost in a perverse way, I wish it had been undue influence because we know how to correct that. We get rid of the people who, in fact, were exercising that.

I'm for everyone having the opportunity to accept a $150,000 bribe.