Judicial Watch just released their ‘2013 Top Ten list of America’s most corrupt politicians.’
Frosty Wooldridge covered the list here, in Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington DC
It may only be an accident of spelling, but right at the top of the list is House Majority Leader John Boehner, Speaker of the House.
There is no way to tell who Judicial Watch considered the most corrupt of the most corrupt ten, but Boehner wins the dishonor of appearing first.
The Tollbooth Strategy
Judicial Watch’s editorial board described the Speaker this way: “House Speaker John Boehner has apparently become a master at what Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer calls the ‘Tollbooth Strategy.’“
In Schweizer’s new book, Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets:, he explains “You pay money at a tollbooth in order to use a road or bridge. The methodology in Washington is similar: if someone wants a bill passed, charge them money to allow the bill to move down the legislative highway.”
Schweizer says that Boehner “apparently used the Tollbooth Strategy to collect more than $200,000 in political donations.” That is a lot of money, in anyone’s language.
Here are the Speaker’s fellow players on the dubious Top Ten list:
CIA Director John Brennan Senator Saxby Chambliss Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Attorney General Eric Holder Former IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller / Former IRS Official Lois Lerner Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano President Barack Obama Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Four others made 2013’s Dishonorable Mentions list:
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Outgoing Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) / Incoming Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) National Security Adviser Susan Rice
Smack-down For The Speaker
Perhaps “Congratulations” is too strong a word to be used for the ten “honorees” and for their runner-up dishonorable mentions. It seems that a more derisive word might be more appropriate. Smack down is one of those options.
Remind me again why Americans keep voting for these people term after term.
Do you think it might be time they were all booted out?
