Corruption Fever in Washington | WBUR and NPR

TODAY IS MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 at 10:00 AM EST

Corruption Fever in Washington

by Tom Ashbrook

There was more bad news for the GOP and the country on the corruption front yesterday. Republican Congressman Randy Cunningham of California pled guilty to charges of taking $2.4 million dollars in bribes to help rig defense contracts — cash, antiques, vacations, a yacht, his daughter’s graduation party — all on the take.

But Cunningham is just a sideshow in Washington’s corruption woes these days. The big-time scandal revolves around lobbyist Jack Abramoff and charges that under George W. Bush and the Republican majority lobbying has crossed a line into straight up bribery for votes.

Defenders say this is the criminalization of politics. But it sure looks bad.

Hear about the corruption fever in Republican Washington.

Guests:

James Grimaldi, Investigative Reporter for the Washington Post

Karen Tumulty, National Political Correspondent for Time Magazine

Bill Allison, Editor-at-large, Center for Public Integrity

Mort Zuckerman, Chairman & Editor-in-chief of U.S.News & World Report

Retired Senator Alan Simpson, Honorary Chair of Americans for Campaign Reform (a non-partisan grassroots organization committed to federal funding of election campaigns).

Comments are closed.

Hour 2

Chemicals in Our Bodies
Monday, July 6, 2009

Scientists report that widely used chemicals — endocrine disruptors — are causing serious health problems in humans. We ask what the government is, and is not, doing about it.

Comments [33]

Hour 1

Sarah Palin’s Surprise
Monday, July 6, 2009

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s out-of-the-blue resignation. We ask what it means for her future — and for the GOP.

Comments [58]

Crooked Still
Friday, July 3, 2009

Tunes from old Appalachia with a new bluegrass twist. The hit folk band “Crooked Still” plays for us in our studio.

Comments [6]

Week in the News
Friday, July 3, 2009

A U.S. offensive in Afghanistan. Al Franken heads to the Senate. Mark Sanford keeps talking. And unemployment keeps rising. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Comments [25]

India, China and the Climate

The passage of the House climate bill – discussed in our first hour today – has been greeted with enthusiasm in many quarters. But in some ways, the real question is whether a global framework can be established in Copenhagen in December, when countries will negotiate a new international treaty to curb greenhouse gases. After all, America emits only [...]

More » | Comments [1]

Michael, Ed, and Farrah

The week-in-the-news roundtable always involves tough choices on sound clips – what to include, what to leave out. Amid all the pressing hard news, we often give a nod to a notable person who’s passed away. But this week brought, well, a ridiculous range of choices. So we gave a nod to them all in the roundtable today. And [...]

More » | Comments [2]

Planet Money, On Point — Your Questions!

On Wednesday night, June 24, On Point will tape a show before an audience in Boston with two stars of NPR’s “Planet Money,” Adam Davidson and David Kestenbaum. We need your online questions to put to them — about anything from the roots of the economic crisis to NPR’s coverage.
What’s your question about the [...]

More » | Comments [18]