Everybody Has Their Price

When I first thought about writing this I was going to title it "The Louisiana Purchase" because I felt the central figure Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) sold her vote. I have followed the news reports carefully and here are the facts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid knew he needed 60 votes to put the Senate Health Reform bill on the floor for discussion. Senator Landrieu along with Senator Lincoln of Arkansas were the last holdouts. Senator Reid initially placed an addendum to the bill with carefully worded language that allotted $100 million dollars to Louisiana only, for restoration purposes. Sen Landrieu held out for her own reasons until Senator Reid countered back with a higher bid of $300 million dollars. This time, Senator Landrieu could not resist and accordingly announced support. With her vote, it was a done deal for Senator Lincoln to say yes rather than stand alone against her colleagues.

I said that I changed the title because it is important to establish there have been others who would sell their vote or their honor for the right price. In this case there was no law broken and it becomes a moral issue. We can recall not long ago when Congressman Jefferson of Louisiana was caught with $90,000 in his refrigerator. He has just been sentenced to 13 years prison for a felony bribe. A few years ago the country was shocked with "Abscam". The end result was the conviction of a United States Senator, five members of the House of Representative and a State Senator for bribery. One member of the Senate who still serves, Senator John Murtha (D-PA) was not prosecuted because of his "cooperation with the FBI in the investigation". Let me make it very clear. This is not Democratic or Republican. This is political and moral corruption.

Lord Acton is credited with a very famous saying which in this case could never be more applicable. He stated that "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely". I could not agree more but I also believe that our country has lost its moral compass. You only need to read the newspapers and listen to the news to recognize we have become a very sick society. Our country was certainly founded on solid ground by our forefathers. But, it seems to me that our very sacred liberties have also allowed some to exercise their own version in total disrespect of their neighbors, their fellow citizens and the country we love so much. Even more so, if the very people who we elect to represent us cannot

be trusted to honor the Constitution and the citizens who placed them in office than it is time to remove them by voting them out at the ballot box.