2 ms·

You can still eat soup without teeth. Just because someone has been caught doesn't mean the law isn't significantly weaker than it should be. Menendez is a go

You can still eat soup without teeth. Just because someone has been caught doesn't mean the law isn't significantly weaker than it should be. Menendez is a good example for this. This isn't the first time he's been brought up on bribery charges, it's the second. The first was dropped because of the McDonnell ruling. Really, you pretty much have to be the dumbest most corrupt politician imaginable before you are caught in this law's net. McDonnell shows what bribery can look like and it's pretty egregious. McDonnell was hosting and publicly promoting products from Star Scientific while receiving lavish gifts from them. Rolexs, loan, vacations, etc. Do you think if something that would harm Star Scientific came across McDonnell's desk he wouldn't act in their favor? Yet because he doesn't specifically say "I'm doing this for you guys" it's legal. That's why the law is toothless. So long as a politician isn't an absolute moron like Menendez, they are free to accept "gifts" from anyone for anything. They just can't then turn around and write down "Oh, ok, I'll make sure to pass bill 123 for you"... like Menendez did.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> you pretty much have to be the dumbest most corrupt politician imaginable before you are caught in this law's net I agree. But toothless means toothless. The snare still catches. The law needs to be tighter. But to do that we should be able to agree that the current law is weak. Not toothless. If it’s toothless, there is no point clamping down.
- cogman10 2y ago
  Fair enough. I think at any rate we can agree there should be more done to stop bribery/corruption. Were it my choice, any gift or donation to a politician or judge would land both the giver and receiver in jail. I'd count these gifts/jobs given after the official retires the same. To that end, a generous pension wouldn't be out of line imo.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> you pretty much have to be the dumbest most corrupt politician imaginable before you are caught in this law's net I agree. But toothless means toothless. The snare still catches. The law needs to be tighter. But to do that we should be able to agree that the current law is weak. Not toothless. If it’s toothless, there is no point clamping down.

cogman10 2y ago
Fair enough. I think at any rate we can agree there should be more done to stop bribery/corruption. Were it my choice, any gift or donation to a politician or judge would land both the giver and receiver in jail. I'd count these gifts/jobs given after the official retires the same. To that end, a generous pension wouldn't be out of line imo.