A Republican congressman from Louisiana has admitted that he voted in a particular way so that he would get a political contribution in return.
McAllister said he voted “no” on legislation related to the Bureau of Land Management though he did not identify the bill. McAllister said a colleague on the House floor told him that he would receive a $1,200 contribution from Heritage Foundation if he voted against the bill. He would not name his colleague since he “did not want to put their business out on the street.”
“I played dumb and asked him, ‘How would you vote?'” McAllister said. “He told me, ‘Vote no and you will get a $1,200 check from the Heritage Foundation. If you vote yes, you will get a $1,000 check from some environmental impact group.'”
…McAllister said he voted against the bill but did not receive a $1,200 contribution from Heritage Foundation. Federal law prohibits public officials, including members of Congress, from directly or indirectly seeking, accepting or agreeing to receive anything of value in return for the performance of any official act such as voting.
“I voted no, and I didn’t get a Heritage Foundation check but he did,” McAllister said. “I went back and checked with my friend, ‘I didn’t get a check, man. What were you talking about?’ He told me, ‘Well, I got one. Why didn’t you?’
What surprises me is not that politicians can be bought but that they are so cheap. $1,200 to sway a vote in the US Congress? Hell, at that price, even I could afford to buy a politician if the issue was important enough and I did not worry about committing a crime.
This illustrates how the system works. There does not need to be a direct offer of a bribe. You just let word get around that some votes will be rewarded indirectly and then sit back and wait.
Refreshing honesty from a politician
Huh. I thought he was going to be quoted as saying that he hates people and likes them to be miserable.
So it was $1,200 to vote no, and $1,000 to vote yes? That’s only the difference of $200 to change his mind.
And he didn’t even have the sense to get a guarantee or anything. Maybe his friend was just lying to him, and got both bribes.
Menyambal beat me to the punch. I, too, was going to point out that, in a sense, it’s really just $200 as that was the difference between the bribes coming from competing sides.
Federal law prohibits public officials, including members of Congress, from directly or indirectly seeking, accepting or agreeing to receive anything of value in return for the performance of any official act such as voting.
Ah.
AaaahhhAHAHhahahahaHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAAHHHAHAAHHAAHAHHAHHAAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!
McAllister has already played the “they took me out of context” card.
The only context I’ve seen that looks relevant is that Heritage Foundation per se does not
bribefund politicians, but has a brand-new Political Action Committee to handle such chores.It is obligatory to mention that this is apparently his last term in Congress after video of him kissing a woman on his staff who was not his wife leaked out in April.
$1,200 to sway a vote in the US Congress?
As Robert Morris Sr commented a long time ago: “the lesson we should have learned from ABSCAM is not that congressmen are for sale, but that you or I can afford one.”
This is literally a scene right out of “The Distinguished Gentleman” with Eddie Murphy.
“He told me, ‘Vote no and you will get a $1,200 check from the Heritage Foundation. If you vote yes, you will get a $1,000 check from some environmental impact group.’”
So each time they vote they are guaranteed to get at least $1000 as a bonus.