Expository Essay on Political Corruption Debate in Congress

Introduction

The chosen current event for this discussion is political corruption that is ongoing in the U.S. Congress. A brief summary of the political issue is provided to provide a clear understanding of the current event, then, a critical analysis will follow to react and respond to the issues emerging from the current event.

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Summary

Political corruption is a current issue in the American Congress. According to Nilsen (1), the House Democrats in the American Congress are currently unveiling their first bill in the majority to address the issue of political corruption in the American government. They presented the "sweeping anti-corruption proposal" to support finance reform for politicians seeking electoral positions. The new bill is useful in stamping out the effect of money politics and expanding the voting rights within U.S. politics.

In their study, Peoples and Sutton (1) denote that political corruption has increased state crime. The government has a role in preventing political corruption as a way of maintaining law and order in society as well as protecting the American people. Political corruption increases state crime through politicians who are elected unlawfully. Some of the current politicians in the American government have criminal records while others are under investigation for political corruption. Also, political corruption has caused the nations' economic damage, physical injury, death and sometimes incidences of massive scale in pollution, genocide, economic recession, and pollution.

Political corruption is also being experienced through previously convicted politicians being allowed to hold government or political office. Currently, the U.S. Constitution does not prevent convicted offenders from holding a political office including that of the president, Senate or the House of Representatives. In a Power Post written by Scherer (1), the Republican Candidates are no longer disqualified to run for a political or government office based on crimes. Further, Republican politicians are also hiring undocumented workers to hide from tax authorities as well as making false statements of the oath. Criminal convictions that were earlier considered to end the political career for Americans are no longer a disqualifying consideration. Blumenthal (1) argues that there are already four convicted Republican criminals running for Congress in 2018 and they seem to brag about it. The constantly changing world of politics is revealing a new reality in Republican politics whereby criminal convictions that were seen as an aspect to end the political career of a person is no longer a disqualification.

In a commentary written by Almond (1), political corruption in the American government is happening with criminals masquerading as politicians. Felons in the current administration are causing all forms of corruption including moral, civil and financial. Dodging of accountability the exploitation of the nation's lenient approach to white-collar crime is causing more politicians to assume their responsibility to the public. The abuse of public trust is no longer considered as an issue by politicians in the current government.

Analysis

The issue of political corruption currently being debated in the U.S. Congress is an event that relates to the American government and/or politics. Based on the understanding of political corruption in this discussion, it seems that the approach to politics in the American government is going backward instead of working towards gaining public trust. Even the current efforts to address political corruption as claimed by Nilsen (1) may fail with the current government's move to support corruption in politics and allowing more criminals to hold government office.

When reviewing the information in the articles, it is evident that a politician who was formerly convicted of a crime is allowed to run for a government office. However, my personal perspective is that it is not morally right to allow such a felon to hold a government office. It seems that the constitution has not been able to address the issue of political corruption through a clear set-out law that prevents the acceptance of money politics and criminal politicians within the American government.

Another interpretation of political corruption as debated in the government and Congress is a way of fighting liberal corruption that the current government associates with the previous one. It only remains with the decision of individual states to fight against political corruption. The government should realize that allowing criminal politicians in office opens more corrupt activities to occur. A general rule that may apply is that the lawmakers in the American government should not be the lawbreakers. However, with the present political norm, America will continue to face political corruption if effective action is not taken towards the acceptance of money politics and criminal politicians.

Conclusion

In conclusion, political corruption is a current issue in the American government. The Congress seems to have done little in addressing the issue of political corruption. The present efforts to stop political corruption are also compromised as many of the Republican politicians engage with the rule-breaking identity in their campaigns. There is the need for taking a different path if the current government wants to achieve positive results in the current political corruption debate in the Congress.

Works Cited

Almond, Steve. "Criminals Masquerading As Politicians" Commentary. Wbur, www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/08/22/paul-manafort-and-michael-cohen-guilty-steve-almond

Blumenthal, Paul. "Republicans Have 4 Convicted Criminals Running For Congress In 2018" Huff Post, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/joe-arpaio-2018-election_us_5a563b5ae4b03417e8743168 Accessed [December 26, 2018]

Nilsen, Ella. "House Democrats unveil their first bill in the majority: a sweeping anti-corruption proposal" Vox, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/30/18118158/house-democrats-anti-corruption-bill-hr-1-pelosi Accessed [December 26, 2018]

Peoples, Clayton, and Sutton James. "Political Corruption and State Crime. White Collar Crime." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology, 2017. Pp.1-20.

Scherer, Michael. "Crimes are no longer a disqualification for Republican candidates" The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/crimes-are-no-longer-a-disqualification-for-republican-candidates/2018/04/30/c64a40ac-4807-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?utm_term=.d0c21e56cc35 Accessed [December 26, 2018]