World Corruption: The United States Falls near the Middle

It's safe to say that corruption in the single-party cultural gulag created by Big Brother Bush and his thought police carried many of us to the polls this year, but how does the United States rank in perceived corruption around the world?

Transparency International published the 2006 Corruption Perception Index. On the map to the right, darker is more corrupt. The U.S. falls at 20 with Chile and Belgium, far below Finland (1) and Singapore (5) with Iraq (160) falling nearly dead last, an indictment of U.S. involvement with that country. According to Transparency International, poverty and corruption go hand in hand. The organization looks to the Americas here:

While there are no winners in the Americas, the index shows substantially higher scores for countries with relatively strong democratic institutions, such as Canada and the United States, but also notably for Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay. But as recent scandals show, they too must continue to strengthen their institutions. There is, for example, a strong sense in the United States that corruption is on the rise in Congress, with special interests able to buy access and Congress doing little to police itself.

Money, The 109th Congress and Nepotism

The Sunlight Foundation, using technology to enable citizens to ensure greater accountability and transparency in government, has been following the money trails in the 109th and published their second installment in the "Is Congress a Family Business?" report. Citizen journalists working with the Foundation have found that over $635,000 have been spent from campaign moneys on businesses and consulting fees for the spouses and family members of around 19 members of the House. This practice is not necessarily illegal as the federal nepotism statute keeps members of Congress from hiring family to work in their Washington offices, but doesn't address the issue of family working on campaigns as long as they render bona fide services to the campaign at fair market value.

The Lazy, Good-for-Nothing 109th Congress

The 109th Congress is also poised to be the least productive Congress since the late 1940s, according to this report (pdf) from the Sunlight Foundation. Don't we all wish we could go to work for only about 129 days this upcoming year, like the Senate? And the score in the House:

This year the House of Representatives scheduled a mere 88 days in session. At least 23 of those days have votes occurring after 5:30 or 6:30 pm with one voting day ending at 2 pm for Rosh Hashanah. Twelve of these 23 postponed voting days occur on a Monday or a Tuesday following a Monday off. This allows members to come in late on Mondays or Tuesdays just in time to cast a vote. There are also 37 days with no votes on the calendar. Congress has so far failed to meet for 23 of those 37 “no vote” days with four “no vote” days remaining. Of the ten “no vote” days that the House has met, nine of them lasted for no more than 11 minutes. Fewer than one-out-of-three “no vote” days become a day in session.

The New Congress: Can Democrats Address These Issues?

What do you think? Post your comments below. Will Democrats really make a difference? How will the transition from campaigning to governing go? They have their work cut out for them. Will their watchword be transparency? How many secret meetings will they have? I've been hearing a lot lately about three issues:

1. The Democrats squeaked into office and their reign is only temporary, at best.
2. They are more centrist, less progressive these days.
3. There are many who are new to the business

Don't take your eyes off them. For those of us who voted them into office, we can't sit back on our laurels and hope for the best. Let's make sure they do their job, shall we?