Article: Scandal may reach your state; CA-Six former members of the pension board have been charged with corruption.

Indianapolis Star-Telegram

December 10, 2005

Ruben Navarrette

Scandal may reach your state

December 10, 2005

SAN DIEGO -- In most U.S cities, public officials are commonly referred to as "the honorable" this or that. But here in San Diego, they're often referred to simply as "the defendant in the above named action."

The U.S. attorney's office, the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission have separate and ongoing investigations into the city's pension scandal, which resulted in a nearly $2 billion shortfall in the municipal employees' pension fund. Six former members of the pension board have been charged with corruption. A mayor resigned this year after Time magazine named him as one of the three worst mayors in the country.

And now there's former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who through his misdeeds has earned his own wing in the Corrupt Politicians Hall of Fame. How much does it cost to buy a congressman? Thanks to some good, solid digging by the San Diego Union-Tribune, and later by the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, we now know the figure to be about $2.4 million.

That's how much Cunningham has admitted taking in bribes from two defense contractors. In exchange, he helped channel to them tens of millions of dollars in government contracts from his perch on the House Appropriations subcommittee which oversees defense spending.

Cunningham also admitted to evading more than $1 million in taxes on the ill-gotten goods.

For his sins, the 63-year-old Republican is looking at a possible 10 years in prison.

It was all spelled out in a guilty plea worked out with federal prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, who called Cunningham's transgression "a crime of unprecedented magnitude and extraordinary audacity."

It was all that, and more. To get a sense of the enormity of this scandal, consider this. The folks who keep the historical record for Congress say that, since the formation of the republic, nearly 10,000 individuals have served and fewer than a dozen have been convicted of taking bribes. And not one of them made off with anything close to what Cunningham pocketed.

It's tempting to look at a scandal like this as being about a flawed individual. But it's also about a flawed system. Those flaws go beyond the obvious, such as the corruptive influence of the rivers of money that flow through Washington, or the startling fact that one member of Congress, sitting on the right committee with the right amount of influence with the right government agency, can steer millions of dollars of taxpayer money into the coffers of private firms -- firms that might reciprocate by showering a politician with favors such as expensive meals and gifts, resort vacations, unlimited use of a corporate jet or yacht, and the like.

There are also the special interests that operate beneath the radar. There is no excusing Cunningham, but Americans should be just as outraged over those members of Congress who are willing to take up whatever cause is dictated to them by those who contribute to their campaigns: teachers unions who give money to Democrats to fend off vouchers; the medical and pharmaceutical lobbies that give to Republicans to push tort reform or fight off attempts to provide low-cost prescription drugs.

The old saying goes that pigs get fat while hogs get slaughtered. Cunningham was a hog. But there are, you can be sure, plenty of pigs still out there.

The friends of Duke Cunningham have other worries. Legal experts have speculated that one reason the plea agreement seemed to come together so quickly is because Cunningham has started naming names.

Don't be surprised if this scandal, or one like it, comes to a congressional district near you.