POLITICAL RACKETEERING IS PUNISHABLE

I am not a sports fan of any kind but a recent “sports” story written by Brian Homewood for Reuters Middle East (Jan. 16, 2013) put forward information that caught my attention. “Match fixing became a huge concern for soccer’s authorities. . .”  Huge sums of money are made by criminals according to Ralf Mustchke, as head of security of the International Federations of Football. Not only players but also referees could “boost their careers by taking part in the manipulation. Would it surprise you to learn that the fixers had good contacts “in the soccer federation, which is the governing body?”

As naive as it sounds, my question is, “Would you think this is a criminal activity that should be punished and would you class it as racketeering?” Before you read further, commit yourself to a yes or no answer. Overwhelmingly, the expected answer would yes.

Now, turn you attention to how our Congress works. To paraphrase Mustchke, huge sums of money are to be made by politicians by fixing the “game.” Further, would it surprise you to learn the fixers have good contacts (lobbyists) in the governing body? Now repeat your answer to my question, should all politicians or “fixers” or lobbyists be punished. Now the answer should be overwhelmingly no; however, that does not mean that the crooked ones should not be punished to the full extent of the law—but what law? As an aside, everyone knows the wrist slapping of the congressional ethics committees is a farce—a failed system.

In the past, I have posted several items on firetreepub.blogspot.com pointing out the one area of political manipulation where the answer should be a resounding; that area is the political operative protection racket, overwhelmingly Republican. The RICO statues, laws made by the congress to regulate others and not themselves apply is the way to go. 

A number of organizations use exactly the same strategy to corrupt our democracy. It is called “threatening to primary” a politician. The threat is no different from a street gang threatening to trash a small storeowner’s business unless he or she pays protection money. The identity of the racketeers is an open secret: the NRA, Americans for Progress, and Grover Norquist’s tax pledge to name but a few of the “gangs”. The threat is to trash the politician’s job. Like the old reward and punishment system of B. F. Skinner, applies. The only protection money they are asked to pay is their vote while the reward is big campaign donations, big jobs, congressional committee leadership positions if the political party is in on the racket, which they are. Only after the vote is cast does it stopped being direct and becomes rewarding, for example, when the government pays huge subsidies to already profitable oil companies is how they win the game.