Thirty-three Republican senators were accused of being unethical in a report titled "Republican Abuse of Power" that was released from the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.
According to CNN, "the 27-page report Democrats criticized Republican lawmakers about their ties to disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, questionable campaign contributions and other issues."
Ambramoff was recently charged with trying to bribe members of Congress. This is a scandal that has already implicated some former aides of Republican Representative Tom DeLay of Texas. Sen. DeLay stepped down last year as majority leader because of corruption charges.
In the Democratic weekly radio address Reid also said, "There is a price to pay for this Republican abuse of power, and it can be seen in the present state of our union. Special interests and the well-connected have been rewarded by Republicans, while everyone else has been left behind," said Reid.
Senior political science major Meagan Johnson agreed with Senator Reid's comments. "The Republican Party has traditionally been business-oriented," Johnson said. "In my opinion, it seems as if they put money before the people and this has corrupted their methods and morals. For example, with the wire taping issue, the Republicans are trying to justify President Bush's actions instead of protecting the Americans," Johnson said.
According to Reuters, "Reid also accused Republicans of using "double-speak" to sell their agenda." Reid is quoted in the report saying, "When they wanted to let energy companies release more pollution into the air, they called it the Clear Skies Initiative. When they wanted to let loggers, cut down more trees and weaken environmental laws, they called it the 'Healthy Forests Initiative."
The Congressional elections are scheduled to begin in November and several reports have stated that the Democrats are trying to link these scandals to the Republican Party in hopes of gaining an upper hand.
Political science assistant professor John Davis, Ph.D however believes that no one is above corruption. "Whenever there is a scandal involving a [political] party the Democrats always take the high road. If you recall during the Clinton administration two Democratic members were caught in a similar scandal and we may even see Democratic leaders caught up in this scandal as well," said Davis.
Senator Reid, whose comments had caused quite a stir in the political world, recently apologized in a letter saying, "The document released by my office yesterday went too far and I want to convey to you my personal regrets," Reid said. "I am writing to apologize for the tone of this document and the decision to single out individual senators for criticism in it."
