Rep. Virgil Goode has given away all $90,000 that he got from MZM. Giving it back might have been better, but whatever.
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Open source, procurement, and gov tech.
Rep. Virgil Goode has given away all $90,000 that he got from MZM. Giving it back might have been better, but whatever.
Comments are closed.
Wait, you complained about corruption between MZM and the government, and you would prefer that MZM gets it back? Doesn’t charity make more sense?
If the money is tainted — as it clearly is, or else he wouldn’t be getting rid of it — then it’s not cleaned up by passing it on to yet somebody else. The idea is to eliminate all benefit to the recipient, to demonstrate that there was no quid pro quo. In giving the money away, Goode has reaped the PR benefits, making the money well-spent for him. Instead, it should be returned. It’s my understanding that’s what most recipients of MZM’s money did.
When bribed, the bribe is not eliminated by giving the bribe to a third party. It’s eliminated by returning it to the briber.
Hmm.. Rep. VG should reward MZM by giving it back? Doesn’t make sense to me. There shouldn’t be a refund. If MZM is being corrupt they don’t deserve a bit of their money back.
Much better that the taint be removed by giving it to charity. The only reason the money is “tainted” is because MZM might stand to gain Good’s legislative (and otherwise) influence. MZM obviously has no interest in gaining the influence of some charity. So thus, the taint is no more.
They’re not being rewarded. All is being returned to its previous state. They are merely whole again.
Here are two scenarios. You can decide for yourself which is more plausible, and which is more likely to benefit Rep. Goode.
1. A company gives a large amount of money to a congressmen, which the congressmen can spread about in his district in order to curry favor with voters.
2. A company gives a large amount of money to a congressmen, so that he can give it back to them again.
I see Waldo’s point. Even if we all get to feel good that the money was put to good use, Goode has gained politically with the various organizations and localities to whom he made the donations.
My only other question then would be how (and when) is this company going to be penalized for bribing congressmen? If both parties participated in an unethical (or illegal) act shouldn’t they both be punished? And shouldn’t the company be punished more since they perpetrated the act on a much wider scale?