Is There A Democrat In Congress More Corrupt Than Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

This morning I got my daily "give me your money" e-mail from one of America's most corrupt politicians, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). The subject line was "Petition: Clean Up Campaign Finance" and instead of deleting it unopened like I do with 90% of her spam, I opened it to examine the latest hypocrisy from the sleazy New Dem trying to accumulate as much money as she can in a push to bribe fellow Democratic House members to make her party leader when Pelosi retires or when Pelosi and Hoyer retire. "Dear Friend," she began with every bit of the ugly insincerity that defines her being.

Outside right-wing groups are on track to spend more than $2 billion on this year’s elections. And we can all thank Citizens United for that deluge of spending.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United has fundamentally changed the way our elections work. Anonymous donors like the Koch brothers can now hide behind front groups and pull the strings in a way that corrupts and debases our democracy.

…The whole point of elections is to make the voice of the people heard. The whole point of campaign finance laws is to restrict the corrosive influence of money on politics."

Two of the industries helping to finance Wasserman Schultz's rise to power inside the House caucus are private prisons-- on whose behalf she opposes legalizing medical marijuana-- and, much more so, Big Sugar.

It was her ties to Big Sugar, in fact, that first made DWT aware of the depth of corruption that defines what a revolting character Wasserman Schultz is. Back when Wasserman Schultz was the head of the DCCC's Red to Blue program in 2008, she endorsed 3 corrupt Republican amigos-- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart-- over three Democrats. Chris Van Hollen fired her a Red to Blue chair, but not before her toxicity had taken root. That year Wasserman Schultz helped beat Joe Garcia, who eventually made it to Congress anyway and helped beat Annette Taddeo, who is running for Lt. Governor today. Neither likes talking about Wasserman Schultz's corruption but both have told intimates she's lower than a snake. In Florida Democratic politics if you don't make an effort to get along with her, you can find yourself face down in a swamp, metaphorically speaking. That was when other Members of Congress first started telling me that Wasserman Schultz was a funnel for far right Cuban money to Democratic members of the House and for sugar cane money (which is behind anything that will keep the U.S. from normal relations with Cuba). One Member pointed me to an August 15, 2007 article in The Hill:

When Democrats gained control of Congress, hopes were high that Cuba travel and trade restrictions would be eased by a party historically opposed to a so-called hard line on Cuba.

So far, however, the Democratic-led House has been tougher on Cuba than when Republicans controlled the lower chamber.

Sixty-six House Democrats-- including 20 members of the freshman class-- recently voted against a farm bill amendment offered by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) that would have made it easier for U.S. farmers to sell agricultural goods to Cuba.

...Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) was instrumental in winning Democratic votes against the Rangel amendment. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) told the Miami Herald that Wasserman Schultz was “a tiger” on the Rangel vote, while Antonio Zamora of the U.S.-Cuba Legal Forum described her as a key party in building Democratic opposition.

“I was about as active as you could be,” said Wasserman Schultz, a second-termer who serves as a deputy chief whip for Democrats. At the same time, she said other members such as Reps. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) also worked hard to whip opposition.

...Wasserman Schultz’s position on Cuba puts her at odds with some Democratic leaders, but she said she has no worries that this might affect her if she seeks a higher leadership position in the future.

Wasserman Schultz directed payments from a Big Sugar-funded right-wing front group, the US-Cuba Democracy PAC to hand over $320,000 to Democrats of her choice that cycle. Fifty-two of the 66 Democrats who voted against Rangel’s amendment received one or more contributions from the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC that year. Wasserman Schultz's own leadership PAC gave nearly a quarter million dollars to Democrats running for re-election and election in the House that year. Between the US-Cuba Democracy PAC and her own sleazy Democrats Win Seats PAC this is how much loot Wasserman Schultz was able to direct to Democratic freshmen willing to sell her their votes, even from congressmen representing agricultural districts where this amendment would have had widespread support. The first amount comes from the US-Cuba Democracy PAC and the second came directly from the shady Wasserman Schultz PAC. You'll notice that the majority of these corrupt conservative Wasserman Schultz allies have since then been defeated for reelection by their constituents:

• Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA) $8,000 + $5,000
• Mike Arcuri (Blue Dog-NY) $4,000 + $2,000
• Bruce Braley (D-IA) $5,000
• Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA) $7,000 + $7,500
• Kathy Castor (D-FL) $2,000
• Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN) $3,000 + $5,000
• Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN) $3,000 + $3,000
• Gabby Giffords (Blue Dog-AZ) $5,000 + $5,000
• Kirsten Gillibrand (Blue Dog-NY) $8,000 + $4,000
• Phil Hare (D-IL) $9,000 + $1,000
• Ron Klein (D-FL) $10,000 + $4,000
• Tim Mahoney (Blue Dog-FL) $10,000 + $7,500
• Harry Mitchell (Blue Dog-AZ) 0 + $4,000
• Patrick Murphy (Blue Dog-PA) $6,000 + $4,000
• Joe Sestak (D-PA) $1,000 + $2,000
• Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC) $7,000 + $5,000
• Albio Sires (D-NJ) $10,000
• Zach Space (Blue Dog-OH) $7,000 +$4,000

Today Wasserman Schultz is fighting against Florida Democrats who want to legalize medical marijuana. She's against that but will have your legs cut off if you do anything that is perceived by her crooked financiers, the sugar baron Fanjul brothers, as undercutting a much bigger health risk to Americans: sugar.

Florida Democratic Party heavy-weight, John Morgan, pointed out to the Miami Herald that among "most-powerful players in Washington, D.C… Debbie Wasserman Schultz isn’t just disliked, she’s despised. She’s an irritant." Her status as "an irritant" is still something most Florida politicians only whisper about, but the whispering is becoming louder and louder and more persistent. "Yeah," one Member told me, "everyone thinks she's a total phony you have to watch your back around... everyone is afraid of her. Pelosi hates her too but she's like a force of nature… She's grasping in a way that very few other Members are and she's pretty single-minded when it comes to blind ambition. She does buy a lot of 'friends' though."