The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines corruption as: 1) impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle, 2) inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery), 3) decay or decomposition, or 4) a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct. As Merriam-Webster’s coverage of this word shows, there are a number of subtle layers to our understanding of what makes somebody, or some thing, corrupt.
How, then, should we interpret Senator Mike Enzi’s activities this week? During a time when Senator Enzi is supposed to be communicating with voters back in Wyoming, the state that he represents, he is instead attending a four-day meeting with lobbyists at a luxury resort in Key West, Florida, where he will accept money on behalf of his avowedly pro-corporate political action committee, and in exchange provide the lobbyists who pay with special access to him.
On the one hand, we can see that Senator Enzi has established a network of corporate agents who are willing to provide him with money in exchange for the opportunity to influence Enzi’s legislative work as a federal government official.
On the other hand, we can see that what Senator Enzi is doing appears not to violate any laws.
What’s a fair way, then, to describe Senator Mike Enzi and his Caribbean vacation? Should we refer to them as an example of political corruption, or is that too strong? Should we just call the money-for-influence exchange “ethically questionable”? Should we merely note the facts and not offer any judgment? Should we ignore the whole thing as just one example of business-as-usual?
Ready for Hillary founder Allida Black says that she intends to disclose all the sources of the Super PAC’s funds, but such promises of transparency typically aren’t matched by what political organizations actually do – as voters duped by Americans Elect and Unity08 can painfully remember. Even if Ready for Hillary does disclose the sources of its money, it has not sought to distance itself from the other significantly corrupting aspect of Super PAC operations – the ability to collect unlimited amounts of money from wealthy individuals and organizations.
Among them was 
Congressman Dingell now uses a cane to support himself when he stands to make a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. How is he going to hold himself steady enough to shoot birds out in a field early in the morning?
Under current law, churches and other non-profit organizations are free to engage in partisan politicking to help candidates gain political office… just so long as they don’t simultaneously claim exemption from paying federal income taxes. If they want the financial support of the American people in the form of tax exemption, churches, and all other non-profit organizations have to refrain from supporting political candidates.
The 
