About 8 years ago,
U.S. Representative James Traficant (D-Ohio) was sentenced to 8 years in jail for kickbacks, fraud, bribery, and racketeering. He was tightly connected with the Youngstown Ohio Mafia. At the time, he was only the second Congressman since the Civil War to be expelled by his peers from the institution in a vote of 420:1. The fascinating story of the Youngstown Mafia - and Traficant's rise and fall - is told by
David Grann (of
Lost City of Z and
The New Yorker) in a 2000 article called
"Crimetown, U.S.A.". Traficant was released from prison on September 2, 2009 to a hometown hero
welcome. On February 23, 2010, Traficant
announced he will running for Congress as an Independent.
posted by stbalbach
on Feb 23, 2010 -
44 comments
Wealth Spawns Corruption.
Socialist economies could be more at risk from corruption than
Liberal ones. Ironically, wealth condensation poses the greatest danger to economies that impose constraints on the accumulation of great wealth - broadly speaking,
Socialist economies.
Liberal economies that maintain free and unrestricted trade are less susceptible.
posted by stbalbach
on Jan 28, 2002 -
8 comments
