Why We Must Oppose Political Corruption

(originally published at springforhouse.org)

Friends and neighbors,

As you may know, I am a Democratic candidate for the State House of Representatives here in East King County. I am a lifelong Democrat. My parents were FDR progressive Democrats and my grandparents were FDR progressive Democrats. It is very difficult for me to admit this, but there is something wrong with the current leadership of the Democratic Party.

Think about many of our current problems. We as a nation are spending a trillion dollars a year on endless wars all over the world – instead of investing in the future of our children here in America. We have record unemployment brought about by unfair NAFTA and WTO agreements shipping jobs offshore to sweat shops in China. We have the repeal of Glass Steagall banking regulations leading to the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression – and requiring trillions of dollars in bank bailouts to Wall Street banks – all while millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes and their life savings. Here in Washington State, we have seen school funding plunge from 11^th in the nation to 47^th in the nation – while tax breaks for wealthy multinational corporations have tripled from $15 billion to $45 billion per year. Our legislature is sacrificing the future of one million school children just so Bill Gates can buy a bigger boat.

We as Democrats tend to blame the Republican Party for all of our economic and social problems. But the sad truth is that nearly all of the above problems have occurred or gotten worse under supposedly Democratic administrations in Washington DC and in Washington State. We have a wonderfully progressive Democratic Platform – which is ignored by the current leaders of the Democratic Party. At some point, we as Democrats have to admit that there is corruption in the leadership of the Democratic Party. It is time for loyal Democrats to stand up and expose this problem and oppose this corruption.

As just the latest example of political corruption in the Democratic Party, there is abundant evidence that Governor Chris Gregoire gave Republican Senator Cheryl Pflug a one million dollar bribe to help the Democratic Party steal her Senate seat here in East King County. On May 21, 2012, the same day Cheryl Pflug resigned from her Senate seat and endorsed Democrat Mark Mullet, she was appointed to a position on the Growth Management Board by Gov. Gregoire. This position pays nearly $100,000 per year for the next 6 years ($600,000) plus raises Cheryl’s retirement benefits by as much as $400,000. Gov. Gregoire illegally held this position open for an entire year in order to use it to bribe Senator Pflug. To prevent a better known Republican from running for this Senate Seat, such as Jay Rodne or Dino Rossi, Sen. Pflug dishonestly filed on Friday May 18^th (having raised no money for her re-election). She then dropped out of the race on Monday May 21^st and immediately endorsed Democrat Mark Mullet. The same day she was rewarded for this betrayal of the voters by being appointed by Chris Gregoire to the Growth Management Board. Bribing an elected official is specifically prohibited by Article 2, Section 30 of our State Constitution. This is a crime and must not be tolerated. Instead of accepting Sen. Pflug’s endorsement, Mark Mullet should have condemned her and Gov. Gregoire for this blatant violation of our State Constitution. Instead, Mark looked the other way and in the process became a willing accomplice to this violation of our State Constitution.

Mark Mullet has also sent out thousands of mailers falsely claiming that his Republican opponent Brad Toft was engaged in a smear campaign against him. But the truth is the exact opposite. Brad Toft has never made any false claim against Mark Mullet. Instead, Brad has focused on the issues. But Mark Mullet has made many malicious attacks against Brad. For example, Mark took a minor civil dispute from nearly 15 years ago and used “push polling,” a deceptive robo-calling technique which is illegal in our State, to mislead voters into thinking that Brad was a criminal.  The truth is that Brad is a family man with a loving wife and three children. He is a local small business owner who has devoted countless hours of volunteer time helping our community. Brad does not deserve to be so viciously attacked.

The question we as Democrats must ask ourselves is whether it is right to support a candidate who is knee deep in political corruption? I say that ignoring this blatant corruption will not only lead to the end of the Democratic Party, but will eventually lead to end of our Democracy. Political corruption is the problem underlying all of our other problems. I would like to see a Democrat win a Senate Seat here in East King County.  But Democrats should win on the issues – not by violating our State Constitution. If you believe as I do that honesty and democracy are more important than simply electing a Democrat, and that we must oppose political corruption in both parties, then I urge you to join me in voting for Republican Brad Toft for the State Senate.

If, like many Democrats, you are morally opposed to voting for any Republican under any circumstances, then I urge you to simply not vote in the State Senate race in East King County. But whatever you do, please get informed before you vote. I have posted a 12 page report detailing evidence that a serious violation of our State Constitution has been committed by Gov. Gregoire and Sen. Pflug. For more information view the report, and feel free to email me. springforschools@aol.com.

For further details see Evidence Gov. Chris Gregoire Bribed Sen. Cheryl Pflug.

Sincerely,  David Spring M. Ed.

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

“What we are witnessing is a corporate crime wave.” 

Ralph Nader May 2010