I’m a believer that extraordinary crimes deserve extraordinary punishment, so I’ve often thought that wealthy people who steal large sums of money tend to get off far too lightly. And so I think Jack Abramoff will get off far too lightly, along with his partners in crime. To be clear, not every politician who got money from Abramoff did anything wrong. Considering that he’s done double the damage – he’s stolen millions of dollars and created the appearance of corruption in Congress if not actual corruption and despite his cooperation, he should receive what in my mind is the maximum penalty such financial criminals should receive (along with such criminal masterminds as Bernie Ebbers and John Rigas): he should have all his money, down to the very last cent, taken from him, then he should be stripped naked and whipped through the streets. Then he loses all property rights for 5 years.
On a side note, while the charges Ronnie Earl brought against Tom Delay in Texas were a joke, the trail from Abramoff to Delay is very serious indeed.
