Friday, December 19, 2014

Political Corruption

Business wasn't the only way to get rich in the late 19th century-there was also politics. The Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt New York City officials led by William March Tweed (1823-1878), is believed to have stolen anywhere from $40 million to $200 million in public funds. Many of these men saw no wrong in what they did. One of Tweed's cohorts, George Washington Plunkett, explained his form of "honest graft" to a journalist as follows: "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em ... I'm tipped off, say, that they are going to lay out a new park at a certain place .... I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can and then there is a rush to get my land. Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my investment 
and foresight? Of course, it is. Well, that's honest graft."

Do you agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft"? Do you think politicians should be allowed to profit from insider information? 

111 comments:

  1. I agree that there is such thing as honest graft. I think that politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because it wouldn't be fair to other people
    -Andy Jiang

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    1. I agree with you Andy ,because it would be unfair to others
      ~~~JIan LIN

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    2. I agree with both of you and would like to add that the people what their doing is wrong but admitting that it is not harming anyone
      ``-``-marjona

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  2. I agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft", because it help people get rich. I think politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information, because it is not fair to other people.
    ~~~~~~JIan Lin 812

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    1. how is it honest dont understand

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    2. samiha akter 811 i disagree because honest graft might help others get rich but its a bad way to get rich

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  3. Rubaiya Promi 812 - I don't agree there is such a thing as "honest graft",and i think the politician shouldn't be allowed to profit from insider information. Because it's illegal and it's not a good idea. Also the people not may make that much money, and it could be a trick.

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    1. I agree because people will not have money all of it will go to the people getting to profit advantage

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    2. -jackie zhang 812

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  4. -Jackie Zhang 812

    Grafts are tools to earn money, there are honest and dishonest graft, I believe in both. Politicians should not be allow to profit from insider information, because people who don't have that advantage will not get much money, only the politicians will get it.

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    1. I agree with you because most politicians used grafts to get rich such as mayor Tweed. If people is allow to profit from insider information then it wouldn't be fair to other people
      -Andy Jiang

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  5. i think there is a honest graft ------------abdullahbinomar

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  6. I agree that there is such things as "honest graft".I think that politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because it would not be fair to the human races and they would become powerful and rich ~Alex Lei 812

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  7. I disagree that there is no such thing as honest graft. I think that should the politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information.It would not be fair for the other people because what their doing is not Honest graft graft.Business men buying the land in low price and selling them on the high price to the government and shares the profit with the politicians.
    -------------------------marjona

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  8. thats not really honest if it were today he would be locked up beacuse that is really illegal cause it would be considered inside information which can be punished by jail yime

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  9. I agree that this type of action today is illegal and dishonest because we have a more organized society so we know it is wrong.
    - Jackie Zhang 812

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  10. i don't you agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft" because it takes away money in not a good way. i don't think politicians should be allowed to profit from insider information.
    -amy 803

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  11. I don't agree with Plunkitt because he and other few people are the only ones to be able to foresight where stuff will be built therefore its unfair.
    -Elyas Maggouh 803

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  12. I agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft" because some people buying land that's cheap and they sell it 3x more expensive ... i think politicians should make money easy like honest graft because you should make your money in your palm of your hand not using your power in money.

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  13. i agree that there is something called an honest graft and i think politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because then it will be unfair to the public people and injustice to them.... an is the responsibility of politicians to take care of the country........ fatema 803

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  14. am disagree because there is no honest graft . I think politicians not allowed to profit from insider information . and its not fair for the other people because what ever they are doing is not honest graft .and the business men buy the land in low price and sell it for high price and that is not fare. MOSTAFA SAID 803

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  15. I don't believe there is something called honest graft. When I'm think of graft, I think something that is dishonest whether its honest or dishonest. Graft is the way to cheat people and make money and profit.

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    1. I agree with you graft means to cheat with people

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  16. I don't think there is a "honest graft" because it's still taking advantage of your power. Politicians shouldn't be doing this either because it's wrong.

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  17. I agree that such things honest graft, because other people it is not fair.

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  18. I don't agree if there is such a thing as "honest graft" because using a leverage over someone just to get rich is unprofessional and unfair. I think politicians should be allowed to profit from insider information because ,depending on information, the information to be used will be announced somewhere for people to hear. In result, both the information deliver and the receiver should be paid in some way.

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  19. I accept that there is such a thing as "honest graft", yeah, I think politicians should be allowed to benefit from privileged information

    steven cai 803

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  20. I agree that there is such thing as honest graft.In my opinion that the politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because its not equal to all of the people.The politicians were black mailed the people.
    I agree that there is such thing thing as honest graft.In my onion that the politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because they blackmailed the people

    REDOANUL SAHAT 803



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  21. i agree that honest graft . because politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information.and that honest graft let people to get rich.

    - JING JING WENG 803

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    1. I agree with the part that politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information.However, there is no distinction between "honest graft" and "dishonest graft".They are both horrible.

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  22. I don't think there is such thing as "honest graft".Plunkitt only made that up as an excuse to make him feel less guilty of what he was doing.Politicians shouldn't be allowed to profit from insider information because it is taking advantage of those who are not informed.It is despicable.

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    1. i agree there is nothing called honest graft it's always hurting people in some way like the thing he is doing it raise the tax

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    2. I agree with you since Plunkitt use it as a excuse -Dustin Ni

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    3. I agree with you that Plunkitt made up that excuse for their own gain.

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    4. I agree that there is no such thing as "honest graft".-Shahria 814

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  23. I agree that there is such thing as "honest graft". I think that politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because it is very unfair to others and its a way to trick the public with this idea. -Dustin Ni 814

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    1. I agree with you on both of your opinions because: 1) There is such a thing as honest graft and 2) Politicians shouldn't be allowed to make profit with insider information

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  24. I opinion there is nothing called honest Graft. Graft is always bad for people ... it always hurt then in some way. The honest graft George is explaining is also hurting people because he buy lad from cheap price and the the government he sell it in a large amount of money but the money government is paying is from people's tax if he high the price then the people have to also pay more tax.

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  25. I agree with the honest graft , because the honest was a good things that make the people life better . And the politicians should make money easy like honest graft. so i agree with honest graft

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  26. I agree with honest graft because the honest graft gives people opportunities to earn money and people earn money in proper way. - XueRu Lin 814

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    1. But it's hurting people by raising the tax

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  27. I don't think there is such thing as "honest graft" because if you get the things you want unfairly, it's just simply wrong no matter what way you do it in. Politicians shouldn't be able to profit from insider information because it's still unfair since they're black mailing people.

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  28. I AGREE USING HONEST GRAFT,BECAUSE U THINK USING HONEST GRAFT IS TO USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO EARN MONEY. IF YOU ARE NOT SMART , EVEN IF YOU USE HONEST GRAFT YOU WONT GET ANY MONEY.
    -JIAZHENLIN 814

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    1. I agree with you that they should use their knowledge to earn money.

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  29. Shahria 814- I believe that there is no "honest graft" because its still technically taking advantage of your power.Politicians should not be allowed to profit for insider information because its illegal and not the best idea.It wouldn't be fair to other people.They blackmailed the people.

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  30. I disagree that there is such a thing as "honest graft" because it would hurt the society and the person who earned the money from dishonest and honest graft would not be respected by the same kinds within the society. Not only that I also disagree honest and dishonest graft to exist within society because it would harm the economy and and the government system from the profits some people earn from the society that is thought as a good way to become rich for those who uses these graft.

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  31. I agree with honest graft because in honest graft ,you just see the opportunity to make money and use that opportunity to earn money . I think politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information , because it is not fair to those people who did not get insider information .

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  32. I don't think there is a thing call honest graft , if you get things unfairly . it is just not good .

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  33. FengLin Chen 814
    I agree with the honest graft, because its their opportunities to make money. People have their own choice to use the way they want to make money.

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  34. i think there is no such thing as honest graft because you still are using your power to get what you want. that is not fair and can be misused. honest graft still gets you what you want and not need. i think politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because it is not fair.

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    1. I agree with you since it hurt the other people who doesn't have power.

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  35. i believe that there is not honest graft because the government or anyone who buys the thing for a real high price and the person selling the thing got it for really cheap is taking other peoples money. the government also get the taxes from the poor to pay it. ~ jordanchen814

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  36. I agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft". I think politicians should be allowed to profit from insider information because he never harm other unlike Mayor Tweed.{he get greedy with getting money from other without helping the society or the community

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  37. i think that politicians should not be able to profit off of insider information because there is no such thing as honest graft. also any way o take advantage of someone or something most times it was not in a good way most time people do it to take people down. even i honest graft the poor were still getting hurt by all of the rising taxes and everything else. i dont believe there is a such thing as honest graft -benjamin 814

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  38. I do not agree that there is such thing as honest graft because it would hurt the society. I think that politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because it is not fair for others and they are using graft for their own usage.

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  39. I disagree with such thing "honest graft" because those politicians didn't see any wrongs of what they were doing. Even Plunkitt credited those vicious actions as "honest graft[s]". Also, politicians shouldn't use insider information for their personal gain. It's nonsense !!!

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  40. I disagree with "honest draft". Any kind of graft is not right, they used method to get money from others, it equal "steal" money from the others, so, it isn't right.

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  41. i dont think there are such thing as honest graft because it is illegal and it is unfair to people.Also this way is take away the money from the government and the people have to pay the higher tax for that

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  42. I don't agree that there is such thing as honest graft because using graft is still kind of taking advantage of the power politicians have. I also feel that politicians should not be allowed to gain profit from insider information because in the two examples of politicians we had (Tweed and George Plunkitt) they both were politicians and used graft to earn money and become rich.

    -Fanny Lin 814

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    1. i agree with you that using graft is still kind of taking advantage of the power politicians have.

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  43. Yingshu Chen 814

    I do not agree with honest graft. Because it hurt society and politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information.and that honest graft let people to get rich.

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  44. I disagree with the honest graft , because its hurting the people and the sociaty .

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    1. I agree with u because it actually hurt the society and it's people by only one person taking all the opportunity.
      By:Sumiya , Mayna 813

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  45. i agree there is a honest graft because it allows you to take chances or opportunities for u to gain money but it dsnt include dishonest acts as in lieing

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  46. I think there is a such thing as honest graft because people can do what they want when they have the opptunity

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  47. I agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft".i dont think politicians should be allowed to profit from insider information because it is not fair to other. -----Gao,YuTing814

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  48. I think that there's no such thing as honest graft. Because people always use some dishonest way to get money, and get rich. Even thought they say they use honest graft, but it's not true. Honest graft does not exist.

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    1. I agree with you that there does not has such thing as honest graft.

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  49. I agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft". I think politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because it is unfair to others on the same track and it's a very selfish way.

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    1. I don't agree with you,because now there is some people use dishonest way to get/earn money.

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  50. I disagree with "honest draft " because it is not fair for someone to take all the oppertunites and I think politicians should be allowed to profit from insider information
    by : Sumiya , Mayna 813

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  51. I disagree there is such thing as honest graft because Plunkett create this thing to make others think he is correct.I don't think politicians had the right to know insider information because it is unfair to others that they could know insider information.

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    1. I agree with you because that they are all taking money away from people they are just taking money from us

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  52. I disagree with "honest graft" because it's kind of stealing people money. It's illegal to buy houses for less money and sell for more money.
    For that people have to pay high taxes.



    furqan ali 813

    crickter

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    1. i agree with Ali because they stealing money from people

      Abubakr Kahorov 813

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  53. I disagree that there is no such thing as honest graft. I think that should the politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information.it was unfair to some people and using the insider information to stole money

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    1. I agree with you,because in 21 century some people earn money by staling it.

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    2. I agree whit you because it will hurt government and society.
      ~~~na

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  54. I disagree that there is such thing as "honest graft".First of all,politicians shouldn't be allowed to profit from insider information,because it is taking advantage of those who are not informed.It is despicable.Moreover,it is because that any kind of graft is not right, they used method to get money from others, it equal "steal" money from the others, so, it isn't right.

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    1. I agree with you because the people were taken advantage of.

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    2. And it will hurt the society.

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  55. I believe that there is no such thing as "honest graft" because they believed that getting inside information was the right thing to do although it was inequitable because some people were trying their best to get money and people who were a part of The Tweed Ring were making easy cash.

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    1. I both disagree and agree with your opinion because I do think that there is such a thing as honest graft as long as it isn't hurting anyone physically. However, I agree with you when you say politicians shouldn't make profit from insider information.

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  56. Yes, i agree with such thing honest graft, because Washington said i see my opportunities and i took em. He does not let go his chances and honest graft also give you chances to get your rights, and politicians should not take information from insider, because they might trick them. And i agree with Davren gao because he has the opinion as me.

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    1. I don't agree with you,because it will be not fair and it will hurt people and society.

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  57. I disagree with honest Graft because it hurt other by taking away their money and make them self rich.chenxushi813

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  58. I think there is no honest graft in this world because that honest and dishonest graft are both about taking peoples money away from the tax money every one pay to the government also they using there position they have to get money.

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  59. I disagree that there is such a thing as "honest graft" because it will hurt society. It was same thing using their power to gain what they want. Even they did not hurt anyone physically but they take money from government which is same as take money from people.I think politicians shouldn't be allowed to profit from insider information.~~~Na 813

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  60. I disagree with the honsest graft because alot of people now use dishonest way to get money from others.Additionally,its hurting the people and the sociaty .

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  61. I disagree that there is such a thing as "honest graft" . It's unfair to other people, because it counts as stealing money.But I'm not shore honest graft counts as corruption.

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  62. (Habiba Sheikh 813) I disagree that there is such a thing as "honest graft"because either which way people are getting hurt. No i think politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because that is not truthful of them.

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  63. I agree that there is such thing as "honest graft". I think that politicians should not be allowed to profit from insider information because it is very unfair to others and its a way to trick the public with this idea.

    -Abubakr Kahorov 813

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  64. In my opinion, I think there is such a thing as "honest graft" because as Plunkitt states, if you're not hurting anyone, graft isn't a bad thing. However, dishonest graft is something that shouldn't be used because it hurts people in certain ways and cases. For example, blackmailing. I also think politicians shouldn't be allowed to make profit with insider information because it's unfair to everyone else.

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  65. i disagree that there is such thing as "Honest Graft" because people are getting hurt either way. no i think politicians should be allow to profit from insider information because its not truthful. (Tony Zou & Tony Pan)

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  66. I agree that there is "honest graft" and that politicians could try it. Although, i do not think that politicians should profit from inside information because it wouldn't be fair to the others. Jason-811

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  67. (samiha akter 811) there might be a such thing as honest graft but its not right and there shouldn't be a such thing as honest graft. i think politicians should not be allowed to profit insider information because its sometimes personal and its also way to trick others.

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  68. i think there is honest graft in the world however i dont think its as bad as when it was.i dont think polititans should not be allowed to profit from insider info because it gives that polititian a huge advantage over other people

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  69. (Maham)- I agree with the honest graft. If they see oppurtunity they should take that oppurtunity. In that case if it doesn't hurt anyone than it will be a good thing. However,unlike the dishonest graft they teal, they backmail, and go behind peoples back.

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  70. i dont agree with plunkett. there is no such thing as honest graft. even tough he is not hurting anybody its still dishonest. he gets inside information from people thats illegal. its not fair because other people are not getting it. so its not honest graft.

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  71. i disagree with u because pretty much only the rich can do honest graft

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  72. i disagree that there is such thing as "Honest Graft". I think that politicians may think their not hurting nobody or slowing down progress but they actually are hurting the community with in their cities. I think if they are informed of any inside information they should not be illegible for politics, it should be illegal. -Xavier Hernandez 811

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  73. there is a thing such as honest graft. if u dont call buying land and selling land honest then it is dishonest. no they should not profit from inside info because it is unfair to people.

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  74. I think honest graft is not a bad thing because its just another way of getting money people use it as a tool. Politicians should not be allowed to because its unfair -Feezan

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  75. i disagree that there is something as a honest graft because an honest graft to use your power in a good way. i dont think politicans should be allowed to insider informations because it unfair to the public

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  76. (Seewing Zheng) i don't believe in honest graft because they are to get what they want. and what if the thing that they want is not what others want. Like Tweed he gave people money so they don't suspect him but he is actually stealing more money than he is giving.To me honest graft and dishonest graft are the same because graft is when you are trying to get what you want. people shouldn't make money just by giving tips on stuff.It should be illegal to do that kind of thing. And what if the tip doesn't work for them then their payment to the person was worthless and it was wasted.Besides if everyone was to do this nobody would go for the challenges and then the store will stop making products and then the all the stores will shut down and go out of business. The people who are doing that should actually go find a job that will help the people of their country. If they were to give tips it should be free and helpful.
    (Avi Ni) i disagree with seewing.i think there is such thing as honest graft. plunkitt got rich because of honest graft. he didnt rob anything from someone. all he did was earning money all by himself. he sees honest grafts as an opportunity.

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  77. I think that their is a thing as "Honest graft" because it the politicans are not hurting no one and are still making money simple by buying land so they make an investment and get some extra money in the end

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  78. honest graft is a real thing and it works, using methods that don't involve lies, black mailings and illegal activity, but honest graft is completely fair and logical and the rich should get profit from this because they thought smart and used honest graft to benefit themselves they are not harming anyone like dishonest grasft so it should bre allowed

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