Cast your vote for the Top Scoundrel of 2012

The watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has put forward several individuals and groups as nominees for its “Scoundrel of the Year” award. Republicans will be infuriated by the list because nearly every nominee is a Republican elected official or group that has ties to the GOP. But Democrats may have some fun sorting through this list and casting their vote. CREW is encouraging the public to participate in making the choice. Here is the CREW ballot: The Top Scoundrels of 2012: January: Newt Gingrich The former House speaker, failed presidential candidate, and “historian” for Freddie Mac revised his own personal history to exclude his highly paid lobbying career.

February: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor  While claiming credit for cracking down on insider trading by members of Congress, Rep. Cantor (R-VA) worked hard behind the scenes to ensure the House passed a watered-down STOCK Act.

March: Grover Norquist Mr. Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, may object to higher taxes but he still has to obey the laws on the books — including disclosing his group’s political activity on its tax return.

April: The Senate Ethics Committee Despite clearly criminal conduct, the committee let Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) off the hook for holding a pay raise for the Secretary of the Interior hostage in exchange for new oil drilling permits.

May: Jamie Dimon A multi-billion dollar loss from risky trades proved Mr. Dimon — once the standard bearer for a better Wall Street — and his cronies hadn’t learned much from the financial meltdown.

June: Aetna It’s hard to fathom how vitriolic, deceitful, attack campaign ads could be educational, but that’s what Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini claimed when it was revealed the company donated more than $7 million to the American Action Network and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

July and October: Rep. Darrell Issa Rep. Issa’s (R-CA) release of sensitive information about both the Fast and Furious operation and the State Department’s activities in Libya demonstrated the chairman of the House Oversight Committee is far more interested in grandstanding than anything else.

August and September: Rep. David Rivera  While Rep. Rivera (R-FL) is now officially a former member of Congress, we won’t soon forget the felonious Floridian’s multiple money laundering and tax evasion schemes, as well as his effort to prop up a ringer candidate in the Democratic primary for his seat in Congress.

November: Crossroads GPS It was a rough year for Karl Rove, but that doesn’t excuse his group’s brazenly illegal conduct — particularly Crossroads’ failure to disclose the donors from whom Rove solicited donations to run ads in specific races. Those interested can cast their vote between now and noon (EST) next Monday, January 14 on the CREW site. The winner will be announced on the group’s Twitter feed on Jan. 20.