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.