On Ethics
Jun 25, 2009 Political
Yesterday, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford called a news conference to explain his absence from his office for the past week.
He then proceeded to explain that he had had an affair with an Argentinian woman that he had know for eight years. This affair began casually, and later escalated, which brings me to a question; Why can’t people keep it to themselves? What mental defect causes them to think they are above it all? Where are the ethics every one of them so loudly proclaim?
The man was married, with four children, and he was stupid enough to think that there would be no consequences for his actions? Perhaps he thought for a moment that he was a Democrat- that might explain his mistaken temporary insanity regarding consequences- they never seem to have to answer for any criminal behavior- their side just shrugs and goes on with their lives, while Republicans fall by the wayside, doomed by their own admissions and moral lapses.
Why can we not actually have people in office who say what they mean, and do what they say. Why can we not have people in government who are actually good examples, instead of ” unindicted co- conspirator”, or “disgraced former_______” (fill in the blank).
This is not a new problem, nor is it limited to one party or the other. The entire House of Representatives once bounced more than 8,331 checks at their own bank- heck they forced it to close, and then when they had pledged to fix the problem, they promptly kited an additional 4,325 checks. And yet, none of these people had to pay an overdraft charge, as you or I would have.
Thomas Jefferson said, “The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” And that is just what the politicians are doing, on a scale larger than ever before, racking up a staggering $11,000,000,000,000 in national debt, with each family’s share coming in at $116,000.
Just say no- our interest payment to service this debt will be about $26,000,000,000- that is 26 billion, per month. You might be forgiven for thinking that the head of the Treasury Department could do the math, and tell the rest of the politicians, ” Hey- perhaps we should quit while we’re behind, instead of really behind,” but noooooo. Turns out, he is math- challenged.
He’s supposedly the right man for this job, and yet he can’t figure out his tax bill, even though his employer, the International Monetary Fund, had done the math for him, and even cut him a check for the right amount, and made him sign an affidavit saying that the check was to be used for his payroll tax. How stupid is he?
Oh, and let’s not forget Charlie Rangel, the Congressman from New York who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee that actually writes the tax code. Apparently he’s not smart enough to read the code he writes, and failed to pay taxes ($75,000) in rental income from his villa retreat at the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic. His excuse was that he didn’t know the tax applied to rental properties in the Dominican Republic. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
At least that is what the IRS tells us ordinary people- if it was we who had “forgotten” our tax obligations, we would be subject to the full might of the IRS in its quest to get “their” money from you.
The fact that there are serial lawbreakers in government today is a sorry state of affairs- why we tolerate them is beyond me. I personally do not care what party they claim to be from, as far as I am concerned, they belong to one class only- criminals. Where are the ethics they profess to have? Why do we tolerate these people working for us? Would you employ a known thief to clean your house? A car thief to detail your car? Why give known thieves the keys to our treasury?
James Madison is rolling over in his grave. “[Congress]… can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny… If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate anything but liberty.”
Ethics, like the Constitution, are not fluid things, but are supposedly the bedrock of our behavior, and should be doubly so for the politicians- after all, they are supposed to be representing We the People, a large group that needs good representation, not just someone who shows up for the perks. If we tolerate these crooks in our midst, we get the government we deserve.
Samuel Adams said that those who prefer the “tranquility of servitude” had best be prepared to “crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.”
He also said, in closing, “May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”
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Tags: deficit spending, ethics, liars, politicians