I’d like to believe that our elected representatives have the country’s best interests constantly at the forefront of their deliberations. But do they really? How ethical are our elected leaders? Let’s first define what I mean by ethics and let’s keep it simple. Ethics: an obligation one assumes to standards of right and wrong and then develops character traits to meet those standards. Sometimes we do. And sometimes we falter. But we always strive to return to what’s right. Mostly.
So let’s for a moment turn to Congress and congressional ethics. The Senate and the House have ethics committees. There is a Congressional Code of Official Conduct. The House version has over 2,800 words. The Ten Commandments in contrast, depending on the biblical version you use, has 63. Seems the Congress has too many lawyers and too few prophets.
So what do these committees do? Well, since 1997, they paid $18.2 million to settle 291 cases of workplace disputes for Congress, the Capitol Police, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Library of Congress. Some refer to the payouts as the #MeToo Slush Fund. It averages about $62,000 per settlement and doesn’t include settlements paid from a Congressman’s own congressional office budget. The interesting thing to note is that any money left unspent does not return to the Treasury. And in keeping with “confidentiality,” the taxpayer has no access to what this money is used for. A protection racket is alive and well and we pay for it.
Aside from the foregoing, I’m sure there are politicians that are upstanding citizens of the country. They work to keep America at the forefront of Western civilization’s leadership, and I applaud them. But then we have some whose egos exceed their grasp. And this gets in the way of doing what’s right. That’s when people use their elected position to demean others or who don’t live by the rules.
Examples? Senator Joe Biden’s attacks on Robert Bork, Ted Sorenson, and Clarence Thomas. Adam Schiff, former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, knowingly lying to the American people about “Russian collusion.” Eric Swalwell’s “Fang Fang” situation. Nancy Pelosi bypassing the rules and ramming through legislation with no prior reading or debate. John Conyers “retired” after sexual misconduct allegations. So from the intimate to the public, ethics is put aside and doing what’s right is sacrificed on the altars of Politics, Party, and Ego.
Trust, once lost, is hard to regain. When people begin to feel that their elected leaders are lying to them, making decisions not in the best interests of their families or the country, can you blame them for a no confidence vote? I continue to be optimistic that there is more good than bad in the political realm. I hope I’m right but sometimes it certainly doesn’t look that way.
I’ll leave you with a quote from JFK: “Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be President but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.”
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If you are an optimistic at most, then I guess I’m a realistic at about 10%. I’d be shocked if over 10% of Congress would be considered ethical by most people’s definition of the term.
The whole system is built to trade favors and get yours or help other get theirs. There are some ethical members. They just tend to not last long in the sausage factory.