The ‘Founding Fathers’ created a ‘Republic’ that is frequently referred to as a ‘Democracy’; technically speaking it probably doesn’t matter to most of us because the two government forms are closely allied and discussed in about equal terms. No matter what each of us believes, the facts are that both forms of federal government rest on the same basic principles; the Constitution, the rule of law and individual freedoms. That sounds astonishingly straightforward and if so, what has gone wrong?
Perhaps the greatest flaw in our system is morality (honor/integrity). Because of our population growth, our national legislature (Congress) has increased to 535 members. There are 100 Senators and 435 in our House of Representatives. Considering the diversity among men and women from 50 states the probability of some of these legislators having devious thoughts is somewhere above zero. Upon being elected to an office by voters back home, the elected candidates roll out platforms that they may have had ambitions of achieving. After assuming office and receiving committee assignments, the elected legislators realize that home is far away and oversight is minimal by constituents. Fidelity becomes a wraith in the rear-view mirror.
Dinner parties and other gatherings are convened and the realization that conversations with other congress persons were really quid pro quo’s (this for that). In other words, if you will vote or speak positively for something, I will return the favor in the future. Deliberately or unwittingly, these links lead to corruption at all levels of government; the ultimate prize is money and power and more money. Turpitude starts small but grows like a metastized cancer that becomes out-of-sight, out-of-mind and out of earshot of public knowledge. In his book entitled ‘Drain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption is Worse than you Think,’ former Colorado Republican Congressman Ken Buck lists names of Congressmen who raise vast sums of money for their party to head committees and other recognition. In other words, skills at problem solving are subordinated in favor of fund-raising. Fund raising is a prerequisite for election but has nothing to do with satisfying the needs of taxpayers who are unwittingly paying elected officials to be scoundrels.
Lee Fang, a reporter for Republic Reports.com a few years ago did some research and here’s what he found about legislators who lost their last election or left congress for some other reason. Of the 13 named Congressmen mentioned in his report, their incomes increased by an average 1,452% over the next several years. Most positions were lobbyists for companies and industries. Incomes were from $19 million over four years to $1.5 million annually. Membership in the elite Congress of our great nation has become a stepping stone to great affluence and opulence.
Corruption has become an earmark of politics and government at all levels. Three former Illinois governors have served prison time. There is an endless list of mayors of cities who have violated the law and paid fines and got room and board in facilities reserved for miscreants. The centerpiece of guilty mayors is Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit who in October 2013 received 28 years for racketeering, extortion, bribery and fraud. Ray Nagin of New Orleans was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2014 for various crimes. Fifteen mayors in New Jersey have been found corrupt along with five mayors in Illinois. Mayor Megan Barry of Nashville, TN was convicted of felony theft recently while her bodyguard and ‘partenaire sexuel’ accumulated $170,000 in overtime.
Consider these facts; corruption adds nothing to our nation’s economy. Lobbying by ex-congress people adds exactly nothing to the economy, the culture or to the growth of our great nation. In fact, lobbyists almost certainly detract from the equanimity of our republic. The half-million dollar cost of speeches by ex-president Clinton and the expensive speeches by Hillary adds only to their great wealth quarried at the expense of political sophistry. The Clinton’s net worth is currently $125 million from speeches and books of erroneous ‘facts’, spurious wisdom and false narratives.
Politics has a magnetic draw for men and women, many of whom are attorneys sworn to uphold the law. This magnet however is not powered by electricity but by the commanding influence of money and power through corruption and greed. Can our political system reclaim honor?
Dick Baynton