For those who have grown a bit cynical, the idea of ethics in government might appear self-contradictory. In other words, we might be able to have one or the other, but not both — at least not at the same time. This thinking is partly a by-product of the very public ethical lapses committed by those in government positions.
As easy as it would be at this point to launch into a diatribe against the Clintons, who have taken corruption to new levels, they are really just one part of the problem. And it distracts us from the fact that there are government officials who do exhibit a high level of ethical behavior in their spheres of responsibility.
The problem is compounded by the need to review the behavior of government officials when potential ethics violations are discovered. What this implies is that we have the government monitoring the government. The potential problems with that are obvious.
As Mr. Trump prepares to arrive in the Oval Office we see how this system can go awry. More on page two.
Diane Tipton I’m not crying, I’m calling out an abuser of the system who needs to be called out. My family built this country, and fought a dictator who tried to control us – we fought at Lexington and Concord, and every US war thereafter. We’ll fight this dictator too!
Dineshia, you are incorrect. This DOES include business holdings. And this is why all previous Presidents over the past century or so have had to divest themselves of particular financial holdings, and have had to put their investments into blind trusts, where their financial holdings would not be directly affected by their political decisions. It’s quite ironic, I make about $100K a year, and direct spending of less than $500K a year, and yet I have to divest myself of any holding that might be directly affected by my decisions; and I have to fill out THREE different sets of paperwork confirming all my holdings and income sources. And yet here we have someone who has massive amounts of income and holdings, and is directing billions upon billions of dollars and making decisions every day that can have huge effects on his income, and yet you think HE should be IMMUNE from conflicts of interest regulations?!? How absurd is that??!
Bonnie Cliber I agree, did or didn’t nancy Pelosi, just call trump, bush last nite? They are so out of touch!
Tom Melendy sorry, that’s just not how the law reads! He had turned his companies over, and does not have to do a blind trust! Thanks tho!
Your ignorance of understanding of the Constitution is sad
Tom, if that was directed to me, please edicts me as to the law? If not, then this is a non-issue!
Opps spell check! Educate me!
Lawsuits have been filed Ms Dineshia – so apparently there are plenty of lawyers who recognize what you cannot.
Sorry dear, I have work to do – don’t have time to educate you on Constitutional law.
Thank you Congressman Chaffetz for standing up to these incompetent government officials!