The Hypocritical Oath

Doctors take what is known as the “Hippocratic Oath” when they become physicians. The Hippocratic Oath is to ensure that physicians practice medicine in an ethical fashion. Our government officials such as the President, cabinet members, judges, Congress, and so forth must also take an oath to swear that they will serve and protect our Constitution. I really do not see the sense in having an oath of office if these officials simply do whatever they want with no regards to the law or the Constitution. That is why I call political oaths of office “The Hypocritical Oath”. Everyday I view one contradiction after another where politicians violate the law and get away with it. Let’s view a few recent examples of politicians practicing “The Hypocritical Oath”:

Tim Geithner is the head of the Treasury Department which runs the IRS and he did not pay taxes or face a penalty for doing so.

Congressman Charlie Rangel is the head of the Congressional Ways and Means Committee that is in charge of creating tax laws and he also did not pay his taxes.

We put Bernard Madoff in jail for running an investment Ponzi scheme that that stole billions from his clients. However, our government routinely runs Ponzi schemes on the American People. Social security and Medicare are good examples of Ponzi schemes. Retiree’s social security and Medicare are paid for by today’s working man. Just as the money dried up when Madoff got caught, the money will dry up for some future generation and they will not get social security or Medicare despite paying into the system. If it is illegal to run a Ponzi scheme then why is it okay for the government to run these schemes to scam money from taxpayers?

Washington politicians are so outraged by the AIG bonuses that they approved in the stimulus package and are know trying to correct the error by levying a 90% tax on the bonuses. By levying the 90% tax on the bonuses Congress may be violating Article 1 and Section 9 of the Constitution. I am as outraged as anyone about the bonuses, but I am not outraged at AIG, I am outraged at Congress for approving the 170 billion dollar AIG bailout. The AIG bonuses amount to less than 0.1% of the bailout money. If we are outraged by the use of 0.1%, we should be outraged by the other 99.9% as well. Instead of protesting against AIG, we should be protesting against our government.

Geithner wants more government regulation on Wall St. and more governmental control over financial institutions. Once again the government is overstepping its bounds here. This too is Unconstitutional. Besides, where does the government get the right to take over financial institutions when they too are fiscally irresponsible and owe trillions in debt? Government run institutions such as The Post Office, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac are losing the taxpayers billions of dollars each year. In fact, these government run institutions have absolutely no oversight so it is hypocritical of the government to request oversight in the private sector. So what makes us think the government will do a better job running Wall St if they cannot run their own government sponsored institutions?

The government wants to control CEO and bonus pay at many corporations. Where do they get the right? How come the taxpayers cannot demand pay cuts for politicians. The CEO for AIG (Libby) is doing his job for $1 a year, if he can cut his pay so can politicians. Most Washington politicians are millionaires and they should not accept a salary for serving the people. It should be a privilege. If I were a Washington politician I would not accept a dime in compensation and certainly would not run up astronomical bills on meals, travel or other privileges. I am appalled at how much many CEOs make, but I am just as appalled by how much politicians make and how they waste our hard earned cash.

Today, countless other politicians are being investigated for potential criminal activity: Chris Dodd, Ted Stevens, Rod Blagojevich, Elliot Spitzer, and Roland Burris to name a few.