jhu72 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 9:09 am
Peter Brown wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 8:31 am
Trinity wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 8:11 am
More stock act news. Senators Ron Johnson, Jim Imhof also sold stocks after the Senate briefing. Sen Feinstein’s husband, an investment manager, sold shares in a cancer company prior to the Senate briefing. I’ll bet this list grows.
Yup.
Also, we as citizens constantly protect government officials from being held personally liable for the things that the government holds us responsible for. Prosecutors have total immunity, Congress (and their employees!) can trade on information given to them in official meetings and suffer no repercussions, teachers can basically murder someone and they can't be fired, cops historically could get away with murder (literally) and never suffer consequences (though body cameras are changing that).
I am not a fan of government writ large because the natural human tendency when given power which is not earned (almost no political power is earned; promising gifts for votes is not exactly an honorable process) is to abuse that dynamic (Katie Hill anyone?).
Yes and this is my problem with government and politicians and actually the American System in general. Those at the top have and continue to take advantages - huge advantages, whether legal or not. The solution is not to destroy the system. The solution is to fix the problem. Actually hold those at the top MORE RESPONSIBLE. More severe and more certain penalties! There are people in this world and specifically in American society who would not take these advantages. They actually believe in SERVICE. Very few of these individuals are in federal government. We need to lop off some very visible heads.
ok, found something to at least partially disagree with you on '72.
I was with you on "fix the system" and holding folks more accountable, more clear, "severe and more certain penalties".
But I disagree with this statement: "....They actually believe in SERVICE.
Very few of these individuals are in federal government."
Nope, there are many, not few, such people in government. I think most.
However, there are also way too many who get caught up with power, prestige, etc and 'take advantage' unethically. I think that's way more the political class than the civil servants. And even most of the political bunch simply need to get a whop up side the head (and yes, a few lopped off, so to speak) about where "advantages" should not be taken.
But remember that this is not just a gov't issue, it's also rampant throughout our capitalist society. And it's really not as simple as we might think.
For instance, my family knows personally many top doctors, folks who run departments, at Johns Hopkins...so, when my mom and dad were sick, the calls went to them and we felt confident in who they would see and the care they would receive. I don't know that they actually received differentiated service, but I did feel more confident about it. Should I have not made those calls? Was it "unethical"?...