Why is President Trump so hated? Is it his “toxic masculinity” or obstreperous contentious behavior? Those are part of it but underlying all the hate from the DC establishment is the fact that he did not need them. He did not need their money or their connections. As an independent agent indebted to only the people who elected him this is very dangerous to the political elites who have created a world of corruption in Washington DC over the past 250 years.
Since he came down the escalator 5 years ago, they knew that he knew how corrupt they all are—Dems, Republicans, the military establishment at the Pentagon who are waiting to retire and double dip with a Board Job at Lockheed, or BOEING or NIH. Senators and Representatives who will do anything to cash a corporate campaign check. Some may even slosh around the sack with a Chinese foreign agent—who knows the bounds of political corruption? They all knew that he knew. Now we know and they want to label us as deplorables, and racists, and they hurl their sanctimonious hypocrisy on us and call us “privileged” Nobody is more privileged than somebody—anybody no matter race or gender or national origin born in The United States of America.
What are we talking about when we talk about political corruption? Corruption is not simply dishonesty or fraudulent conduct. You can run a stop sign and not be corrupt. You can rob a friend and not be corrupt. If you take money from the cash register of your employer and keep it for yourself, you are corrupt You can commit a crime without committing corruption and you can be corrupt or be corrupted without committing a crime.. Legal, economic, and theological definitions of corruption include the ideas that corruption is defined as the “performance of a legal or illegal transaction between and agent and a customer with the detrimental effect on the principle whom the agent was obliged to serve”. By participating in this type of transaction the agent uses his customer, constituents or client’s wealth, power, or position to his own benefit.
Did Hilary Clinton commit a crime when the DNC funded the Steel Dossier? Who knows? Was she corrupt—yes?
Did Hunter Biden commit any crimes when he formed business partnerships in China and the Ukraine using the imprimatur of his father the Vice President of the United States for leverage—Who knows? Was he corrupt—the whole world knows the answer to that question and so does his father!
The concept of corruption includes the idea of ‘agency” and the problem of agency always begins and ends with the question of “who am I as an agent serving”
In theological terms corruption either illegal or legal is a sin of the heart. And it is sinful not only because it hurts the principle in the transaction, but because it hurts all of society. Corruptions in the private sector are more easily contained and identified because those hurt the most—owners, shareholders, customers, and suppliers, have skin in the game and are more likely to attend to their own selfless interests. Corruptions in the public sector—the government, are harder to identify and address because the people being hurt the most by the corruption—citizens who pay taxes, are many layers removed from the transactions. It should surprise none that the most corrupt regimes known throughout history have been statist—communist, socialist, and fascist regimes. Economist Gordon Turlock has stated that ” it often amounts to the State taking action not for its ostensible reason—the common good, but for the secret reason of private benefit—that is one pretends to act or favor the public interest, but in fact favors his own appetites—pocketbook, political hook, you name it.
The problem with so many corruptions is that many are legal, and a culture of corruption evolves, with the principle—in our case the citizen, for me patients, are hurt. A government regulation may make it difficult for a drug company to pay for a doctor’s trip to Hawaii, so they make that doctor a speaker or consultant and then have him give a speech in Hawaii. Both scenarios are corrupt. Either way the patient pays more for the special drug that unknowing to them is being promoted by the doctor. Their own doctor is increasing the cost of drugs that he is prescribing, and the doctor gets a free trip to paradise. Illegal no. Corrupt I believe so.
Lobbyists may pick up the tab for legislators to go to the Governor’s Cup in Sun Valley and students may be the benefactors of scholarships but what leverage is being wielded over the politician’s head for the cost of admission? Illegal—no. Corrupt—absolutely. It is citizens who voted for that politician who lose the influence of their vote. When that same politician receives a campaign contribution from the lobbyist the voter is placed at an even more disadvantage in having her vote count.
What about when government grants from CDC or NIH to scientists researching vaccines, or viral pandemics, are tendered and what happens when that same scientist publishes a paper critical of a mitigation strategy or a course of therapy? Does NIH/CDC look for new recipients of grants who will report out “data” more favorable to a particular political narrative? Legal yes. Corrupt—you bet your backside.
What about when providers—doctors and hospitals, are incentivized to place a Covid-19 Code on a patient’s medical record because they will be reimbursed to up to $100,000 more than if they were coded for pneumonia or respiratory failure? Legal yes—corrupt—really corrupt and every citizen picks up the cost eventually. And who is the most corrupt in this transaction—the hospital, the doctor, the coder all working for the benefit of the patient—or are they working for the benefit of their organization? Are they being financially incentivized based on a diagnosis and Code? One is left to wonder.
I will talk about corruption in Washington DC later, but corruption in our State Capital needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. One of the problems with people who have served in government for a long time is that they almost immediately begin to accept little corruptions and over the years big corruptions seem to be OK i.e. The Governor’s Cup.
One easy way to do away with this symbiotic relationship between lobbyists, legislators and those in the executive branch—I hope and pray our judiciary are far removed from these practices but I did see one judge at the Governor’s cup several years ago—bet he paid for himself—hmmmm. Was he lobbying the governor for an Appointment?—is to make a State law refusing to let anyone or entity(the hatches will have to be battened down on that one because businesses function across legislative districts) that campaigns can only receive contributions from individuals or businesses either living in or doing most of their business in the district—for Statewide offices that would be the whole State. People would then become more important than Lockheed, BOING, Johnson, and Johnson regarding campaign funding. One legislator 4 years ago who complained the most about drug companies had several of his largest campaign contributions made by drug companies—all with corporate headquarters outside the State. This would be true for Statewide initiatives also so George Soros couldn’t fund a Medicaid expansion campaign in Idaho drowning out the influence of Idaho citizens and Idaho interests.
This new law would of course have to be tested in the Idaho Supreme Court so maybe we should add on to it the proviso that no judge should have their entry fee paid to the governor’s Cup!
Whatever happened to common sense and common ethics?
