115th Congress Sworn into Office
(Noon, January 3, 2017)
They told me we needed new
Ethics oversight
Alfonso “Indio” Bedoya
(1904-1957)
(Similar line in movie: The
Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
Reminder: Why we need oversight of Congress
I was ready to blast this new 115th all-GOP
run House on the ethics oversight issue. Then it was updated (see below). I will still make this post, which I think is still relevant on the topic just in case this all-GOP run Congress changes its mind later (I bet they will):
The update (from The AP): After an intense backlash, House Republicans on Tuesday reversed their move
gutting Congress’ independent ethics watchdog group. The GOP vote to back down
from reining in the Office of Congressional Ethics was unanimous, Jake
Sherman of Politico reported.
Introduction:
From the new 115th GOP-run House – agreement to weaken the ethics
watchdog on the grounds it had grown too intrusive, prompting Democrats to
charge they were scaling back independent oversight ahead of a new legislative
session. I have two words for them: JACK
ABRAMOFF scandal.
Trump disagrees with this in one of his “infamous”
tweets: “With
all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of
the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it ... may be, their number one
act and priority. Focus on tax reform and healthcare and so many other things
of far greater importance!” (#DTS stands for his campaign slogan
“Drain
the Swamp”).
(I note: Wow
– agreeing with Mr. Trump on this issue. We both disagree about this Congress
and their lousy move on this subject however they will try to justify it. Also,
the voters must ask themselves “Is they what we want from you clowns?” You to serve
us with no ethical oversight that allows you to run wild at midnight in a dark parking
lot taking money in a brown paper bag with a wink/wink nod policy for us, um? I
hardly think so).
FYI: In addition to Abramoff pleading guilty and going to jail, Rep. Bob Ney
(R-OH) and GOP Maj. Leader Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), were also prosecuted as well
as the scandal included Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Christian
Coalition Leader Ralph Reed and Anti-Tax Lobbyist Grover Norquist Americans for
Tax Reform were involved, too.
Even
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) was involved based on him requesting contributions of
$30,000 from Abramoff's clients. Reid agreed to assist him in matters
concerning Indian casino.
Then this new all-GOP congress who on their first day seemed to want to tell the public: “We don’t need no stinking
ethics – just trust us.” Um, I say: Yeah, right, trust you – ha.
What
is ethics anyway? A quick definition:
The term or word “Ethics” is derived from the Ancient Greek word “Ethikos”
which is derived from the word “Ethos” or more simply: a habit or a custom.
Ethics consists of two things:
First: Ethics
refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans
ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society,
fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards
that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder,
assault, slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin
virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. Ethical standards include
standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom
from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of
ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.
Second: Ethics
refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned
above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it
is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are
reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of
studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure
that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are
reasonable and solidly-based.
I pulled this from
the original article here and I edited it to fit the blog format,
however the entire whole article is here, and worthwhile as a bookmark – I found
it interesting on this subject:
Some years ago, sociologist
Raymond Baumhart asked business people, “What does ethics mean to you?” Among some
of their replies were the following 5 responses:
1. “Ethics has to do
with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.”
2. “Ethics has to do
with my religious beliefs.”
3. “Being ethical is
doing what the law requires.”
4. “Ethics consists
of the standards of behavior our society accepts.”
5. “I don't know
what the word means.”
These replies might be
typical of our own since the “meaning of ethics” is hard to pin down, plus the
views many people have about ethics are shaky.
Premise: If being
ethical were doing “whatever society accepts,” then to find out what is
ethical, one would have to find out what society accepts like to find about a
view or views on abortion, for example, a survey of American society and then
conform to your personal beliefs to whatever society accepts probably would or
would not match.
However, no one ever tries to
decide an ethical issue by doing a public survey, and rightly so. The lack of
social consensus on many issues makes it impossible to equate ethics with
whatever society accepts. Some people accept abortion but many others do not. So, if being ethical were
doing whatever society accepts, one would have to find an agreement on issues
which does not, in fact, exist.
Now what to expect from the
new incoming 115th Congress is this very enlightening and a bit
scary scenario of a proposed action. You be the judge of their true motivation…
I read what some of they say and quite frankly, to coin an old phrase, “it’s a
crock.”
The current law was an
offshoot of that infamous Abramoff scandal (see above), and I leave with this simple,
logical question: “Why does this new all-GOP House think they can govern
without Ethical oversight?” (I bet we won’t like their weak-ass
answers).
This story was also covered from
several reputable sources:
1. USA Today.
4. CNN here.
FYI: Well, it’s our all-GOP
House and Senate… millions of voters put them in charge and now they tried to pull this stunt on the very first order of business. I wonder what else do they have in
store for us? Ought to be a humdinger of a 115th Congress, don’t
cha’ think? We need to keep close track of this congress from top to bottom.
More
later I am sure. Stay tuned.
Two GOP Dingbats Discuss the Backpedalling
(Left: Rep. Gohmert (R-TX) and Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA)
Newly-elected GOP Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) spotted leaving the Capital:
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