Everyone knows, and we’ve here confirmed, that our federal government is unethical from the top down, which means it takes liberties with the truth. Is such an entity trustworthy? Of course not – trust requires truth – yet that government is running our nation. Why is this? Why do we allow it?

After all, our government is designed to be (and remains, legally) of, by and for the people – not the professional politicians in whom we’ve mistakenly placed our trust. We can of course fire them, yet we continue to tolerate the erosion of our rights and the continued growth of government into areas where it shouldn’t be.

Senator McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, recently said “a $17 trillion debt is irresponsible” and that we’re “doing things the federal government was never intended to do… That’s not the way our Constitution was designed. We weren’t supposed to have the federal government paying for education… (W)e have to be careful about trying to make the federal government the answer to everything, because it (will) get us in a position that we’re not a first-tier nation anymore…”

Nor can the government handle its own responsibilities – just look what it’s done to the life of the American Indian…and the postal service…

Not only do we suffer a government that exceeds its authority and does not honor its owners, we tolerate a government that has caused erosion of our stature in the world generally. Our president took office promising to replace the muscle of the past with polite talk – to defer to other nations in achieving world peace. History has shown that this is not realistic, and the past few years have confirmed it. In ceding America’s position of world leader and choosing to “lead from behind,” we’ve succeeded in becoming a laughingstock even among weaker nations by failing to follow through on our responsibilities and our stated positions on international policy (ex: the red line).

We are significantly reducing our armed forces hoping that other nations will follow suit – this is not going to happen. A foreign policy based on retrenchment and accommodation makes the world more dangerous, not less. As America becomes weaker, other nations will become stronger.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington Law School, recently testified before Congress on the president’s extensive use of executive and administrative actions to make unilateral changes to his own health care legislation, immigration policy, wage controls and IRS qualifying standards for non-profits (all subjects of confirmed government scandal). He said:

> “President Obama has repeatedly violated (the separation of powers) doctrine in the circumvention of Congress in areas ranging from health care to immigration law to environmental law. We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis with sweeping implications for our system of government…(W)e are … at the constitutional tipping point for our system…If balance is to be reestablished, it must begin before this president leaves office, and that will likely require every possible means to reassert legislative (Congressional) authority. No one in our system can ‘go it alone’ – not Congress, not the courts, and not the President.”

This from an esteemed congressional lawyer who voted twice for the president. The point here is that everybody acknowledges the problem, yet the beat goes on. Ethics is notably lacking from our leadership – honesty no longer is in vogue, and they’re not doing their jobs.

This situation must change or America as we know it will lose the gift given us by the Founders: self- government and the right to life, liberty and property, and the entire world will suffer for it. This is no laughing matter, and the sooner it is corrected the better it will be.

Term limits will help, but first it will be necessary to get the ruling class out of their self-feathered nest. Vote new legislators in and hold them accountable for their actions. Truth and honesty are the weapons we must employ, and action – not apathy – is required. ExtremeEthics can help with the ammunition, but we can’t do it alone (although we won’t quit trying). Is anybody listening?

Fred L Fox, www.extremeethics.org