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Public Servant Pledge

Incumbents in many political institutions have devolved from being Public Servants to being seekers of Power, and Enrichment of themselves, family members, and associates.

The goal of this proposed action is to return political office holders to being Public Servants - otherwise known as Draining the Swamp.

DISCUSSION

Political officeholders are adept at developing schemes of Power gain and Financial enrichment. These schemes are often brilliantly proficient at skirting criminal laws. Why? Because they are the ones that MAKE the laws. Duh!

When light is shed on the scheme, we all know the behavior has not been driven by a goal to Serve their constituents, but rather to achieve Gain in excess of the publicly advertised compensation for the role of that political office. In simpler terms, the incentive of corrupt officeholders is to monetize their political office.

Since it is difficult to identify fair criminal codes for all cleverly conceived self-enrichment schemes, we need another process to return to office holders behaving as Public Servants. Therefore, as schemes for self-enrichment are unveiled, their methods should be exposed and identified as non-criminal ethical violations. We must then hold true Public Servants to avoiding these ethical violations.

It should be noted that Democrats have recently been very vigilant about President Trump's compliance to the Emoluments clause of the Constitution, but seem to be completely uninterested in Biden or Clinton remuneration schemes

ARE POLITICIANS EXEMPT FROM ETHICAL STANDARDS?

Politicians hold businessmen accountable to the highest ethical standards. Some examples:

• If sexual harassment is occurring in a business, the standard is that management "should have known"; there is no excuse for their "ignorance". Yet when NY Governor Cuomo resigned under charges of sexual harassment, the Lt. Governor Hochul "was completely unaware" of the sexual harassment going on in the office
• Businesses employees are prohibited from accepting all but token (pencil with company logo) gifts from suppliers and other business contacts.
  Politicians regularly participate in junkets paid for by lobbyists/businesses that stand to benefit from their actions.
• Business employees are strictly prohibited from participation in business decisions regarding an outside organization while having a financial interest in the outside business.
  Politicians regularly have insight into the direction of upcoming legislation but make, or have family members or associates make investments in companies that will be impacted by the legislation.
  NIH Panel members make medical recommendations about drugs and therapies in which they have financial interest in the outcomes.
• Business employees are strictly prohibited from participating in business decisions regarding an outside organization in which family members or associates have a vested interest. Politicians regularly steer contract awards and other favors to these individuals.
• Business employees are strictly prohibited from participating in or influencing hiring decisions involving family members or associates. Politicians regularly ensure these individuals receive lucrative positions - including positions for which they have little or no qualifications.
• Business personnel are accountable for sexual harassment actions. But politicians have a slush fund to silence victims of their sexual harassment.

PROPOSED ACTION

In order to clarify expectations for office holders, when taking the oath of office, political officeholders at all levels of government should take an oath to fulfill their political offices solely within the publicly advertised remuneration for their office.

Furthermore, all back-door methods of remuneration through family members and associates are prohibited as well. This includes "miraculous":

• Appointments to boards
• Contract awards
• Return on investments
• Access to Government organizations
• Other clever means of gaining wealth and influence