OPINION
10
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
Ethics, not corruption, should govern politics
BY ADITYA
GARG
Science Robert
There is a term that is often thrown
around after such incidents as the recent
"Bridgeghazi" and Virginia Governor
Bob McDonnell's egregious cronyism —
"ethics," specifically,
"political ethics."
People across the
nation are disgusted
and angered by these
politicians' behaviors
and actions.
However, politicians
have committed crimes
and masterminded
schemes for decades.
"This is not a new
phenomenon," said
Visiting Assistant
Professor of Political
Duncan. "Political
corruption has existed since the founding
of the republic."
"These problems are widespread and
can be found in almost every one of
our political and economic institutions,
including Guilford," said Joseph Cole,
visiting assistant professor of philosophy.
However, should the public accept this is
a part of life?
Some have stated that American politics
is not broken because we have so many
scandals, but because we simply do
not have enough. Deals, earmarks and
imder-the-table transactions, such as
those sponsored by Governor McDonnell,
arguably move along legislation and
encourage compromise.
After all, as Dimcan pointed out,
"Politics is blood sport."
To survive, politicians must occasionally
commit their own Bridgeghazis or accept a
few undisclosed donations — thatfs part of
the job description, right?
After all, when and if these scandals
are revealed, they provide nice humor
and a topic for dinner table conversations.
Certainly, conversing over the political
impacts of such events is much more
interesting than the usual topics of business
and family life.
Anyway, the only thing politicians lose
in the process is voter confidence — as if
that really mattered to them.
Maybe iPs time that it did.
The aforementioned justifications are
simply too often used to be of much merit,
and if the public comes to accept them, it
will only exacerbate the problem.
"Saying that it is inevitable makes it
more likely to happen because people are
less likely to be held to account if their
behavior is normalized," said Chair and
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Maria Rosales.
Politicians and the individuals they
represent lose much more than a few votes
for such actions.
"Corruption and abuse of power tends
to solidify inequality and unearned
privileges," said Cole.
By secretively negotiating deals
and contracts, politicians are not only
undermining the very people they depend
on to attain their position, but also show
blatant disrespect for the institution of
which they are a part. They fail to uphold
the basic tenets outlined in the very
Constitution that they vow to adhere and
uphold.
However, admittedly, there is one
exception to the violation of American law.
"The only time a politician would be
justified in engaging in such a scandalous
affair would be if he/she is the President
of the United States and is acting in the
interest of national security," said Dimcan.
f.
Public Figure Profile
March 2013, reports surface of
Robert McDonnell accepting .
DONATIONS FROM JONNIE R.W1LLIAMS
Sr. for his daughter’s wedding,
TRAVEL, PERSONAL GIFTS, AND MORE
FBI INVESTIGATION AND GRAND JURY
PROBE BEGIN
McDonnell reports that all loans
TOWlLUAMS HAVE BEEN REPAID AND
GIFTS RETURNED TO WitUAMS
McDoNNEU and HIS WIFE ARE INDICTED
ON FEDERAL CORRUPTION CHARGES
Judge umits what McDonnell and
HIS WIFE CAN TALK TO FAMILY AND
FRIENDS ABOUT BEFORE TRIAL BEGINS
- CoURTESlf Of HUfRNGTONPOSr.COM
"For example, I think that though
President Obama did violate Pakistani
sovereignty during the raid on Bin Laden's
compound, he was acting in the best interest
of the public and thus was justified."
But engineering elaborate plots to exact
political revenge on an unsupportive mayor
or accepting funds and gifts for the sole
purpose of promoting certain businesses
is simply unacceptable and unjustifiable.
Such actions only illuminate the true
character of a person and his beliefs, and
we cannot accept or forgive them.
As Cole said, "Much work is left to be
done to build ... just and ethical political
and economic institutions.
"Part of the challenge is to embrace a
new model of leadership as service and
stewardship instead of leadership as power
and personal enrichment."
McCrory attacks poor, cuts unemployment benefits
House Bill Four has been signed into law by Governor
Pat McCrory, slashing unemployment benefits and cutting
170,(XX) unemployed North Carolinians from the program
with no hope of receiving federal aid.
Justifications for this sudden shift
in economic policy are flimsy at best,
ranging from McCror5r's illogical
allegations on worker migration to the
House and Senate's fiscally questionable
explanations of the state debt.
"We had the ninth-most generous
unemployment compensation in
the country, and we were having
a lot of people move here ... to get
unemployment and then work other
sectors and survive," said McCrory
during an interview on NC Spin.
Unfortunately for McCrory's case.
North Carolina's unemployment law
requires residents to be employed in a state for a minimum
of six out of the last 15 months to be eligible for benefits.
For a worker to move in-state, find a job and work for
six months only to quit their job to receive imemployment
benefits is an absurd proposition at best — one that cannot
possibly justify the drastic changes brought about by House
Bill Four.
Two senators who voted in favor of the bill presented a
different angle.
"If the General Assembly had failed to act, the state's debt
would not be paid off until 2019," said Senate Leader Phil
Berger and Senator Thom HUis in a joint statement issued
on Jan. 6.
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The bill aims to pay off a $2.5 billion loan fi"om the federal
government, given to North Carolina to help maintain
unemployment benefits during the economic recession.
Taking into consideration the recent cuts. North Carolina is
projected to pay back the loan by 2016, a three-year reduction.
However, Professor and Chair of Economics Bob Williams
said, "Those who saw benefits cut, cut back on spending and
go into their savings or debt."
This decrease in consumer spending would only further
destabilize our state's already firagjle economy.
Josh Weil, pr^ident of the Guilford College Democrats
club, said that he found the cuts "hard to justify."
"We will be in debt for a long time," said Weil. "What
about the single mother ... or father with three children?
What about right now?"
In addition to slashing state unemployment benefits, these
cuts also render North Carolina the only state in the U.S.
whose residents are ineligible for long-term federal benefits.
"It's not just a fiscal issue ... it was a mean move," said
Williams. "It was basically saying, 'We are not going to let
people get federal benefits.'"
Since the fiscal justifications for these cuts have fallen flat,
why were these changes really made?
While there have been allegations that the cuts were
motivated by racial factors, I would argue that dassism
played a much larger role.
By shifting the burden of the state debt onto the
unemployed, these cuts reduced taxation on wealthy upper
dass dtizens, bloating economic inequality to massive
proportions.
"This dedsion was part of a whole bunch of decisions that
were focused on helping the affluent and harming those who
are not," said Williams. >.
I, for one, am disgusted by our state's* dedsion to leave
170,000 people hopeless ^d* destitute, and I hope to
see public backlash strong enough to reverse these cuts
to unemployment benefits and battle against economic
inequality in North Carolina.