12 Sep

America’s Uncredible Government

“Every form of government invites corruption…, but not every government allows corruption to go unchecked.” – The Lonely Realist

America’s government in 2026 is corrupt. And the corruption isn’t limited to a single branch. It encompasses the President, the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court.

The foundation of American democracy is a balancing of power among the three branches. While recent Presidents have extended their power (including, among other things, by issuing unconstitutional Executive Orders, spending recklessly, and building regulatory empires), neither Congress nor the Supreme Court has stepped up to correct Presidential overreach. They instead have ignored their legislative and Constitutional responsibilities and reveled in partisanship. The Balance of Power among America’s three branches of government accordingly has broken down.

Adherence to the Rule of Law has been America’s differentiator, the foundation for successful American democracy. The Rule of Law is the reason why America has been history’s most durable democracy with the world’s free-est press and most successful economy. No other country has observed the Rule of Law in the same way or to the same extent as America. While most have given it lip service, honoring it only in the breach, America has been an enthusiastic adherent.

That’s not to say that corruption hasn’t existed in America’s government. What it does say is that respect for the Rule of Law has been paramount, revered by the American public, enforced by America’s Congress and courts, and extolled by its elected leaders. It is that Rule of Law and the commitment of America’s three branches of government to uphold it, that kept a lid on corruption. That lid now has blown off.

On the last day of his Presidency, in an act that ignored his pledge to uphold the Rule of Law, Joe Biden preemptively pardoned 5 members of his family and a bevy of Trump opponents, granting them clemency for acts no prosecutor had alleged, for which no charges had been filed, and with respect to which no judicial decisions had been rendered. President Biden’s pardons were unprecedented…, but they were followed by President Trump’s even more unprecedented pardons the next day, his first day in office, when he issued “complete and unconditional pardons” to (and otherwise commuted the sentences of) all 1,500 individuals who had participated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, including the 172 who had pled guilty for attacking police. The President thereafter continued an active pardoning campaign by issuing additional pardons to the many existing and newfound Trump supporters who chose a pay-to-play option. Although the President and his supporters received significant financial and political benefits from those pardons, the President’s execution of crypto and business deals during his first 600 days as President was even more unprecedented/significant, providing him, his family and his friends with billions of Dollars in profits. This is not the way America’s government should operate and was not the intent of the Founders when they authored the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause.

President Trump also has exercised his executive power to:

• Appoint friends, supporters and acolytes to senior government positions whether or not they have experience or qualifications for their positions.
• Decide which laws will be enforced and which will not be enforced and apply government resources accordingly.
• Decide where to allocate Federal Dollars despite Congressional spending mandates.
• Refuse entry to America based on, well, anything, and encourage entry to America based on, well, anything, including race, religion, national origin and wealth.
• Unilaterally impose tariff taxes.
• Eliminate the use of certain words and penalize those in private industry who use those words.
• Rename Federal agencies, bodies of water and buildings.
• Take retribution on enemies by utilizing or terminating the use of selected Justice Department, Treasury Department, ICE, FEMA, CDC, Secret Service and other government agency resources.
• Deploy America’s armed forces in the U.S.
• Have a birthday parade…, with tanks.
• Hire and fire government employees without regard to legal requirements.

The President is not alone in ignoring legal and Constitutional niceties. Congress, too, has its Rule of Law and ethical challenges. In addition to the power, stature and influence of being a member of Congress, membership comes with lavish benefits not found in the private sector: a generous salary ($174,000/year); unparalleled business connections with no limitations on insider trading; little actual work obligations (up to 239 days off each year); Romanesque working conditions; an expense account of up to $3.3 million/year; all-expenses-paid “fact-finding” trips; a sizable staff that doesn’t exclude include family or friends; exceptional medical, dental and retirement perks; moonlighting options; free transportation; and a family death benefit. It’s no wonder that members of Congress stop at nothing to retain their Party’s support or that corporations and special interest groups spend lavishly to buy their support by financing the re-election of those who protect and enhance their interests. Presidents may be limited to two terms under the 22^nd Amendment (although some profess disbelief in such limitation), but members of Congress can serve indefinitely…, and they frequently do.

Supreme Court Justices, as well, can and often do serve for life…, as the deaths-in-office of Justices Ginsburg, Scalia and Rehnquist attest. Like their Congressional brethren, they too are not subject to insider trading limitations and receive lavish benefits. However, although the President and members of Congress are subject to some (albeit flexible) ethics rules and must be reelected by their constituents based on their performance, Supreme Court Justices are not subject to the same rules. As a consequence, as an investigation by ProPublica revealed, at least one Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, has been the beneficiary of millions of Dollars of undisclosed gifts and financial favors from wealthy patrons who have benefited from the Justice’s rulings, a situation that many believe requires the Supreme Court to impose ethics rules on its Justices, which it has not (as yet?) done.

Although America’s democracy purportedly favors hiring government employees based on their merit – including for Federal judgeships, State Department staff, Federal agency employees, and military leaders –, President Trump instead has been selecting appointees and government employees based on their loyalty under the spoils system whereby jobs are given only to supporters, friends and family members. Those pre-existing government employees who were not among the President’s supporters, friends or family have been terminated (or soon will be).

Americans have taken note, with one poll showing that 89% believe that government corruption today is rampant. That’s an increase of 50% since 2006 and means that Americans’ perceptions of their country’s level of corruption currently (and for the first time in its history) exceeds that of every other OECD country. Readers should ponder that trend.

Finally (from a good friend)