Any government employee (elected or appointed) speaking in the authority of their government position should be considered as under oath and any lies should be considered perjury with all expected consequences.
6 Likes
Agreed, full clarity and disclosure, of things that are going on, as long it’s not about the security of the country. No more double talk, on what ever they are talking about. It’s time all American’s are filling informed on things that government is doing.
Technically, when a government employee is first assigned to his/her elected position and takes an oath to serve, uphold, and defend the Constitution, that oath remains in effect for the duration of the time that he/she represents his/her public office in any official capacity – including when addressing the public.
Perhaps you might include some actionable teeth for this proposal, like having their written sworn oath made available to the people via some public watchdog website, while also allowing the American People to upload/document/track evidence of lies that were stated to the public, with concrete steps that the public might take to hold them accountable for such lies. Just my two cents. 
1 Like
We can’t take that one step feather, with the age of the Internet, have them take the oath on video, that we all can see and it will be there for over as well those of us who repost, save stuff, we can hold them accountable then.
Love this one.
No one should be required to live their live under oath. If this was implemented, Republicans, being in general more interest in preserving and enhancing our government according to the Constitution, would be loathe to enforce it. Democrats would use it ruthlessly.
I cannot endorse this one.
I didnt realize that government employees “lived their lives” speaking publically.
Since it is such a short period of time “in their lives” and “while in office”, I think I can agree that when they read their carefully scripted speech to the public, that there be no lies purposely put into the script ahead of time. I don’t think “planning in advance to tell the truth” is a terrible burden on someone who spends enormous sums of money just to get into that position in the first place. 
Few government employees
compared to the total number of government employees ever engage in speaking publicly but many do, i.e. Press Secretaries, Communication Directors, many positions of authority and all elected officials. I did not imagine that this would apply to, for example, a part time Tax Examiner at the Memphis IRS office. If its meant to, then I go from not endorsing to actively opposing.
Have you ever been deposed? I have. It is not fun. It is a harrowing experience. This was a situation where there was no wrong doing on our side, I had nothing to hide, and yet with the spotlight on me, every word recorded, I feared the innocent mistaken word or misrembered fact. Our lawyer had advised me of how treacherous being under oath can be before I took the oath.
For this policy idea, we need to step back and remember the serious implications of being under oath. Its can and has been used unethically to ensnare public officials for innocuous differences in testimony unrelated to the subject of the testimony and caused by genuine lapses of memory.
No one would want to run for office or accept a government position where they were perpetually under oath.
Your point is well taken – I would certainly not entertain a govt position under those conditions…lol!
Ultimately we need our representatives to stop lying. Stop lying about what they’ve done, stop lying about what their opponent has done, stop lying about how a law will be implemented, who it will help or hurt and who will pay for it. Just stop lying. If it is too much of a burden to be required to be truthful when you represent the US citizens in OUR government then you should not BE in our Government.
So where do we place our bets…
…on politicians not lyin’,
…or when pigs start flyin’?
Seems like a flip-of-the-coin to me! 