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Muftic – Take the Hypocratic Oath

Felicia Muftic/My View
Grand County CO Colorado

One of the solemn rites of assuming a position of power is taking an oath that one will live up to high standards in discharge of duties. Physicians take the Oath of Hippocrates, swearing that they would save lives, and do what we expect doctors to do. Our public officials take oaths of office, as well. Doctors, by and large, live up to their oaths.

The oaths our public officials take, sadly, are sometimes are forgotten, especially members of Congress. Perhaps their political oaths need to be rewritten to make them easier to uphold. I do not mean swearing to abide by some ideological interpretation of the Constitution or laws, or attempting to live up to campaign promises. I propose they are sworn in with one or more of the Oaths of Hypocrites that I am proposing. It would come far more naturally to them. At least we would have a fighting chance the oaths would be upheld.

Here is my list of Hypocritical Oaths (including ifs, ands and buts) from which members of Congress could choose. Better still, voters could assign the most appropriate ones to individual members:



“I solemnly swear to promote bipartisanship, provided it does not upset the extreme base of my party and so long as they do not call me a (Republican, Democrat … pick one) in name only.

“I pledge to support simple majority rule in the Senate if it applies to important legislation my party has supported in the past or I support now. All other legislation should require 60 to 70 percent votes to pass.



“I pledge to join with my caucus to vote against any legislative initiative proposed by the President and I will continue to criticize him for being ineffective

“I pledge to support common sense solutions to problems: I will ignore Congressional Budget Office projected cost increases or any offsetting cost savings, if they do not prove my point.

“I solemnly swear to change the way Washington does business and I will oppose any backroom deals to help pass legislation – especially if I am not in the back room and if it does not benefit my state/district too. I will vote against earmarks … as long as they benefit other districts

“I oppose any changes to tax structure that would redistribute wealth in a way similar to what existed in the Reagan or Clinton eras

I oppose any expansion of government that would provide socialistic programs, Medicare and Social Security excepted.

“I pledge to vote for reducing the size of government, while supporting giving our military every thing they request and never touching Medicare or Social Security.

“I pledge to fight spending taxpayer money for any new government programs even though they save money in the long run.

“I pledge to support all tax cut proposals for small businesses and families, except those proposed by the other party.

“I pledge to support Wall Street reform and consumer protection legislation provided they do not interfere with their doing business as they have in the past.

“I pledge to fight for all hard working, struggling middle class Americans so long as we define the middle class as those on Wall Street and those making any amount of money.

“I pledge to vote against stimulus spending, as long as I can still take credit for federal spending in my district.

“I pledge to promote a bright future for our children, by cutting taxes and reducing spending on education.

“I pledge to support starting over with health care reform, provided that what takes its place does not cost taxpayers a dime, does not regulate health insurance companies, and only benefits those who already have insurance they can afford and/or those who do not have pre-existing conditions.

“I solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States , as long as we can still torture, suspend civil liberties and spy on each other

“I pledge to support negotiation as a tool of diplomacy provided we only negotiate with our friends or our enemies who agree to our terms in advance

“I pledge to support our troops … as long as they are not Gay or Lesbian

“I solemnly swear to uphold the highest moral and ethical standards, so long as they do not apply to my spouse, my family or my campaign contributions, or the chair of important committees

“I promise to support all campaign reform measures to bring honesty to the election process, including the first amendment rights of corporations to become more involved in our democracy.

“I pledge to reject all PAC money, but I welcome campaign donations from everyone else

“I pledge to support transparency and openness in government, and C Span coverage of all meetings, so long as it does not make me look like a hypocrite and I can get my talking points on TV.”

 

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