A Matter of Oaths and Pledges
I wrote this some time ago when we were holding elections in Virginia. And this whole idea of pledges has cropped up again. Several Congressional Republcans who previous signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge have decided that they will no longer abide by that pledge and about a dozen newly elected Republicans have refused to be conned into signing the pledge. Needless to say, Grover Norquist is a bit peeved.
The pledge of which I speak is the pledge is developed by Grover Norquist, founder of the Americans for Tax Reform
(ATR). Mr. Norquist, who has never held an elected office, has taken upon
himself to promulgate ATR’s no tax pledges to conservatives and now it is
almost a rite of passage for Republicans and their Tea Party comrades if they
wish to hold office at any level of government. If you are a Democrat
running in a Republican district, you can be assured that not signing the ATR
pledge will more than likely cost you the election. The Americans
for Tax Reform have gone so far as to tailor their pledge for governors, state
legislators, members of the U.S. Senate and member of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
This statement from the ATR’s website pretty much
tells the story:
“In the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, candidates and
incumbents solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases. While
ATR has the role of promoting and monitoring the Pledge, the Taxpayer
Protection Pledge is actually made to a candidate’s constituents, who are
entitled to know where candidates stand before sending them to the capitol.
Since the Pledge is a prerequisite for many
voters, it is considered binding as long as an individual holds the office for
which he or she signed the Pledge.”
In perusing the website of one Republican primary
candidate hoping to be the Republican senatorial candidate in the next general
election, I found that he equates Democrats with socialism and he states this
is why he is proud to announce he has signed ATR’s No Tax Pledge.
The pledge for state office legislators is
unequivocal in its wording.
“I, ________________________,
pledge to the
taxpayers of the _______ District of the state of ____________________
and all
the people of this state that I will oppose and vote against any and all
efforts to increase taxes.” [Emphasis supplied] http://www.atr.org/userfiles/StatePledge.pdf
Do you see any room in this pledge to negotiate or
compromise? I sure don’t.
Candidates sign pledges and make promises to
groups in order to gain their support, particularly support in the form
of funds to help finance ever costly campaigns. But there is a price to
pay for this.
Every time a candidate signs a pledge or makes a promise to some
special interest group, he or she has begun to paint themselves into a corner
when it comes to negotiating or compromising on anything to do with the “T”
word or increases in revenue.
And should an office holder violate this pledge,
it will come back to haunt him or her at the next primary election or the next
time there is a fundraiser. The ATR or special interest group will,
“grind his/her bones to make their bread.” The coffers will be bare and a
new candidate highly endorsed by the ATR or some interest group with deep
pockets will be the new favorite child, having sold his or her soul for a few
pieces of silver.
I can find nothing in the Constitution of the
United States or the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia requiring
elected official to make such pledges or promises.
The current oath U.S. senators and representatives
was enacted in 1884. It states:
“I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support
and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign
and domestic and that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to
the same; that I
take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation
or purpose of
evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office
on which I am about to enter: So help me God.” [Again, emphasis
supplied]
If they have pledged to the ATR or some other
special interest group that they will or won’t do something, then I must ask
how do they reconcile their oath of office that states they , “…take
this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of
evasion”? They have already obligated themselves to someone other than
the constituents who elected them and have pledged to do their
bidding. They are no longer free; when they raised their hand they had
mental reservations and they surely will evade their responsibility to, “well
and faithfully discharge the duties of the office” they are about to enter.
Article II, Section 7 of the Constitution of the
Commonwealth of Virginia simply requires that elected officials state,
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of
Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge
all duties incumbent upon me as _______________ according to the best of
my ability (so help me God).” [Emphasis supplied]
Here again is one little word that says the office
holder will be impartial in carrying out their duties, but they gave that
ability away when they signed that pledge or made that promise. They can
no longer be faithful to their office and their constituents since they have
foresworn their fealty to another group.
I believe that we should demand that any candidate who seeks our
support abandon all such pledges or promises and simply honor their oath of
office. They need not sign a pledge; their word will be their bond.
Then perhaps words like compromise and negotiate can return to the lexicons of
our elected officials free of any blemish.
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