Both Thomas Hobbes (b. 1588, d. 1679) and John Locke (b. 1632, d. 1704) had lives shaped by civil war (1642-1651), motivating both to consider in turn the nature of a Social Contract between citizens and their leaders. Essentially, both men asked whether a population was obligated to obey the dictates of bad leaders or even to remain under their control.
Enter Tiffany Henyard
Disregarding the implications of her name, I’ll note that Tiffany Henyard appears through her controversial decisions to be an example of a bad leader. As mayor of Dolton, Illinois since 2021 and as Thornton Township supervisor since 2022, Henyard, according to Wikipedia and other reporting sources, has become embroiled in “scandals involving allegations of financial mismanagement, corruption, fraud, and other misconduct. She has been at odds with the majority of the village's Board of Trustees. In early 2024, the Illinois Attorney General’s office office began scrutinizing Henyard's activities as mayor and her nonprofit organization. The FBI also interviewed witnesses and subpoenaed records related to Henyard's alleged corruption. Henyard is also under civil investigation by the Illinois department of Human Rights, and is a defendant in a number of lawsuits.”—Wikipedia
A NY Post headline reads: “‘Dolton Dictator’ Mayor Tiffany Henyard throws extravagant, star-studded $85K town party — then pouts when colleagues pull plug on other events” --https://nypost.com/2024/09/11/us-news/tiffany-henyard-has-time-of-her-life-at-85k-town-party/
So, what to do? What to do? But what can the people do short of letting lawsuits, challenges, and election cycles run their courses? It’s the Social Contract to which we all agreed.
Essentially, we elect from among us those we entrust with the common treasure and common interests, such as safety. But of recent, we have seen political leaders using, as Henyard has used, public safety officials for personal safety. And we have seen public officials—most notably in the GSA’s $800,000 Las Vegas party—have to resign over misuse of public funds. *
The Financial Contract
Hobbes and Locke wrote in a time before governments grew to leviathan size, so large that no one can oversee all that goes on. That’s the condition of not just the American federal government, but also the condition of state and local governments, as the Henyard scandals indicate. The ordinary citizen has neither the wherewithal nor the time to investigate every expenditure that elected officials and their governments make.
For Hobbes and Locke the Social Contract centered in human rights, guaranteed under Locke’s thinking by a constitutional government. Neither political philosopher knew the kind of misuse of public funds by “elected” officials and government employees. They saw the extravagance under monarchical rule, but not under the “people’s rule.” Both philosophers laid the groundwork for a “people’s rule,” without the safeguards for the people’s money.
We can’t trust them.
We can’t trust them. Or, so it seems. Fraud is rampant in modern governments, best exemplified in a report by the Covid-19 Fraud Task Force.
CFETF’s coordinated approach has resulted in:
• Over 3,500 defendants criminally charged
• Over 400 civil settlements and judgments
• Over $1.4 billion in fraudulently obtained CARES Act funds seized or
forfeited **
And what of those “stimulus bills” passed under the Obama and Biden administrations? Yep. Fraud. ***
We need officials to sign a Financial Contract when they assume office. Otherwise, we allow fiscal ignorance, such as that displayed over the past four years to put us further in debt while enriching special interest groups and fraudsters (some foreigners). History tells us that a Kamala Harris Presidency would simply further the irresponsible and extravagant use of public funds. She intends to comply with Green New Deal principles that would have us spend billions on reducing temperatures across the planet by an unknown percentage, a reduction in rate of temperature rise that no one can quantify because of the unaccounted for natural variability and selective and often fraudulent data based on a 150-year incomplete and inaccurate record of temperature on a 4.5 billion-year-old planet.
But, Alas…
But Democrats and Republicans have committed themselves to or resigned themselves to government waste and fraud. Big government fosters waste. And because the money comes from lending sources and taxes in the general fund, few individuals—especially on the Left side of the aisle—seem to care or even be aware. But Republicans are also to blame. If I recall accurately, George Bush II didn’t use his veto power to quash inordinate spending.
That Trump wants Elon Musk to oversee government waste and fraud is reasonable idea, but the government already has Inspectors General and task forces whose job is to protect the common treasure. The problem, of course, lies in corruption spawned by unaccountability. Those scams and fraudulent uses of stimulus and Covid-19 money are evidence that the Inspectors General and task forces are always playing catchup, just as most policing takes place after the crime.
How do we prevent fiscal irresponsibility before leaders like Henyard and Harris waste our money? Just don’t put them in office. But, of course, we’re still stuck with big government that will buy too many paperclips or hire too many federal employees whose jobs involve duplicate services or unnecessary ones like the jobs in the Education Department that don’t involve educating anyone.
Hobbes and Locke would be appalled by the big governments of today. The Social Contract they believed would protect the individual doesn’t exist. The government can use the resources of the collective without limitations while imposing limitations on individual freedoms.
An Anecdote
In the early years of the Bush II administration, a Democrat state legislator called me in to Harrisburg to discuss my redoing a study on greenhouse gas emissions I had done for the PA Energy Office and the US EPA. That’s not the point here. He was young and energetic but somewhat disillusioned. He told me he had gotten into politics to prevent government waste, but when he got to Harrisburg, he felt overwhelmed. He said the “spending was already beyond control.” It was too big. Legislators could use their so-called “walking around money” on any project they wished. Across all the legislators that amounted to millions of dollars. Some gave their WAM to local communities for events like parades in the hope they were buying votes. There was no way to control this discretionary spending.
Think now of the Biden-Harris attempt to pay for college loans. Think of the Harris plan to give $25,000 toward the purchase of a home. We need people to sign a Financial Contract or a Fiscal Contract, and we need them to comply with the provisions of that contract. Otherwise, we’ll never achieve a viable Social Contract that will protect individuals.
*See https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/04/gsa-threw-800000-party-and-all-you-got-was-bill/329797/&psig=AOvVaw2n3IqHLfnS7fRQBAACkOa9&ust=1726314709548000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CAYQrpoMahcKEwjgp_PJ7b-IAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBA
**See the COVID-19 FRAUD ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE 2024 REPORT
APRIL 2024
*** https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://apnews.com/article/pandemic-fraud-waste-billions-small-business-labor-fb1d9a9eb24857efbe4611344311ae78&psig=AOvVaw08ZYxg4hI5iekuA71Q_FEc&ust=1726316149547000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CAYQrpoMahcKEwiY4Kv48r-IAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBA
Enter Tiffany Henyard
Disregarding the implications of her name, I’ll note that Tiffany Henyard appears through her controversial decisions to be an example of a bad leader. As mayor of Dolton, Illinois since 2021 and as Thornton Township supervisor since 2022, Henyard, according to Wikipedia and other reporting sources, has become embroiled in “scandals involving allegations of financial mismanagement, corruption, fraud, and other misconduct. She has been at odds with the majority of the village's Board of Trustees. In early 2024, the Illinois Attorney General’s office office began scrutinizing Henyard's activities as mayor and her nonprofit organization. The FBI also interviewed witnesses and subpoenaed records related to Henyard's alleged corruption. Henyard is also under civil investigation by the Illinois department of Human Rights, and is a defendant in a number of lawsuits.”—Wikipedia
A NY Post headline reads: “‘Dolton Dictator’ Mayor Tiffany Henyard throws extravagant, star-studded $85K town party — then pouts when colleagues pull plug on other events” --https://nypost.com/2024/09/11/us-news/tiffany-henyard-has-time-of-her-life-at-85k-town-party/
So, what to do? What to do? But what can the people do short of letting lawsuits, challenges, and election cycles run their courses? It’s the Social Contract to which we all agreed.
Essentially, we elect from among us those we entrust with the common treasure and common interests, such as safety. But of recent, we have seen political leaders using, as Henyard has used, public safety officials for personal safety. And we have seen public officials—most notably in the GSA’s $800,000 Las Vegas party—have to resign over misuse of public funds. *
The Financial Contract
Hobbes and Locke wrote in a time before governments grew to leviathan size, so large that no one can oversee all that goes on. That’s the condition of not just the American federal government, but also the condition of state and local governments, as the Henyard scandals indicate. The ordinary citizen has neither the wherewithal nor the time to investigate every expenditure that elected officials and their governments make.
For Hobbes and Locke the Social Contract centered in human rights, guaranteed under Locke’s thinking by a constitutional government. Neither political philosopher knew the kind of misuse of public funds by “elected” officials and government employees. They saw the extravagance under monarchical rule, but not under the “people’s rule.” Both philosophers laid the groundwork for a “people’s rule,” without the safeguards for the people’s money.
We can’t trust them.
We can’t trust them. Or, so it seems. Fraud is rampant in modern governments, best exemplified in a report by the Covid-19 Fraud Task Force.
CFETF’s coordinated approach has resulted in:
• Over 3,500 defendants criminally charged
• Over 400 civil settlements and judgments
• Over $1.4 billion in fraudulently obtained CARES Act funds seized or
forfeited **
And what of those “stimulus bills” passed under the Obama and Biden administrations? Yep. Fraud. ***
We need officials to sign a Financial Contract when they assume office. Otherwise, we allow fiscal ignorance, such as that displayed over the past four years to put us further in debt while enriching special interest groups and fraudsters (some foreigners). History tells us that a Kamala Harris Presidency would simply further the irresponsible and extravagant use of public funds. She intends to comply with Green New Deal principles that would have us spend billions on reducing temperatures across the planet by an unknown percentage, a reduction in rate of temperature rise that no one can quantify because of the unaccounted for natural variability and selective and often fraudulent data based on a 150-year incomplete and inaccurate record of temperature on a 4.5 billion-year-old planet.
But, Alas…
But Democrats and Republicans have committed themselves to or resigned themselves to government waste and fraud. Big government fosters waste. And because the money comes from lending sources and taxes in the general fund, few individuals—especially on the Left side of the aisle—seem to care or even be aware. But Republicans are also to blame. If I recall accurately, George Bush II didn’t use his veto power to quash inordinate spending.
That Trump wants Elon Musk to oversee government waste and fraud is reasonable idea, but the government already has Inspectors General and task forces whose job is to protect the common treasure. The problem, of course, lies in corruption spawned by unaccountability. Those scams and fraudulent uses of stimulus and Covid-19 money are evidence that the Inspectors General and task forces are always playing catchup, just as most policing takes place after the crime.
How do we prevent fiscal irresponsibility before leaders like Henyard and Harris waste our money? Just don’t put them in office. But, of course, we’re still stuck with big government that will buy too many paperclips or hire too many federal employees whose jobs involve duplicate services or unnecessary ones like the jobs in the Education Department that don’t involve educating anyone.
Hobbes and Locke would be appalled by the big governments of today. The Social Contract they believed would protect the individual doesn’t exist. The government can use the resources of the collective without limitations while imposing limitations on individual freedoms.
An Anecdote
In the early years of the Bush II administration, a Democrat state legislator called me in to Harrisburg to discuss my redoing a study on greenhouse gas emissions I had done for the PA Energy Office and the US EPA. That’s not the point here. He was young and energetic but somewhat disillusioned. He told me he had gotten into politics to prevent government waste, but when he got to Harrisburg, he felt overwhelmed. He said the “spending was already beyond control.” It was too big. Legislators could use their so-called “walking around money” on any project they wished. Across all the legislators that amounted to millions of dollars. Some gave their WAM to local communities for events like parades in the hope they were buying votes. There was no way to control this discretionary spending.
Think now of the Biden-Harris attempt to pay for college loans. Think of the Harris plan to give $25,000 toward the purchase of a home. We need people to sign a Financial Contract or a Fiscal Contract, and we need them to comply with the provisions of that contract. Otherwise, we’ll never achieve a viable Social Contract that will protect individuals.
*See https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/04/gsa-threw-800000-party-and-all-you-got-was-bill/329797/&psig=AOvVaw2n3IqHLfnS7fRQBAACkOa9&ust=1726314709548000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CAYQrpoMahcKEwjgp_PJ7b-IAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBA
**See the COVID-19 FRAUD ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE 2024 REPORT
APRIL 2024
*** https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://apnews.com/article/pandemic-fraud-waste-billions-small-business-labor-fb1d9a9eb24857efbe4611344311ae78&psig=AOvVaw08ZYxg4hI5iekuA71Q_FEc&ust=1726316149547000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CAYQrpoMahcKEwiY4Kv48r-IAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBA
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