Ethics, Integrity, and Commonsense
As a lifelong businessman, I can tell you that you don’t get far by taking advantage of people, being greedy, or just being dishonest. A reputation is a difficult thing to earn but an easy thing to lose.
Trust is foundational to success. This is every bit as true of the public trust as it is of a business relationship. Gary VanDeaver is now learning this lesson which he should have already known.
It is hard to overstate how egregiously Gary Van-Deaver has betrayed the public trust. As Governor Greg Abbott said back in February, “Gary VanDeaver is a fraud.” And that was before he learned that Van-Deaver had been on the take, getting paid for his votes by the people who most benefit, the education lobby.
When the news broke that Gary VanDeaver was voting for taxpayer-funded lobbying while working as a taxpayer-funded lobbyist, a flabbergasted Governor Abbott simply responded, “This is shocking.”
That’s the right word, Governor. If I were to add a couple more, “arrogant,” “greedy,” and “unethical” all come to mind. The word that best describes his behavior, however, is simply “corrupt.”
As the Governor rightly observed, “It’s time to elect someone who will work for the constituents of House District 1 as opposed to working for themselves.”
As your next representative, that is precisely what I intend to do. I grew up being taught the important lessons of being honest, living with integrity, and doing right by the people who have placed their trust in you.
No one gifted by voters with the public trust should profit off their position. Sadly, this is a lesson that Gary either never learned, or simply ignored when a
pile of special interest money was waved under his nose. Either way, we all deserve better.
Two weeks ago, I signed the “Contract with Texas” to bring necessary reforms to how our government is run. It is time to make it illegal for an elected representative of the people to play both sides for profit. That is why I am pushing to add this reform to the contract.
It’s a reform born of commonsense and common decency whose time has come.
Our democratic institutions are precious, sacred, and essential for Texans to thrive. Corruption not only undermines the public trust, but it also erodes the foundations of these institutions.
When the Gary VanDeavers of the world can put their finger on the scale for personal profit, it makes us all a little less free, a little less prosperous, and a little less trusting in the idea of “We the people.”
Our republic doesn’t belong to Gary VanDeaver and it doesn’t belong to his deep pocketed paymasters. It belongs to us.
“What form of government?” a woman asked Ben Franklin as he left the Second Continental Congress.
“A republic, ma’am, if you can keep it.”
Corrupt politicians unchecked by a vigilant and moral public is exactly what old Ben feared.