Trust

Trust is simply defined as belief in reliability and honesty. The thing is that trust isn’t very simple. We are called upon to have trust in many things and one of those is our government. First, let’s agree that our government is labeled as a representative republic. We elect people who we trust to go to Washington and make decisions on our behalf. Surprising how many people still answer that question with the word democracy.

Let’s look at some recent news that didn’t really become news. The Department of Justice recently revealed that a former US Agency for International Development (USAID) contracting manager and three colleagues agreed in 2013 to award government contracts totaling $550 million in exchange for personal enrichment. It was a simple agreement; they received massive bribes from the Florida businessman receiving the contracts. The DOJ has not been able to arrive at a number reflecting the bribes received, but the number is thought to be huge. These were taxpayer dollars being awarded in a non-competitive arrangement in order to make non-elected bureaucrats rich.

We have become numb to the exposure of these schemes, but maybe a little more aware with the work of Elon Musk and DOGE. We have been aware of this mismanagement since we heard about the first $200 commode seat in the 1970’s. We know our government has a monstrous appetite for spending our hard-earned dollars without the same management and financial rules we use. Sadly, we don’t trust our government to do the right thing anymore.

A National Election Study was started in the late ‘50’s to numerate the trust of Americans in their government. Starting in 1958 and through 1963 (Eisenhower and Kennedy) the trust factor was high at 73-77%. However, the Kennedy assassination was the catalyst that made the trust factor start to decrease. When Nixon waved from the helicopter in disgrace the survey noted the trust level at 36%. The number flatlined for the remainder of the century with a minor uptick with the Reagan years. The image of President Bush standing on the rubble of the World Trade Center brought a momentary increase to around 50%. Trust in our government has not risen above 30% since 2007.

As Republicans, we have hope that the second term of President Trump will again accompany an increase in our trust of government. We wait to see the impact of “promises made and promises kept”. I am writing this within 24 hours of the bombing of nuclear sites in Iran. President Trump gave 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear weapons program. He noted the end of this period on the 61st day. These are the actions of a president of integrity that does what he promises. Is this the beginning of a new era of trust in our government? Will we continue to hunt out and destroy corruption like the USAID scheme from our government? Will we start to trust that our government is focused on keeping our status as the greatest country on earth? I think that only time will allow us to build trust again.