What's A Lie Got To Do With It.

       There's something that's been bothering me for a while now. Our government has seen fit to protect us from liars. We have laws covering truth in lending and laws covering truth in advertising and a few more I can't even remember. But if you are trying to sell a product or service, you can't go out and make claims about it that are wildly untrue. Not all that long ago a yogurt maker had to prove its product did help you.
       The government has been very judicious about making sure that people and companies and banks can't tell you one thing and then do something else. But when it comes to politicians and especially donors, big donors, well they get a bye. Politicians can lie through their teeth and nothing is done about it. Folks who pay for attack ads can lie in those ads and it seems to be okay with the government.
       What if those ads had to be proven completely true before they could be run? What if a politician who lied had to pay a fine, just like anybody else? Well of course, that isn't the way it works. The way it works is some rich out of state billionaire gets to place ads about some local politician, destroy somebody's reputation  and it's okay. It was all in fun. Just playing politics. No harm intended.
       The next time you talk to your banker, ask him what's involved for him to comply with those truth in lending laws. Is it costly to him? Check out Dannon Activia to see how much it cost them to prove their ads were accurate. Then talk to a congressman who just got elected last time around because his SuperPack lied about his opponent. Ask him how much it cost him to lie. Why, it's just the cost of good government.
       So why is it that politicians have the right to lie on air and in print? Why aren't they called to a higher degree of honesty? Simply put, the reason they lie so much is because they can lie without recrimination. Why is that? Because its politicians that write the laws. No liar wants to punish himself.