L. Neil Smith Quotes

Why is there so much resistance among people who work in the Government to the seemingly obvious fact that, in our democracy, if the Government lies, it will eventually get caught

Any institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible is evil.

Secrecy in government, in the public mind, becomes synonymous with deception in government.

Surely we don’t want the President to lie, we don’t want our senators to lie, we don’t want our congressmen to lie. But sometimes they do.

I think anytime that somebody that works for the government lies, yes, they should be removed.

With every new class of representatives that comes to Congress, there is a greater recognition of the perils of private financing of campaigns. I believe that by pulling back the curtain on the daily pressures faced by members of Congress, we can show the public how critical this reform is to the salvation of our democracy.

The problem with Egypt is that there is no public trust. There is no trust, period.

When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility.

It's my father's legacy. My father's view was that the public is the employer of these government employees and has the right to know what they're up to.

Earmarks have become a symbol of a Congress that has broken faith with the people. This earmark ban shows the American people we are listening and we are dead serious about ending business as usual in Washington.

We have seen enough criminality on the part of government. It is hypocritical to make this allegation against me. They have narrowed the public sphere of influence.

I came to office promising major ethics reform to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is a law. While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for. That luxury jet was over-the-top. I put it on eBay.

People are so docile right now. It is almost as if good government means when the politicians lie to us for our own good, for the public good, and bad government is when politicians lie for their own selfish interests.

I am committed to working towards a more transparent, accountable, and ethical federal government worthy of the public's trust.

When scrutiny is lacking, tyranny, corruption and man's baser qualities have a better chance of entering into the public business of any government.

What we are missing, utterly and completely, in this government is accountability.

To restore and keep the public's confidence in the integrity of their government, state government and its officials must be open, honest and transparent.

I ask the vice president to stop dodging the issue with legalese, and acknowledge his continued ties with Halliburton to the American people.

It shouldn't take extreme courage and a willingness to go to prison for decades or even life to blow the whistle on bad government acts done in secret. But it does. And that is an immense problem for democracy, one that all journalists should be united in fighting.

People are entitled to believe the government is constantly lying to them, but it isn't.

It is in the public interest to know what our governors are up to. If they are up to doing good, then they are only too happy to let us know. When they are up to no good, they want that kept secret.

All officers of the Intelligence Community, and especially its most senior officer, must conduct themselves in a manner that earns and retains the public trust. The American people are uncomfortable with government activities that do not take place in the open, subject to public scrutiny and review.

Montanans elected me to the Senate to do away with shady backroom deals and to make government work better.

National security laws must protect national security. But they must also protect the public trust and preserve the ability of an informed electorate to hold its government to account.