It’s simple. Public servants need to be guided by the notion of being good stewards of the public’s money and trust.
That said, most are bought long before they ever reach national office, and they see throwing the public’s money around as simply “greasing the wheels”. Take Barney Frank, for instance. He has no qualms about spending billions and trillions, but he squealed like a pig when he was denied a $1 senior discount at some gay shindig with his “partner”. It only has value when it’s coming out of their own pockets, and they scratch their heads when the public complains when it’s coming out of theirs. Legislators routinely exempt themselves from the same rules they pass for “the little people” to fold under. They get a pass on blatant tax dodging when they should be hauled off to jail, pleading only ignorance, or the machinations of a program like TurboTax to fail to correctly calculate taxes owed.
