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03/31/2005: "Wise Counsel from the White House Ethical Advisor"

A President should frequently consult with his White House Ethical Advisor. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be one, but let’s imagine that there is. Given the questionable ethical standing of most core Bush Administration policies, he or she would have to be, shall we say, “out of the mainstream” of the established academic discipline of ethics. What would that look like?
Q: I am a Chief Executive of a Major Western Hemisphere Superpower. It’s been twenty years since my predecessors first starting running up deficits to improve the economy. The children of that time have reached voting age, but the dollars we borrowed to make ends meet still have not been paid back. It is now virtually inevitable that these children and their children will be paying interest on that debt their entire lives. In the meantime I’m pushing through tax cuts whose deficits will drive the debt up to even higher levels, levels that would have been unimaginable when we started all of this. Are we really doing the right thing to push off so much of the burden of our spending to our children and grandchildren?
A: Screw ‘em! We’re sitting on a political goldmine and all I hear is whining. Get your ass out there and find another tax to cut!
(Editorial note: given the existence of well-attended prayer meetings in the Bush White House, a coarse epithet like “Screw ‘em!” would probably not be used there. In fairness to the Administration, we must admit that a kindler, gentler phrase would be more likely, something like “Heck with ‘em!” We regret the error).