U.S. taxpayers: Should more public officials be jailed for negligence or corruption?

Question

Politicians of both parties debate whether to reduce taxes or improve services. In the meantime, though, taxes remain high and services (like maintaining bridges) are neglected. The nation is trillions of dollars in debt.

If a corporation took investors' money and couldn't account for it or lost it, someone would go to jail. Should more of our elected officials be treated the same way?

Answer 1

I strongly agree that more should be indicted for corruption -- that is something that can be objectively measured and it's easy enough to evaluate for frivolous claims.

Congress even has the ability to conduct its own hearings and expulsions for corruption. Article I Section 5: "Each House may ... punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member."

Negligence is more complicated -- since it doesn't actually required bad faith or malfeasance on the part of the official. And determining what a "reasonable" standard is can often be very difficult. On top of which, it opens up huge potential for frivolous lawsuits, as constituents try to substitute their judgment of what they think is good for the legal "reasonableness" standard.

So, I'd have more prosecutions and expulsions for intentional bad conduct, but leave them immune to negligence actions relating to the conduct of their office.