[rbanffy]

> but we haven't yet lost our constitution or system of checks and balances.

> the problem we have today is the lack of willingness for those with the power to actually use them.

What they do is illegal, sure, but, unless they face consequences for that, they'll continue doing it. There are trillions of dollars to be made, and nothing to stand between them and the money.

> The issue of lying politicians is as old as governments.

It could be solved by making it a criminal offense (with attached loss of political rights and hefty prison time) to materially mislead the public while holding office (elected or nominated).

[_heimdall]

> It could be solved by making it a criminal offense to materially mislead the public while holding office

The problem would be how you define that in law and enforce it in the real world.

Its already hard enough to legally distinguish between a lie, misrepresentation, and someone telling what is wrong but they honestly believe to be true given what they know at the time. How do you define that?

And for politicians who are regularly working with state secrets, politically sensitive information, confidential/classified documents, etc how could you ever actually catch them in a lie?

[rbanffy]

> Its already hard enough to legally distinguish between a lie, misrepresentation, and someone telling what is wrong but they honestly believe to be true

You can’t and you shouldn’t. People in power need to be careful with the information they give the people they serve. If it’s wrong at the time it was communicated, too bad. The person should have been more careful.

[_heimdall]

I'm not sure how that could work. If we can't distinguish between those how would you write enforceable laws or regulations?

Its all well and good to have a blanket statement that politicians shouldn't lie. It entirely different to codify such an aspiration.