Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 22 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
The people who oversee the largest budget in the world, who are in charge of an entity ultimately responsible for the largest number of employees in the U.S., and who are put in charge specifically to represent constituents somehow have no broad fiduciary duty — Congress.
asserted
who → oversee → duty
In most large businesses, and certainly every publicly traded one, a board of directors is put in place to represent that business’s stakeholders.
asserted
board → trade → stakeholders
This is referred to as a fiduciary duty, which in layman’s terms, is a legal obligation to act in the best interests of those you represent.
asserted
you → refer → those
It also comes with consequences, because as a fiduciary, you can be sued for putting your interests ahead of those you represent or for negligence or bad judgment.
asserted
you → come → negligence
Fiduciary relationships come into place not only in companies, but for certain financial advisory relationships and trustees as well.
asserted
relationships → come → relationships
The fiduciary relationship is a legal one, which means those in charge must legally act honestly and with care, avoid conflicts of interest and be trustworthy to the parties they represent.
asserted
they → mean → parties
Somehow, Congress has managed to avoid this.
asserted
Congress → manage → this
Sure, they take a "moral" oath and have some fairly weak, in my opinion, disclosure and ethics rules.
asserted
they → take → rules
But the people who are in charge of making laws and passing budgets (if you can call regular and overwhelming overspending a "budget") have no true legal, fiduciary role.
asserted
you → make → role
We have seen and paid the price for this.
asserted
We → see → this
The national debt exceeds $40 trillion.
asserted
debt → exceed → trillion
Congress spends around $7 trillion a year, $2 trillion more than it takes in.
asserted
it → spend → trillion
They have been at the center of driving massive inflation for the American people.
asserted
They → drive → people
We, as a country, are now paying more for the interest on our debt than we are for the defense of our country, the latter being one legitimate thing government should be doing.
asserted
government → pay → country
We have seen Congress write and pass laws that tip the scales in favor of certain groups at the expense of others.
asserted
that → see → others
We have seen them enrich themselves through stock trading (despite the STOCK Act of 2012).
asserted
them → see → 2012
We have seen calls for term limits, an issue which the majority of Americans favor, be ignored, sometimes even leaving members of Congress with clearly diminished capacity in their roles.
asserted
majority → see → roles
As I have written about previously, I am often asked if the national debt crisis is solvable.
asserted
crisis → write → ?
And the answer comes always in two parts: we do have the tools to do so, but we do not have the political structure to do so.
asserted
we → come → structure
If Congress has no obligation to do what is in our best interest instead of theirs, if we cannot hold them accountable for misdeeds, and if our only real recourse is threatening to vote them out of office, nothing is going to change.
It is truly not right that those who act in the capacity of others on serious legal and financial matters in the private sector have a fiduciary obligation to those they represent, yet the behemoth that our government has become bears no such obligation, including from those who represent the American people.
asserted
who → have → people
When individuals bear no requirement to act in the best interests of those they represent, and they are given access to great power and other people’s money, of course, we are going to end up with massive debt and a dysfunctional country.
asserted
we → bear → debt
We should require care, trust and duty from our representatives.
asserted
We → require → representatives
The Aporia
