ProEthics, an ethics training and consulting firm based in the Washington D.C. area, has announced its "Untrustworthy Twenty." The list includes the ethics firm's selections for most untrustworthy candidates for Congress, the Senate, and governorships around the country, and includes the "untrustworthiness' factors that resulted in the candidates inclusion

 More than just an exercise, the list has a serious purpose. As ProEthics president and ethicist Jack Marshall explains in the article on the ProEthics legal commentary blog Ethics Alarms:

"The key word, in ethics, in government, in all relationships that matter, is trust..For decades, the American public's trust in its elected representatives and governmental institutions—and other critical institutions like the news media and the legal system—has been in steep decline. The decline in trust has occurred because a significant proportion of America's elected leaders have not been trustworthy, and the reason this has been true is that American voters have thus far refused to make proof of ethical values their main priority in electing them. Because politicians know this, they feel empowered to engage in corruption, self-enrichment and deception in the confidence that partisan supporters will vote for them anyway, as long as they mouth the same policy positions and deliver their quota of pork, earmarks, and government contracts...For most voters, over all, this approach still works, at least at the polls, so obviously untrustworthy officials continue to be elected, and by their conduct continue to destroy public trust...If we elect representatives who are untrustworthy, we are likely to be betrayed sooner or later, one way or the other. Worse, we send the message to future candidates, both in and out of office, that integrity and honesty don't matter to voters

Just as addressing America's fiscal crisis will take hard measures and sacrifice, addressing its equally dangerous crisis in trust requires sacrifice too. It will require voters to establish the principle that being "effective," experienced or having the "right" policy positions will not be enough to justify electing or re-electing individuals who are demonstrably trustworthy. Voters must establish untrustworthiness as absolutely disqualifying a candidate for election to public office. Any ethical, honest candidate with integrity must be seen as per se preferable to a corrupt, dishonest or unethical candidate, regardless of past achievements or policy views."

The list, which Marshall notes cannot possibly include all untrustworthy candidates but merely "the worst of the worst," contains incumbents and challengers from both parties, as well as independents, and an explanation of what earned each candidate his or her designation

 The list, with a sample of Marshall's commentary:

 1. Alvin Greene (D., U.S. Senate, S.C.): "We like to say that anyone can run for office in America, but not everyone should. If someone wished to run for office with no qualifications whatsoever, like Greene, he is ethically obligated to give voters some legitimate, articulate, candid information about who he is, what he stands for, and why he deserves their trust, Greene has refused to do this, or is unable to."

2. Christine O'Donnell (GOP, U.S. Senate, Delaware): O'Donnell combines Greene's lack of qualifications with her own lack of candor and honesty. "It seems clear that she has misused campaign funds, and has repeatedly lied about her educational background and credentials. She has made sweeping comments about the primacy of the Constitution, and yet has not invested the time and diligent study necessary to know and understand the document at the center of her campaign."

3. Richard Blumenthal (D., U.S. Senate, Connecticut): "His repeated lies, the especially revolting nature of his lies, plus his refusal to admit that they were lies, should disqualify him for office."

4. Rep. Joe Wilson (R., House, S.C.): "He shouted 'You lie!' during a presidential address to ...America has had many politically-charged policy debates and many controversial presidents, but no Congressman has ever shown so little respect for the head of our government, or such contempt for the dignity and traditions of the institution of Congress

5. Rep. Alan Grayson, (D., House, Fla.): Grayson is the most uncivil member of Congress, and proud of it.. He is an extreme advocate of Nixon and Tom DeLay-style combat ethics: whatever works is "right." Such leaders can never be trusted; indeed, they are dangerous."

6. Mark Kirk, (R., House, Ill.): "Another serial liar, who has misrepresented his military honors and work history to the extent that would justly get him fired from most executive positions."

7. Rep. Charles Rangel, (D.,House, N.Y.) "It is beyond dispute that he has accepted financial favors, abused his power and influence for personal gain, and failed to pay taxes, despite chairing the House Ways and Means Committee. Because of his prominence and seniority, he is also a role model and Congressional leader, whose corrupt and unethical conduct does special damage, corrupting the institution and other members by making wrongful acts appear routine and excusable." 

8. Gov. Charlie Crist, (I., U.S. Senate, Fla.): "A former conservative Republican who was beaten in the primary by a Tea Party candidate, Crist refused to accept the verdict of his party's voters, launched an independent candidacy, and worst of all, flipped on many key issues that he had strongly advocated as a Republican. This is not enlightenment, but rather cynical opportunism that shows a politician who is determined to achieve power and will re-invent his principles to accomplish that goal."

9. Eddie Bernice Johnson, (D., House, Tx.): "Rep. Johnson took scholarship money designated by the Congressional Black Caucus (through its charitable foundation) to help needy and deserving students in her district go to college, and awarded it instead to her grandchildren and the children of her staff members, none of whom were eligible for the money."

10. Rich Iott (R., House, Ohio): " Rich Iott requires a special rule that, thankfully, isn't needed very often. It is the rule that a candidate who belongs to an organization dedicated to honoring a Nazi S.S. unit and who dresses in a Nazi uniform for recreation should not be trusted to hold elected office in America

11. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D., House, NC.): "Etheridge was videoed physically manhandling a much smaller young man who dared to ask the Congressman a question he didn't like...Using physical force and intimidation on a member of the public demonstrates disrespect for citizens, a lack of self-control and fairness, terrible judgment, and the disposition of a bully."

12.  Rep Roy Blunt (R, U.S. Senate, Missouri): "Blunt has been routinely flagged by C.R.E.W. (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) as one of Congress's most flagrantly unethical members, and for good reason: he has been involved in a series of suspicious quid pro quo deals that look a lot like trading legislation for cash.  That was just in the House; imagine what he might do in the Senate."

13. Rep. Jim Moran, (D., House, VA.): "Moran should have been voted out of the House long ago for unethical conduct...He is still at it, however: Moran was one of the House members inexplicably cleared of corruption this year in the PMA scandal, despite convincing evidence that they accepted campaign contributions from the lobbying firm in exchange for earmarks benefiting the firm's clients."

14. Sharon Angle (R., U.S. Senate, Nev.): "Angle disqualified herself by raising the threat of an armed insurrection by citizens if the federal government continued to ignore their needs and rights. Even suggesting violence as a reasonable resolution of political disputes demonstrates such a lack of respect for democratic traditions, law and civil conduct that it must erase any possibility of trust."

15. Rep. John Conyers (D., House, Mich.): "Conyers isn't the only supporter of the massive health care reform bill not to have read it; indeed, there is an open question whether any lawmaker did. He is, however, the only House member to ridicule the suggestion that law makers should read huge, expensive, complex, life-altering, budget-busting bills before they inflict them on trusting citizens...Conyers not only admits to not doing his job, but thinks that's the way it should be."

16. Carl Paladino (R., Governor, NY.): "In the midst of reported attacks on gay youths in his state, Paladino publicly denigrated gays in a speech, giving comfort and encouragement to bullies and bigots."

17. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D., House, GA.) "See Rep. Eddie Bernice Williams above: Bishop did the same thing."

18. Joe Miller (R., U.S. Senate, Alaska ) "Sometimes you get only one chance to prove you can be honest, accountable, candid and courageous. Miller got it, and whiffed. Accused of engaging in inappropriate use of office resources while employed as a government lawyer, Miller denied the story...He was dishonest, evasive, and unwilling to take responsibility or level with the public. He does not deserve a second chance."

19. Rep. Laura Richardson ( D., House, Cal.): "She has repeatedly run up debts she was unable to pay, and at one point made a large personal loan to her campaign committee with cash that was owed to creditors. She has made C.R.E.W.'s most corrupt members of Congress list for three years in a row, but the bottom line with Richardson is that she cannot be trusted to balance her checkbook, meaning that it is foolhardy for voters to allow her anywhere near the U.S. Treasury."

20. Sen. Lisa Murchowski (I., U.S. Senate, Alaska) Murchowski stands for all those politicians who are governed by base instincts rather than principles and values, instincts like ambition, spite and revenge...Those, like Sen. Murchowki, who are so determined to hold power that they reject fairness, loyalty, process and decency cannot be trusted to hold it any longer."

ProEthics, LTD. (www.proethics.com) is a Virginia-based national ethics training and consulting firm that assists legislators, professionals, businesses, associations, schools, local governments and government agencies in developing ethical standards and improving ethical conduct

Jack Marshall is its founder and primary trainer and consultant. He is a graduate of Harvard and Georgetown Law Center, and co-authored, with historian Ed Larson, The Essential Words and Writings of Clarence Darrow

Ethics Alarms Presents "The Untrustworthy Twenty" can be found on Ethics Alarms at http://www.ethicsalarms.com