Americans have become cynical and disenfranchised from their government because those in whom we placed our trust have violated it. Elected representatives should be accountable to those who entrusted them with the future of our nation and the defense of our Constitutional liberties. We have a major ethics problem in government; its presence is a constant, exhibited in the conduct of too many of our elected leaders. Fraud, waste and abuse start in the halls of Congress, and carry through to every department of the federal government.