How much do you trust Politicans?

Given the upcoming elections in the UK, one of the biggest reasons for voter apathy seems to be the complete lack of trust for the politicians.

Of course, we did just have large expenses scandal where it seems that nearly all the MPs were claiming for items on expenses and then we did have several MPs apparently taking commision from businesses to try and influence government policy.

It always seems that where politics goes, corruption and sleaze follows.

So, do you trust your local politician or do you expect him to have a certain lack of morals but to keep it within limits as long as it does not affect you?

Do you think there will always be a certain level of kickbacks and perks in the role or is it possible to perform the job without that external influence?

Define "local." I think here in my teeny, tiny county I see some of the worst in sleaze and corruption. Because it is small and they can influence everything, it's easy for them to keep the DA and judge (yes, we only have one) in their pockets, too. I don't trust a single one of them, since you have to be part of their little club to get any power. If some of these guys have gotten away with murder, I wouldn't be surprised.

As far as the state and federal levels go, I trust them a little more. I expect them to be out for their own interests and to probably not be exemplary people, but blatantly breaking the law left and right is slightly more difficult for them, at least. Usually.

But the consequences of them being untrustworthy are pretty scary.

My local politicians? Oddly they seem pretty honest in my town, I never trusted them in the prior town. We elect a board that elects the mayor and it seems like everyone cares about how the town is run, especially the schools and development and it seems to keep out politicians mostly honest.

I'm sure a lot of them start out with the best of intentions, but the higher up the food chain they get, the less they give a toss who they are eating.

I trust my local politicians pretty well. They are all essentially volunteers, meaning they have day jobs and get the tiniest of stipends to spend their spare time running the town. Most meetings are open to the public and the process is pretty transparent so no real complaints there.

The politicians at the state level here in Mass seem to be as a group some of the most corrupt, venal, small-minded criminals to ever crawl out from under a rock. There are exceptions but we've had something like three consecutive Speakers of the House leave office because of some kind of scandal. There just seems to be a state of mind among these guys (and they're almost all guys, and almost all white) that they are elected to the Mass Legislature for the sole purpose of seeing what they can get away with stealing.

US politicians at the national level are also a mixed lot. Some of them might have started out with the purest of motives but the mix of money and power is pretty corrosive and I expect them all to screw up sooner or later. I see no real difference between the two major parties in this regard.