2. Second, public servants are, in my experience vastly underpaid and underappreciated. Our air traffic controllers, postal workers, veterans affairs employees, intelligence officers - and yes, elected officials - is not a roster of billionaires. Moreover...

3. Virtually all could earn more money in the private sector, and when they leave government service often do. They do it because they are committed to making America work. No one is perfect and they are no exception. But it's a lot easier to grift on government from the outside than the inside.

4. And that is in no small part because of our vigilance. A free press keeps watch. Congress has oversight authority and always faces political pressure if a scandal comes to light on our watch. And within the agencies, we have Inspectors General and whistleblower protection.

5. Those tools don't catch everything, and what they do catch is sometimes caught to late. But there is vastly less vigilance in the private sector for the simple reason that there is less of that great disinfectant - sunlight - on private businesses who are not vested with the public interest.