Over the last few months the business world has been ripe with corporate scandals. Each week another scandal appears or allegations of corporate improprieties are brought to light. Last week started with more allegations about WorldCom and the week ended with Xerox reporting a larger than expected restatement of their own sales figures totaling $1.9 billion. Of course, other recent improprieties abound from companies like Enron, Merrill-Lynch, Tyco, Arthur Anderson and even Apple may have an insider-trading problem on its hands.

I am a devout capitalist who believes that 99.9% of the time government should stay out of the way of corporate America. The only time government must act is when businesses and their leaders act without honesty and integrity.

President Bush has become so enraged by the actions of these executives that he announced he would deliver a speech on July 9th just to speak to this single issue. The President went on to say corporate executives have a "responsibility to be above board, frank and honest all the time." He also said that most corporate executives are honest, and I agree. This small group of companies makes it difficult for consumers and investors to feel confident about corporate America.

I do not know all the history behind the words "In God We Trust" appearing on our currency or what those words mean to you. But when I was a young lad, my Uncle Maury explained that the reason for the words was to act as a reminder for businessmen that they should always act with honesty and integrity regarding all financial matters.

The men and women who lead these companies have not been ethical in their business practices. It is unfortunate that ethics are missing from the board rooms and management teams of these and other companies but there can be no other conclusion.

Lets not forget the billions lost to shareholders and pension funds. Thousands of employees in their late fifties or older were relying on company stock in their 401-K to retire on. Some of these employees will wind up broke and unable to retire. Many of them will need to start their careers over and finding employment at their age will be very difficult.

When corporate scandals of this scale and magnitude appear - they hurt every corporation in America, even the honest ones. I believe the only way we can change this pattern of corruption is to force every executive to guarantee the integrity of his or her financials. If they sign off on them and there is fraud, they belong behind bars in a real jail, not a Club Med jail. I hope you will join me and call on the corporate executives of these companies to take the millions many have stored in the bank and find a way to help these employees.

Even for smaller businesses - check your business ethics. It’s very easy to start down the dishonesty road by making questionable business decisions that serve only specific or short-term interests. When you make a business decision, ask yourself, “Can I shamelessly explain this decision to all employees, shareholders and customers? Are your decisions in line with the same values you teach your children?”

I close with a quote from Joe Borg, President of the North American Securities Administrators Association in the Wall Street Journal. "Before you can begin to rebuild trust, you have to come clean as to what your problems were. Bear your sins, be accountable." This really has not happened yet.