We talk of politicians as if they’re uniquely duplicitous bunch but American culture accepts a great deal of lying as being part of the game of life.
Today’s example: I was on a business trip recently. Several times when I asked a cab driver for a receipt, he handed me a clump of four or five blank receipts. I handed them back, said I only needed one and asked him to fill it out. I started to get curious and asked the cabbies whether most passengers preferred blank receipts. Yes, almost all of his passengers prefer it that way – and many of them want multiple receipts. I can only assume that people get blank receipts so they can inflate or fabricate cab fares.