You say you would like to go to Philadelphia for the Fourth of July?

Do you have permission to leave your home town? And, do you have permission from Philadelphia to visit?

Oh, you also want to go to Bermuda in September? In other words, you want to go to jail?

This is how I react when people rave to me about Cuba. Maybe they have visited. Maybe they have read propaganda from Cuba.

And this is how I think when I read about Pope Francis’s visit to Cuba. And when I see stuff about President Obama’s visit and schmooze fests with the Castro brothers. And when I see anything from anyone who cozies up with anything to do with communism.

Sure, Cuba has its charms. Sure, many Cubans enjoy many things about life there. And how about those cigars? Don’t forget the cool music from Cuba.

Ah, but those who sing Cuba’s praises overlook a simple sobering fact: Cuba is a type of prison. The prisoners are most of the Cuban people.

This is true of China as well — although China has certainly loosened its controls over its people over the last few decades.

If you feel like shooting off to Bermuda, you can. Book your flight today and fly next weekend.

If you happen to be Cuban, you cannot shoot off to Bermuda. Try to do so and there may be another type of shooting — with you as the target.

The Cuban government owns you. It imprisons you. It tells you whether you can leave Cuba. You have no voice and no choice in your leader. One man has chosen himself to be your leader since the late 1950s. He decided a few years ago to let his brother be your leader. How nice of him.

Imagine being owned by a government. Imagine if President Obama told you today he has decided to remain as your president for the next 30 years. After that, he will let his wife rule you.

Imagine that if you managed to escape this country, the family you left behind would suffer. They might get booted from their homes. Or demoted in their jobs.

This is what happens when Cubans risk their lives — to sail to Florida on jury-rigged rafts and boats.

In China in the 1980s, people needed permission from authorities to leave their town or city to visit Mom in another city. Then they needed permission from authorities in Mom’s city to enter.

Those who sing the praises of countries under communism ignore such matters. They tell us their hotels were modern. They tell us the people are so friendly and so happy. Oh and they say you should learn about their health care.

I suggest you should learn about their jails. That is where Cubans and Chinese land if they try to exercise what we regard as basic freedoms.

Ronald Reagan had the courage to cry out for the prisoners of communism. He called the Soviet Union an evil empire. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” he demanded. I call this courageous. Because his advisers insisted he not say such things. Leaders and critics around the world attacked him.

I call this courageous because neither Pope Francis nor President Obama dare say the same today. Imagine how inspiring either could have been in Havana if he had sung out, “Mr. Castro, open the gates of this prison!”

For years, much of the world censured and isolated South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), because whites subjugated blacks in those countries. Today, the same countries approve of the slavery in Cuba. That’s right, Cuba is a slave state, pure and simple.

By not speaking out about the slavery, President Obama and Pope Francis give tacit approval. Leaders around the world are just as guilty. It is pitiful that speaking up for the most basic freedoms requires such courage. Yes, pitiful.

From Tom…as in Morgan.               

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. Several upstate radio stations carry his daily commentary, Tom Morgan’s Money Talk. Contact him at tomasinmorgan.com

Over more than three decades in Congress, I had the chance to question many federal officials. Most of the time I wasn’t after anything dramatic — I just wanted to understand who was responsible for certain decisions. How often did I get a straight answer? Almost never.

It was easily one of the most frustrating aspects of trying to ensure robust oversight of the government. Our representatives’ job, after all, is to help make government work better. And you can’t do that if you don’t know whom to hold accountable for important decisions.

Accountability is essential to good governance. I’m not just talking about “transparency” — that is, citizens’ ability to know what’s being done in our name. That’s important, but equally important is holding accountable those who made the decision to do it — ensuring that they are accountable to policymakers, adhere to their obligations, follow the law, and pursue actions that are appropriate and responsive to the needs of the country.

This is elusive. Accountability requires that officials step up and take responsibility for their decisions, and not try to shift that responsibility to others or to some ill-defined group. It requires unambiguous performance standards, clear codes of ethics, timely reporting, and acceptance of responsibility, especially regarding budget or spending decisions.

So how do we get there?

Without clarity on who’s in charge of what and who’s responsible for which decisions, it becomes too easy for officials to remain unanswerable for their actions. Yet clear lines of authority mean nothing unless the deciding officials are identified and measured against what actually takes place. Officials need to give a full account of what they do and the decisions they make.

As a nation, we face a growing issue on this front when it comes to federal contractors — that is, the private workforce doing jobs for federal agencies. There are very few mechanisms for holding contractors responsible for their errors, abuses, and missteps.

Accountability also requires a robust media to tell us what’s going on in the entire system: within the bureaucracy, in the behavior of contractors, and among legislators who ought to be overseeing both but often don’t.

Accountability is key to good government. All I wanted to know in those congressional hearings was who made the decision about the public’s business. Is that too much to ask?            

Lee Hamilton is director of the Center on Congress (www.centeroncongress.org) at Indiana University (IU), distinguished scholar at the IU School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years, representing a district in south central Indiana.