This perfectly illustrates how low our craven, so-called public servants are willing to stoop for a
COMMON DREAMS - COMMENTARY
14 DEC 2018 AT 10:59 ET
There was a time when, once they left the job, a former cabinet head or member of Congress would find employment back home casting their seeds of knowledge and experience in the local groves of academe. Or return to naps on the cracked leather sofa at his or her old law firm in South Bend or Twin Falls or Toledo.
But God bless America. Today, unless you’re someone with the current White House on his or her resume or you’re an official discovered to have committed a sin so heinous you not only make the evening news but Access Hollywood and the PBS Newshour, there’s almost always a posh and profitable job waiting in Washington.
The infamous revolving door, through which vauntingly ambitious men and women spin from business to government and back to business at an increasingly lucrative rate still merrily twirls, despite the bogus promises by Donald Trump to drain the Potomac swamp.
In twenty years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, lobbying spending has more than doubled from $1.45 billion in 1998 to $3.37 billion in 2017. So far in 2018, the biggest lobby firm, Akin Gump, has pulled in $28 million worth of business from clients that include Amazon, Pfizer, AARP and the Seneca Nation of Indians.
Especially valued is someone who knows how to maneuver the tortuous maze of legislation and regulation, so if you’re an experienced member of the House of Representatives with seniority, solid contacts and knowhow, you’re as valuable a commodity as a bottle of that Johnny Walker Blue they serve in the finest Washington watering holes. This remains true even though the market is about to be flooded by dozens of Republican House members who either chose or were forced into retirement.
House ethics rules state that the departed cannot lobby fellow representatives for a year but there are plenty of dodges that allow former members and staff to advise or consult until they’re free and clear of the ban.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/perfectly-illustrates-low-craven-called-public-servants-willing-stoop-buck/
John "fucking" Boehner.......................