Monday, January 31, 2011
Bayh Takes Job With D.C. Lobbying Firm
Dan Coats and Evan Bayh have officially switched places. Former Sen. Dan Coats gave up his Senate seat in 1998 so Evan Bayh could become a U.S. Senator and Dan Coats could become a Washington, D.C. lobbyist. In 2010 Bayh returned the Senate seat to D.C. lobbyist Dan Coats so he could become a D.C. lobbyist. After announcing just last week he had taken a job as a senior adviser to Apollo Global Management, Bayh announces a second job he has taken with D.C. lobbying law firm McGuire Woods, which lobbies for banking, utility, health insurers and big Pharma. The firm's lobbying clients include Duke Energy, which is run by Bayh's old pal Jim Rogers, Anthem, Verizon, the NBA and Fifth Third Bank. Between Bayh and his wife Susan, they have accumulated tens of millions of dollars trading on his public service through gigs with big law firms, corporate board seats and corporate jobs. The Coats-Bayh revolving door tradition from public service to lobbying is why you no longer have a chance of having your voices heard in Washington. These guys are bought and paid for by interests that don't give a damn about ordinary Americans. Instead, they carry water for international corporate interests, supporting policies that have brought our nation to complete economic ruin while they enrich themselves and their true masters. Think about that as you watch the foundations of this once great nation crumble before your very eyes.
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4 comments:
There's so much talk about bein fair and equitable -- particularly when taxation is the subject -- I wish the income of politicians was held to the same degree of scrutiny.
A politician who earns +/- a small percentage deviation of what his/her constituency earns on average -- now there's an idea I could support fully.
This is why I'm a fan of the Tea Party. It's not that they're any more or less moral, intelligent, honest, benevolent, or perfect than the rest of humanity. But, I like their disenchantment with political parties and the virtues of limited government.
It's not that Tea Partiers can't be as compromised and corrupt as Senators Bayh and Coats or Mayors Ballard and soon-to-be Emanuel. However, their ideological simplicity, the tether of their origin in grass roots, and most of all continued vigilance will hopefully not permit many charlatans.
You want to say some of the Tea Party candidates aren't any more polished than the issues they can't agree upon beyond limited government? That's true. That's part of the trade-off in not yet going through the revolving door between government official and smoozmeister lobbyist.
Despite disappoints like Mayor Ballard, given our success in having "professionals"run government, that's trade-off I'll continue to make.
"...supporting policies that have brought our nation to complete economic ruin while they enrich themselves and their true masters."
This is the message I try to relay to many of my associates, but they continue to try (as they try to prevent their minds from opening) to rationalize this behavior, drink the koolaid and ride along the partisan divide, believing their heroes will lead them to glory, despite the obvious cliff ahead.
Me too, dcrutch. Me too!
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