Tom Dachle received $5 million in income for the past two years, for what is essentially lobbying activity. Leon Paneta, Barack Obama's nominee to head the CIA, received $700,000 in speaking and consulting fees last year.
Apparently, being a politician is quite lucrative.
More importantly, their paydays reflect the desire of business to secure protection and influence against the depredations of predatory government actions. Such actions can cost the company a fortune, or help it make one.
The root cause of this "pay-to-play" mess is the power government holds over economic activity. Curtail or end that power, and business won't waste its money on such spending.
This is just one of the many sordid, wasteful, and wrong results from government intervention in the economy. Given the explosion in such activity that Obama and Congressional Democrats promise, expect more such extractions from industry.
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