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Living the High Life After Congress
April 7, 2015 by Michael Winship
This post first appeared on BillMoyers.com.
As the latest chapter in the curious saga of Congressman Aaron Fly Me Schock recently came to an end, there was an unintentionally, darkly comic moment. It happened just after the Downton Abbey fanboy announced his resignation from the House of Representatives.
In an interview, his father, Dr. Richard Schock, told a Chicago TV station, Ten years from now, whatever hes doing, hell be successful at it. I promise you that. Two years from now, hell be successful
if hes not in jail.
Now thats a proud dad for you assuming my boys not in the slammer, hell be on top of the world. But Papa Doc may have a point. In fact, what do you want to bet that if Aaron Schocks not in jail, hell soon be back on Capitol Hill, a success once again, pulling in an even heftier paycheck not as an elected official but as a privileged member of the lobbying class pressing the flesh, making deals, and facilitating fat campaign contributions for the GOP the same way he did while a congressman, plying the rich with concert tickets, fancy dinners and other assorted perks?
Look at former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor an even bigger Republican money magician defeated in a primary in his Virginia home district by an upstart who made the incumbents obeisance to the financial industry a central issue of his campaign. Remember The Wall Street Journals headline? Eric Cantors Loss a Blow to Wall Street.
Turns out it was a glancing blow at best. Erics back and Wall Streets got him. As The New York Times Mark Leibovich wrote, just weeks after his primary fiasco, Cantor was the latest example of Washingtons upward-failing, golden-parachuted, everybody-wins calculus.
Sure enough, September came and with it news that Cantor was joining the boutique global investment bank Moelis & Company. The Times commented when the announcement first appeared in The Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Cantor has no previous experience in high finance or investment banking. But the reason for his new job is clear: The Moelis founder Ken Moelis told the Journal that he was hiring Mr. Cantor in part for his ability to open doors an admission that Mr. Cantor will now be paid to trade on the influence and friendships he developed as a House leader.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/how-corporations-keep-eric-cantor-and-other-congressional-losers-living-high-on-the-hog/comments/#disqus
RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)And the country goes to shit while they play plutocrat.