1) They would simply be hired by 'independent' think tanks, then be contracted from there by the lobbyists to provide 'expert advice'. Abstract as desired until it's legal again.
With enough penalties, like the repossession of all related property that we do in the case of breaking up organized crime, I think this can be fairly curtailed. At some point a check has to be written to someone, because you can only stash so much cash, and we have pretty fine grained control of financial transactions. (Well, at least the ones that aren't buried in unregulated derivatives markets.)
Outlawing that would be worse than letting the corporations write their own legislation. Seriously.
Well, the law doesn't make it illegal for corporations or anyone to give their advice to a lawmaker. It makes it illegal for a lawmaker to pass regulation and then cash a check from the same people a few years later, and it makes it illegal for corporations to give their advice in secret. I'm not one of those people who thinks all corporations are evil, but I do believe that very bad things happen when you combine money, power, and secrecy, and that pretty much sums up everything inside the belt line these days.
As far as US morality goes, those are good points, but that attitude only reflects a slim portion of the population. Even some of the plutocrats are asking to be taxed more. It may be difficult, but I think a law can be crafted to outlaw secret government dealings even if it can't outlaw the desire to pull them off.
This should be the sole focus of the Occupy movement: a law that makes it illegal to engage in any business with the private industry which you have recently helped regulate, for a period of 10 years. Additionally, make it a law that you cannot regulate an industry where you have worked in the previous ten years. (This includes voting in the chamber: it's called a conflict of interest for a reason.) Make the conviction penalty for lawmakers their immediate termination and a complete dissolution of their government pension.
When people complain that the only way it would work is if government had to disclose all of their now-private meetings, you say, "You're damn right they would." When they say that half of Congress couldn't vote because they're lawyers, you say, "You're damn right they couldn't." That, of course, is the whole problem: we've got hundreds of millionaire lawyers pretending that they care about working class Americans. But instead, they're taking away our rights and giving them to corporations who put money in their campaign coffers.
I don't want any more secret meetings between the companies picking my pocket and the government I pay to employ. No more Vegas style parties on the taxpayer dime. No more loopholes for outrageously wealthy corporations shipping our livelihoods overseas so they can rake in profits while we bail them out. Openly perform your duties as a public servant, or get the hell out of our government.
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5) That dude who made Microsoft Bob => who finally landed another job designing iCal and Address Book for OS X Lion.
With enough penalties, like the repossession of all related property that we do in the case of breaking up organized crime, I think this can be fairly curtailed. At some point a check has to be written to someone, because you can only stash so much cash, and we have pretty fine grained control of financial transactions. (Well, at least the ones that aren't buried in unregulated derivatives markets.)
Well, the law doesn't make it illegal for corporations or anyone to give their advice to a lawmaker. It makes it illegal for a lawmaker to pass regulation and then cash a check from the same people a few years later, and it makes it illegal for corporations to give their advice in secret. I'm not one of those people who thinks all corporations are evil, but I do believe that very bad things happen when you combine money, power, and secrecy, and that pretty much sums up everything inside the belt line these days.
As far as US morality goes, those are good points, but that attitude only reflects a slim portion of the population. Even some of the plutocrats are asking to be taxed more. It may be difficult, but I think a law can be crafted to outlaw secret government dealings even if it can't outlaw the desire to pull them off.
This should be the sole focus of the Occupy movement: a law that makes it illegal to engage in any business with the private industry which you have recently helped regulate, for a period of 10 years. Additionally, make it a law that you cannot regulate an industry where you have worked in the previous ten years. (This includes voting in the chamber: it's called a conflict of interest for a reason.) Make the conviction penalty for lawmakers their immediate termination and a complete dissolution of their government pension.
When people complain that the only way it would work is if government had to disclose all of their now-private meetings, you say, "You're damn right they would." When they say that half of Congress couldn't vote because they're lawyers, you say, "You're damn right they couldn't." That, of course, is the whole problem: we've got hundreds of millionaire lawyers pretending that they care about working class Americans. But instead, they're taking away our rights and giving them to corporations who put money in their campaign coffers.
I don't want any more secret meetings between the companies picking my pocket and the government I pay to employ. No more Vegas style parties on the taxpayer dime. No more loopholes for outrageously wealthy corporations shipping our livelihoods overseas so they can rake in profits while we bail them out. Openly perform your duties as a public servant, or get the hell out of our government.