Wisconsin senator wants to shut the revolving door

That’s the thing about a revolving door. You can never slam it shut. But that is what one Wisconsin U.S. Senator wants to do. Tammy Baldwin has again introduced legislation designed to close that revolving door between Washington and the private sector. We are seeing more and more cases of Wall Street executives leaving their companies to take government jobs overseeing the very industry they just left. It works in reverse too, with government workers leaving their post to become lobbyists in the industry they formerly regulated. Baldwin’s bill would strengthen ethics in the executive branch, and work to reduce Wall Street influence in Washington. The bill would kill the practice of some of the nation’s largest companies paying employees a huge golden parachute if they leave their post to take a high level government job, often overseeing the very industry they were paid to leave. This is happening, often with a wink and a nod when they return to the company after finishing their public service. It is happening in the banking industry, when big bankers start working for The Treasury Department or Securities and Exchange Commission. It is happening in the pharmaceutical industry where big pharma employees take jobs with the Food and Drug Administration or the DEA. We should be able to have confidence that those entrusted with keeping us safe aren’t really on the side of their big businesses bosses. Their needs to be a divide between the fox and the henhouse.