WASHINGTON, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - The decision by House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, to take a lucrative position at a Wall Street investment firm is a classic abuse of the revolving door between Capitol Hill and Wall Street and represents an oligarchic trend in American politics, said Craig Holman of the advocacy group, Public Citizen.
“Eric Cantor is a classic case of the abuse of the revolving door,” Holman told RIA Novosti in a Friday interview. “This revolving door abuse clearly defeats the concept that citizens have a significant influence over Congress. Quite frankly, a lot of people are calling this system in the United States increasingly oligarchic...This could be called oligarchic.”
According to reports, Eric Cantor of Virginia had been negotiating his new position with Wall Street’s Moelis & Co., while serving in office without disclosing this potential conflict of interest to the public. The use of the revolving door from public policy on Capitol Hill to Wall Street often comes with incredible benefits. Research by Public Citizen and other advocacy groups estimates that salaries for Congressmen entering the private sector can range between $1-3 million, while pay for ranking staffers can range between $300,000 - $600,000. Fortune Magazine reported that Cantor will be compensated to the tune of $3.4 million in his new position.
These private offers to public officials are “an exceedingly valuable influence peddling tool,” said Holman adding that the revolving door is a serious threat to the integrity of Congress.
“It’s only the very wealthy special interests of the private sector [that] can afford to hire a member of Congress, and when they hire a member of Congress, first of all you have to wonder what that member was thinking when he or she was making official actions while in Congress.”
Public Citizen and Holman, the government affairs lobbyist at the organization, are currently working to find sponsors in Congress to enforce an executive act in 2009 that would curb the abuses of the revolving door.
