1/7/10:Chris Dodd:”And that’s where you make the big money!”

Just like Louie Anderson’s famous line, Chris Dodd and many other ‘retiring’ lawmakers are now positioned to make the real money which is the ultimate reward for being a career politician who has been loyal to the lobbyists that pollute our political system today. Just as Tom Daschle and other well-connected politicians have learned, losing may not be so bad at the end of the day when it comes to your ability to make big bucks from our government. Although Mr. Daschle doesn’t technically call himself a lobbyist(that would be wrong), he performs the same functions and is highly paid for doing it. I can almost guarantee you that Chris Dodd and his fellow career politicians will follow Mr. Daschle down this profitable path. While there may be a brief break, or a stint at a government agency(such as the Fed) for Mr. Dodd, ultimately he and other retiring politicians will find it too tempting to not go back to the same government spicate they have lived off of most of their lives.

Our campaign for US Congress from the beginning has been about changing politics as usual and actually solving problems that exist, rather than kicking the problem down the road and letting it become worse. We have addressed the issue of lobbyists in two ways thus far. First, I have pledged to not become a lobbyist or engage in the activities of a lobbyist once I leave office. The second way we have proposed to deal with this problem is by calling for real campaign finance reform that will actually work. The way to reduce the money and influence of lobbyists is for candidates to only accept money from individuals who reside in the district or state they are running to represent in Congress. This does not require any law to be passed, just candidates who see it as a way to tell their constituents that they will work for them, and not interests in other states who usually donate the bulk of the money to their campaign. In order for this to work, candidates from all parties in a race need to agree to this. I feel that while it will not be easy to do because the better funded candidates will balk at the proposal, eventually an underdog will win and his promise carries forward to the next election!

Solving the problems that career politicians and their big money donors have created will not be fixed overnight. However, these problems can be fixed if elected leaders are willing to make the hard decisions that benefit the citizens of this country, instead of those that will ultimately benefit them and their friends financially.