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What are ex political appointees supposed to do after being ousted? Working as a lobbyist seems like a perfect fit for his previous experience. The other conten

by gruez 1y ago

What are ex political appointees supposed to do after being ousted? Working as a lobbyist seems like a perfect fit for his previous experience. The other contender would be working in a think tank or as a regulatory/compliance consultant, which are still suspiciously close to being a lobbyist. The former basically tries to lobby by putting out "whitepapers", and the latter basically greases a company's relationship with regulators.

oulipo 1y ago
At the very least there should be an ethics committee looking into it, and possibly barring him from working in a related field for eg 5 years, to avoid revolving-doors
- gruez 1y ago
  >At the very least there should be an ethics committee looking into it What would the ethics committee be considering? >possibly barring him from working in a related field for eg 5 years So anyone who wants to be a political appointee either has to be a total outsider in the field they're supposed to be regulating, or take a 5 year pay cut? Given that political appointees tend to be partisan hacks anyways, this is only going to make that problem worse. It basically invites a repeat of Musk and DOGE.
  - oulipo 1y ago
    Exactly, that's called ethics. In normal societies (eg Europe) this is the norm...
- Rebelgecko 1y ago
  FWIW he left the FCC about 4.5 years ago
game_the0ry 1y ago
> ...the latter basically greases a company's relationship with regulators Its not just that. Its typical for lobbyist to go back into public service and influence policy on behalf of the companies they work for. Think Dick Cheney + Halliburton and the Iraq War. Halliburton was guaranteed a great year, thanks to the former VP. And business-friendly, anti-regulation regulators get regarded a but too handsomely at the expense of the US citizen that pays their salary. Example: Scott Gottlieb joining the board of directors at Pfizer after leading FDA. Don't forget that Pai worked for Verizon before joining FCC.
- aaronbaugher 1y ago
  Yes, there's long been a revolving door between Big Pharma and the FDA, Monsanto and the USDA, etc. They revolve into government to set policy and reap graft and back into the corporate world to implement and profit from it. Glad people are starting to notice for some reason.
pickleglitch 1y ago
He's already CEO of a trade group and he's a partner for a private equity group. If he needs more income, he can always consider driving for Uber or delivering pizzas.
- tzs 1y ago
  It's his job as CEO of a trade group that the article is about.

by gruez 1y ago

oulipo 1y ago

At the very least there should be an ethics committee looking into it, and possibly barring him from working in a related field for eg 5 years, to avoid revolving-doors

gruez 1y ago
>At the very least there should be an ethics committee looking into it What would the ethics committee be considering? >possibly barring him from working in a related field for eg 5 years So anyone who wants to be a political appointee either has to be a total outsider in the field they're supposed to be regulating, or take a 5 year pay cut? Given that political appointees tend to be partisan hacks anyways, this is only going to make that problem worse. It basically invites a repeat of Musk and DOGE.
- oulipo 1y ago
  Exactly, that's called ethics. In normal societies (eg Europe) this is the norm...
Rebelgecko 1y ago
FWIW he left the FCC about 4.5 years ago

game_the0ry 1y ago

> ...the latter basically greases a company's relationship with regulators Its not just that. Its typical for lobbyist to go back into public service and influence policy on behalf of the companies they work for. Think Dick Cheney + Halliburton and the Iraq War. Halliburton was guaranteed a great year, thanks to the former VP. And business-friendly, anti-regulation regulators get regarded a but too handsomely at the expense of the US citizen that pays their salary. Example: Scott Gottlieb joining the board of directors at Pfizer after leading FDA. Don't forget that Pai worked for Verizon before joining FCC.

aaronbaugher 1y ago
Yes, there's long been a revolving door between Big Pharma and the FDA, Monsanto and the USDA, etc. They revolve into government to set policy and reap graft and back into the corporate world to implement and profit from it. Glad people are starting to notice for some reason.

pickleglitch 1y ago

He's already CEO of a trade group and he's a partner for a private equity group. If he needs more income, he can always consider driving for Uber or delivering pizzas.

tzs 1y ago
It's his job as CEO of a trade group that the article is about.