the ban still has to pass the senate before it winds up on the president's desk, but it is an important step on an issue that allowed members of congress to make millions on the side from industries that they were supposedly regulating (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
why did they do it? simple: they want to get reelected, and it's starting to dawn on them that we know that many of them are crooks. plus, as we mentioned, the above intelligence groups and the new super pacs give them an opportunity to make new (and potentially far greater) side money.
still, it's one step forward, and we'd like to encourage this positive momentum by suggesting which reforms should come next:
- detailed reporting on the activities and amounts spent by political intelligence groups. we want to be able to follow the money.
- an outright ban on super pacs. it is un-american for corporations to be able to spend any amount they please to get someone elected or to prevent someone from being elected, without any oversight whatsoever, and for us to not even know who they are.
- no use of corporate planes, corporate-funded trips, corporate dinners, etc. by members of congress or anyone running for president. anywhere but dc, we call those "bribes".
- no member of congress may, upon leaving office, go to work in any industry which they previously oversaw or regulated. heck, we like this one so much, let's extend it to federal agencies, too. that way, the revolving door between the epa and big oil, the fda and big pharma, etc. etc. etc. will finally close, and these agencies will start doing what's in our best interest, rather than the interests of politically well-connected firms.