As the door turns

from David Ruccio

I often wonder why my students are so cynical about politics and politicians. I really shouldn’t—not when there’s a much-used revolving door between the public and private sectors.

Students are, of course, aware of the revolving door between the Department of Defense (not to mention the Vice-Presidency) and military contractors, between Wall Street and the White House, between Congress and K Street. It just keeps spinning. 

So, the latest example is extraordinary only because of how quickly the door turned: Meredith Attwell Baker, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, announced yesterday she’s leaving at the end of the month. For a job as “senior vice president of government affairs” for Comcast. Five months after she voted to approve Comcast’s purchase of NBC.

I understand now why my students are so cynical.

Update

The Project on Government Oversight has just revealed that the door between Wall Street and the Securities and Exchange Commission was turning often and quickly between 2006 and 2010.