closing the revolving door on corporate influence

Things have sunk pretty low in Imperial America. And, surprisingly, a majority of Americans know it.

According to a CBS News/New York Times Poll last year, "59% of the American people trust the federal government to do what is right only some of the time," even as 64% responded that "government is pretty much run by a few big interests looking out for themselves."

Worse yet, President Bush has brought "the business special interests into politics so they can take over the regulatory bodies of government and regulate themselves." (former senior White House official in the year 2000)

Revolving door works in three ways:

1) Industry-to-Government "Reverse" Revolving Door

2) Government-to-Industry Revolving Door

3) Government-to-Lobbyist Revolving Door

The net result is advancement of corporate influence, power, and complicity in enacting self-serving policies. In other words, subversion of democracy.

A coalition of groups called the Revolving Door Working Group and spearheaded by Peter O'Driscoll of the Center of Concern is not content to watch democratic rule go down the drain. They are educating and organizing to improve and enforce government conflict-of-interest and ethics rules.

Ethical corporations? Some actually are. Stricter rules and enforcement would encourage the myriad bad apples to behave, since jail terms in cushy apartments doesn't seem to be providing adequate deterrence.

Read more about this critically important work at www.revolvingdoor.info

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