Thomas Freidman recently passed along an excellent suggestion that he found on a blog:
“U.S. congressmen should have to dress like NASCAR drivers and wear the logos of all the banks, investment banks, insurance companies and real estate firms that they’re taking money from. The public needs to know.”
Unless, or until, business follows the suggestion of Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz and stops dumping millions into purchasing politicians, I think we should seriously consider the NASCAR suggestion. And I know just the person to introduce the legislation: my own state senator, Bernie Sanders.
Opensecrets.org calculates that the financial services industry, including real estate, spent $2.3 billion on federal campaign contributions from 1990 to 2010, which was more than the health care, energy, defense, agriculture and transportation industries combined.
Freidman notes in the same column: “Why are there 61 members on the House Committee on Financial Services? So many congressmen want to be in a position to sell votes to Wall Street.”
In some cases, there is nothing more transparent than greed. When we follow the money, we’re not surprised who it leads to – business and politicians. And that sad reality needs to change.
What a brilliant idea. Would love to see a Pixar like animated movie of congress at work with each member of congress – “our democratically elected representatives” – in their flameproof and logo emblazoned suits showing who they really work for, for all of us to see.
Then maybe, just maybe, we can start the work of dismantling the sham that we have a representative democracy. Then we can get to work and build a government of, for and by the people – for the common good.
Didn’t some folks in PA have that idea a couple of hundred plus years ago…
Brilliant! LOL.
Ha, I’ll second this brilliant idea