Billy Ball

No wonder Billy Tauzin's son tried to snag his father's congressional seat this November (he lost). He knows that getting inside the Beltway sets you up for life:

WASHINGTON — Retiring Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., who stepped down earlier this year as chairman of the House committee that regulates the pharmaceutical industry, will become the new president and CEO of the drug industry's top lobbying group.

John Edwards made an issue out of this during the primary season, and I think Democrats should raise this is a major issue. The only people Americans seem to collectively despise more than politicians are lobbyists. They'd be surprised to know that they're the same person. The notion that you can regulate an industry, and then turn around and sign on as its chief lobbyist, strikes me as the rankest of smells emanating from a corrupt and broken system. And that's what the Bush administration has done over an over again, particularly in terms of the environment. Practically every head of every regulatory system, from the EPA on down, has been a lobbyist for special interests like mining, big oil and lumber.

Incidentally, Tauzin's plum hiring is yet another win for the infamous K Street project, Tom DeLay and friends' attempt to place prominent Republicans in lobbyist positions in every sphere. According to a DeLay quote in the Washington Post, "If you want to play in our revolution, you have to live by our rules." Republican attempts to shape the lobbying world into another part of their message machine means that the money spigot from big business gets pushed onto far-right niche issues. The Republican Party has hijacked not only the lobbying effort, but the regulatory and oversight agencies in the Congress.

Democrats need to push legislation mandating that government officials must wait a number of years before becoming lobbyists. And they need to call this dreadful situation what it is: yet another instance of how the Republicans should really be called the Corporate Party.