Senator Blumenthal is wasting his time

I don't mean what the senator is doing is a waste of time.  I mean his time would be better spent finding ways to increase employment, help the middle-class overcome two decades of income/wealth stagnation, and doing something significant on climate change before we hit a catastrophic tipping point.

But instead he is doing this:

Dear Randy, Help us demand an explanation: “Why did a defense contractor pay a $500,000 “bonus” to a guy named Thomas MacKenzie on the Armed Services Committee?” Demand an answer. Add your name. Let’s pretend I’m a weapons manufacturer. I make fighter jets and spy drones and stuff like that. And let’s pretend you work for me. Imagine you just got offered a position in Washington on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee — the one that givesme billions of dollars in government contracts. Cool, right? Now, let’s say I gave you a $500,000 bonus just three weeks before you stopped working for me to go join that committee. OK, stop pretending. Last week, we found out a guy named Tom MacKenzie actually did this! If that sounds an awful lot like bribery to you, you’re not alone. He’s being questioned. Help us demand an answer. Add your name. Let’s get Thomas MacKenzie fired, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is leading the charge and we need to stand by him. Sign your name to tell Blumenthal he’s right. If it looks like a bribe and smells like a bribe... you guessed it! Our investigative news team at Republic Report broke this story late last week. The giant defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman actually did give one of its lobbyists half a million dollars in bonus pay right before he left to serve on a key congressional committee dealing with defense issues. In fact, it was Republic Report’s research that got the Senator riled up and started making national headlines. Now, it’s our job to follow up on their great work and put some shoulder behind this effort. The last time we spoke out against corruption, Pennsylvania Representative Tim Holden lost his seat in the House. That’s because the combined voice of thousands of us can’t be ignored. Add your name to show that you won’t stand for this kind of corruption. To read Republic Report’s original story, click here. Thanks for keeping up the fight against corruption.

Why are we fighting this corruption when we can put an end to it.  Conservatives and CEOs often tell us that the government can learn a lot from how businesses operate.  So let's agree with them and DEMAND that all members of Congress and their staffs sign a non-compete clause.

Because if Mr. MacKenzie was giving up lobbying for 5 years he would not be going "to serve on a key congressional committee dealing with defense issues."

There are many other battles to be fought.  This one has an obvious solution.  Let's win this battle and move on.