If there was ever any doubt as to where retired elected congresspeople went after their career of service to the their constituents ended, let there be no further confusion. Many become lobbyists in their second lives, beholden not to the people, but to the private industries to whom they’ve pledged their loyalty so that they can start earning those seven-figure salaries for their efforts. As anyone involved in the effort on Capitol Hill to put the final stamp on healthcare reform legislation will say, the next thirty days are crucial. So, the foot race has begun.

Lobbyists include former members of Congress, such as Richard Armey and Richard Gephardt, both of whom now work for a pharmaceutical firm from New Jersey. Fifty of the 350 former Washington insiders now working for the industry were  employees of members of the Senate Finance Committee, now, of course, led by Sen. Max Baucus — one of the reform’s chief architects. In Washington, it’s not about whether reform will happen, it’s a question of what former Washington insiders have the most influence on getting the type of reforms palatable enough to those third parties through to ultimate legislation. | LINK

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