At first glance, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proposal to auction off President elect Obama’s former senate seat may appear to be without merit. In fact, some may view the action as ‘just not right’.
But let us not jump to conclusions without examining the proposed practice from a more enlightened and possibly global view.
Since 1992 when Ross Perot, spent almost $64 million on a run for the White House, the rich and superrich have been busy spending their wealth on quests for the ultimate celebrity roles (at least in their minds) elected office.
A tally of just a handful of these hopefuls rings up a lot of cash:
- Al Checchi, - Governor of California - $40 million
- Jon S. Corzine, US Senate $63 million + $38 million New Jersey Governor
- Michael Bloomberg, - Mayor – New York City - $69 million
- Michael Huffington – US Senate - $30 million
- Steve Forbes – White House - $38 million
That’s $342,000,000 including Ross Perot.
Six guys coughed up on average 50 million bucks apiece to have the honor of holding public office.
Governor Blagojevich’s alleged comment that these positions are far too valuable to give away, is right on the money … excuse me make that ‘is a reasonable statement’.
Think of the absurd amounts of money spent on this past Presidential election, the conservative estimates approach 3 billion bucks, from the primaries, with their countless candidates, through the race to November 4th.
Who got that treasure trove? Not the poor voters nor the near bankrupt government coffers, no sir, the beneficiaries were media outlets, lawyers, speech writers, makeup and wardrobe folk, image consultants, tailors, hair stylists, etc.
3 billion bucks to create an image that may or may not represent the reality of the candidate.
So 3 billion bucks is spent by these ambitious people to get to the highest political position in the world and the electorate really has no idea if the product is really, what they think it is, they only see what the 3 billion bucks bought as an image.
From where I sit, there would be no greater risk of winding up with someone we don’t like or want were we to hold an auction for every political position in the country.
The money would be earmarked for the creation and maintenance of recreational facilities to afford the poor citizens of this great country a mechanism to escape the disasters the politicians continue to create.
Think about it 100 senators at say 50 million a pop, plus 435 members of the House at say 35 million a pop. That’s over 20 billion bucks just for those two small groups of political posts.
Add to that the tens of thousands of politicians in state, county, city, town, village and hamlet governing bodies. There would be enough money for every state in the union to have its own massive theme park in the first year alone. Forget term limits, bidding starts afresh when the politician’s term ends. My goodness, the fund would be replenished every 2, 4 or 6 years.
As an added benefit, since these ambitious ladies and gentlemen can afford to buy the office at the highest bid their salary would be one dollar a year.
Don’t write off my version of Governor Blagojevich’s idea with the wave of a hand and the comment “He’s crazy”.
The country would be in no worse shape than it is today and since these successful bidders would be accustomed to spending their own money to get what they wanted, maybe they would be less apt to spend ours.
In parting today let me ask you to give the idea some thought. Isn’t it just a modification of the political process in this country as it has evolved over the last 50 or so years? Aren’t most of the elected officials at any level of government in their jobs because they could outspend their competition with either their money or somebody else’s money?
Well let’s just modify the process so that we all benefit from that spending, not just the hair and makeup people and the speechwriters.
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G. Hugh Bodell is a freelance writer and a native New Yorker who is knowledgeable on many subjects but expert on none…well, maybe a few. Feel free to visit him at http://www.ghughbodell.com
By: G. Hugh Bodell
About the Author:
After a consulting career providing technology based solutions to complex challenges, in October 2006, Mr. Bodell began the process of reinventing myself as a writer intending to concentrate on technical/business writing, an area in which he has extensive experience.
This worked, but the compulsion to venture into other areas of authorship took over and he found himself much more diversified than first intended.
His achievements to date include, among others:
- An article on the benefits of investing in Belize in a rising tax environment
- A commentary on the Auto Industry Bailout
- An extensive business plan for a joint venture of a group of Veterinarians and the leading School of Veterinarian Medicine in the US (Partially available at http://www.ghughbodell.com)
Two mystery novels
- Treachery in Turtle Bay, his first achievement in the International Mystery Fiction genre is looking for a publisher.
- Treachery In Turtle Bay II - Oil ~ Dollars ~ Diplomacy & The Sinister Three, deals with the Oil industry, Iraq and the theft of $1 Billion/month in Iraqi Oil cash flow, which, by the way, exceeds $6 billion/Month.
This work is targeted for completion by the end of 2008 and it too will be on the hunt for a publisher.
Tags: Folk Image, Gov Rod Blagojevich, President Elect
