09 December 2008

Blagojevich's Free Market Solution to Political Appointments

Illinois's Democratic governor Rod Blagojevich was going to auction off Obama's Senate seat. He might wind up in jail but it is worth thinking about the positives in his attempt. There are at least two.

1. This might be one way to end the political dynasties that persist in our democracy, a free market solution to the current triumph of tradition over open competition.

2. This might be one way to raise money for the government. The French did this before the Revolution. For a certain fee, one could actually become, say, the Duke of French Onion Soup (okay, not quite that bad, but sort of). This was actually an odd form of bond sale because the new royalty, once they'd purchased their title, would then be paid an annual "royalty" into perpetuity, a return on their investment. Why couldn't Senate seats be sold in the same way, the electoral college giving way to eBay?

And it is doesn't seem right to be too hard on a guy named Blagojevich. With a name like that, he probably knew that his career was not going any further. Of course now, blagojevich could become a verb, as in, "he totally blagojeviched that opportunity."

2 comments:

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Kind of like a lawyer "nifonging" that case of his.

Anonymous said...

Or, IF Rod goes to prison, because until he's tried there is certainly the presumption of innocence, which isn't always guaranteed, particularly with Patrick Fitzgerald as opposing council, Rod can get onto the prison web system and start his own "Blag"? Just a thought.