It's All About the Benjamins

Posted by Sam Gillmer on 07.08.2009

Politicians Going Private...

Politicians are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. As news broke of Sarah Palin "resigning", or as I like to put it, quitting, I thought about writing an article about it. Well come to find out everybody else in the 411 Universe has taken my laziness and beat me to the punch, so I will take a little different message out of this. The message that I am talking about, is politicians parlaying their success, nay, popularity, into the private sector.

The best example of this is Mike Huckabee, host of the ever-so-cleverly titled show Huckabee. Let me just say, before I get to the point, Huckabee? What kind of show title is that? I mean i realize people recognize his last name, but if I didn't know who he was I would never tune into that show. Something like, Boom Boom Explosion Crash would maybe entice me, but Huckabee? Okay, very off topic right now. The point is, the man is smart to host his own show. He was, for all intents and purposes, not popular before this years past election. I had no clue who he was, and I fancy myself interested in politics. The man took the ball though and ran with it, in turn probably prolonging his popularity, as well as filling up his bank account in the process.

It's no secret that our politicians don't get paid very well. The President of the United States, often labeled as the "Leader of the Free World" only gets a salary of $400,000 dollars. Now, don't get me wrong I am not minimalizing this, and he does get some sweet incentives, including roughly $19,000 in entertainment allowance, but shouldn't the most powerful man on the planet get maybe just a little more? We must also understand that he is the highest ranking politician out there, so Governors such as Palin and Huckabee get paid even less. So how can we blame them?

We can't. No offense to those who give their lives to helping other people, but sometimes you have to look out for numero uno. I believe that is what Sarah Palin is doing. Her family gets ridiculed more than Bobby Simmons who has acne and spectacles and is picked last in dodgeball, because he has no arm, and in reality he isn't even picked last but rather stuck on a team....anyways. She is also a beacon of hope for conservative Mother's out there. On top of that, many people bought into Jim Bakker, who made millions pimping out evangelical TV so it can't be any harder for Mrs. Palin to translate her popularity into the private sector.

So if Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, or anybody else wants to go into the private sector, I say go for it. Instead of hearing harsh criticisms from every angle, you will be mostly viewed by people who agree with you. Your family will not be ridiculed, you will make more money, and your job will not be as stressful. It seems that instead of the historically classic order of events; politicians gaining tons of money in the private sector and thus getting so bored that they go into politics, a new trend is starting in the opposite fashion. And if these people don't want to be in politics and quit, we shouldn't get mad, because I for one most certainly would rather watch somebody I don't like on TV, than have them running my government.