The Newt Gingrich Success Story

This story about Newt Gingrich's $1.6 million lobbying fee from Freddie Mac has made the headlines but it is an old story in Washington. Politicians don't get rich in office. They get their payoff by selling their influence after they leave office. This also the path to riches for their top aides. Influence in Washington is worth a lot of money because the return on investment is very high. One might say that the influence market works well. Both parties benefit from the transactions. Gingrich is unusual because he makes money by selling influence and he also accumulates influence by keeping his name before the public by criticizing Washington politicians who sell influence. He is assisted in influence accumulation by his friends in the media who peddle his stories to their base. The business model of Fox News is based upon creating stars like Gingrich who they can bring on board to build their audience. Their ought to be an MBA case study on building and selling influence.