But it also seems hard to me to imagine that adding up to very much. There are what, each year maybe a few hundred politicians who leave office and might be up for such patronage? If all of them get a million dollars, that's a few hundred million dollars a year. The movers and shakers of Washington DC are also... I mean, a lot of them become lobbyists or media people, and while they probably get good deals in doing that, it's hard to argue that a former congressional committee chairperson is going to be a bad lobbyist or whatever.
I think that actually, the people who become movers and shakers in government tend to not have a ton of trouble getting enough money to live solidly upper-class lifestyles, and they have self-selected as people who value having influence more than money.
I'm not staking a claim as to how much this happens or what mechanisms are used, merely pointing out that it isn't clear that the public figure is accurate.
With respect to lobbyists, from the lobbying firm's point of view it might be a good deal to pay a former office holder lots of money for doing nothing at all, if he or she did something particularly helpful before stepping through the revolving door. Quid pro quo.
If the Big Company does badly, voters will lose their jobs, and it will be a tough reelection. The politicians don't need to be bribed.
What if I run an ad that’s not directly affiliated with a political campaign like via PragerU?
...or their consulting firms, or the companies they run, sit on the boards of, or simply own a large piece of.