I hate politics.

But sometimes I get moved to write my boy Barack a letter. I wrote once about Amtrak and below is what I wrote today. You might want to check out these letters first: http://obama.senate.gov/letter/060206-sen_obama_and_sen_mccain_exchange_letters_on_ethics_reform/index.html

Here's the letter:

Sen. Obama-

I'm sure you are getting a lot of letters today with regard to campaign finance reform and your exchange of letters with Sen. McCain. Ever since the Abramoff situation broke I've wanted to write you with my two cents on the issue and today's letter from Sen. McCain reminded me to do so.

I was formerly employed as a compliance examiner with the SEC conducting regulatory examinations of investment advisers and mutual funds. (I resigned last August in order to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity for a year in the Americorps program.) In my nearly six years at the Commission I conducted approximately 100 examinations at the offices of our registrants throughout the Midwest. During these examinations my colleagues and I were responsible for determining each firm's compliance with SEC regulations. As part of my employment at the Commission I was required to take part in annual ethics training. This training is something the SEC and its employees took very seriously. These ethics guidelines strictly prohibited taking any type of gift from a registrant. Our saying was, if you can't get it through a straw you couldn't take it. These restrictions may have seemed excessive to some but the Commission ethics department always spoke of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety when dealing with registrants. Obviously, no examiner was going to look the other way on a violation because he got a free doughnut, lunch, or other de minimis gratuity but if you never take it there is never a question of your loyalty. Furthermore, none of us had to except these things because we were well paid and even received a per diem when on the road.

This brings me to the lobbyist issue and campaign finance reform. Why is a 23-year old recent college graduate held to a higher ethical standard than a U.S. senator who earns four times as much money? Why is the Commission more worried about its appearance when dealing with registrants than Congress is when dealing with much, much, larger and important issues? It just upsets me to see Congressmen, Senators in particular, receive such ridiculously extravagant gifts, which basically translate into receiving cash since the gifts represent items they no longer have to pay for. I mean, I sure would have loved a free all inclusive trip to play at St. Andrews while working for the government. I know you and the other senators all have offices in the capitol so I'm not exactly sure why they have to meet with the lobbyist all over DC, and the world for that matter, on the lobbyist's dime. My point is that there is no reason a Congressman should accept anything of any value from anyone representing any special interest. Let the lobbyists talk until their heart's content but talk should be the only form of persuasion involved. I hope that I’m just preaching to the choir when I write you on this issue but I wanted to make my feelings known. It takes a lot to get me to write my Senator and this did it.

I would also like to comment on the exchange of letters between you and Sen. McCain. I always thought highly of Sen. McCain based on what I’ve seen of him on TV but was very disappointed with the tone of his letter. It was excessively sarcastic and tacky. I was glad to see that you showed you were above such tired behavior with an honest and sincere response. I’m also glad to see that, unlike Sen. McCain, you adhere to another favorite issue of the Commission, plain English.

Finally, I don't understand the need for writing letters between Senators. Don't you guys work in the same building and even have phones? I never wrote a letter to one of my co-workers at the Commission, I just walked over and spoke to him or her. But, to me, that just illustrates the lack of a teamwork that exists in the Capitol today.

Thank you for your time.

-Jonathan Pxxxxx

PS - Although I currently live in Florida, I'm still an Illinois resident and plan to return to Illinois at the conclusion of my one year term in the Americorps.