GekeVenn: FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Ten Steem is awarded to @em3 as thanks for suggesting a GekeVenn on Ford Motor Company. Our steem giveaway has now ended, but we may bring it back again later, if there's an interest. Thank you so much to @geomagna, @millionaremark, and @em3 for participating!

There's a large and busy revolving door between the auto industry and the federal government. And of course, hiring Ford lobbyists and employees to assist legislators is always an area of concern. But the most problematic inclusion on this list is Amanda Prescott, who worked as a compliance engineer for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under the second President Bush. The NHTSA is the government agency that regulates the auto industry, particularly with respect to automobile defects. Prescott now works for Ford, utilizing her insider knowledge of the NHTSA's workings.

The argument supporting the hiring of government agency employees by the industry they regulate is that these insiders can then help private companies better comply with federal regulations. The obvious counter argument, however, is that these insiders can (and do) help private companies work around regulations, and in some cases, even write regulations at their former employers' bidding. These insiders go into government work at a pay cut, but it's only a temporary cut, as they are soon hired or re-hired by the industry they regulate.

"They look upon that (government) time as a down payment on future income," Clarence Ditlow told the Washington Post in 2010. Ditlow, the executive director of Center for Auto Safety, is opposed to the NHTSA hiring its staff from the auto industry. "On the whole, regulators shouldn't come from the regulated industry and they certainly shouldn't go back." (emphasis added)