Platinum parachutes

So where do former members of the House and Senate, not to mention Governors and former Cabinet members go when they exit from the political stage? Many of them wind up filling seats on boards of directors. Just take a look at the proxy filed by IDT Corp. (IDT) yesterday. There’s a former Governor: James Gilmore. A former Senator: Slade Gorton. There’s Jack Kemp, a former leader in the House of Representatives. And the former Ambassador to the United Nations, Jeane Kirkpatrick.

As footnoted.org implies, there will be a lot of turnover coming up due to the elections. Companies willing to shell out big bucks for window-dressing and connections will pony up and pay former politicos to sit on their boards. As will equity firms, lobbying groups, etc.

I'm wondering at what point these nascent directors will realize the burden known as Sarbanes-Oxley might not be such a good thing?