Dear (Senator / Representative) (Name),

Recently, the FAA passed regulations that ban ex-FAA aircraft inspection personnel from taking employment offers from private airlines for a minimum of two years. This is to prevent any appearance of impropriety or actual ethics violations that may potentially result in catastrophe. I think this is a great and welcomed position for the FAA to take. It places the public good first.

The reason that I am writing you is that I would like to see the SEC follow a similar path. Unfortunately, I do not see the same sense of responsibility and integrity emanating from SEC personnel. It seems that upper-level investigators, entrusted to investigate corporate criminality and ensure public safety, use the SEC as launchpad towards obtaining high-paying Wall Street jobs. They turn around and defend the practices of firms that they may have been criminally investigating just days before.

This practice is unconscionable and, as seen over the last few years, has contributed a great deal to the damage our economy has suffered. As such, I petition you, as an elected representative of the Great State of (Your State), to sponsor legislation that would prevent any SEC employee from gaining employment with any Wall Street firm for a minimum of two years after terminating employment with the SEC.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

This will be the first of many letters of petition on this matter.

For a second there I was wondering why the Southeastern Conference needed reforming.

I like the letter. But, it is a waste of time. Reputable people warned the SEC about Bernie Madoff and Alan Stanford, but the SEC does not want to find things and enforce the law where there may be political repurcussions. And, there are always political repercussions with regulatory action against the bad players in good times. It's only when the bad times come do the regulators get tough...and then it's usually with both the bad and the good players.