Hightower Lowdown

How can you not feel sorry for Nick Calio? His problem, you see, is that he’s only been knocking down $145,000 a year as the chief lobbyist for George W. Bush’s White House—plus Cadillac health care, a chauffeured limo, and a golden government pension.

But, gosh, Nick is used to so much more. As a former million-dollar-a-year corporate lobbyist, he prefers specially tailored French-cuff shirts. He lives in a luxury home with a private wine cellar. This guy yearns to live large and, hey, 145K won’t cut it. So last month, Nick announced he was leaving the White House because he needs more money.

Before joining Bush & Co., Calio was a lobbyist for Arthur Andersen, the now-disgraced accounting giant. While at the White House, Nick tried to weaken rules that would prevent more abuses by the likes of Andersen. He’d also been a lobbyist for oil giant ARCO, and at the White House, he pushed legislation to benefit . . . guess who? ARCO!

Now, Nick goes forth to become the chief lobbyist for Citigroup, the financial giant that happens to want many more favors from Bush.

When it was suggested that ol’ Nick is profiting from the “revolving door”—lobbying from outside the White House, then inside, now outside again—Calio said, “That’s a silly criticism. What do you want? People going into government who know nothing about it? You need people going in who know the issues.”

Sure, Nick, but not from the perspective of a millionaire hired gun for corporate greedheads determined to run over the public interest.