Everyone seems to be talking about “Special Interests” groups influencing government in the midst of the great Health Care reform debate.  A simple search on Google revealed that many of our senators and congressman’s election campaigns are largely funded by the financial and health care industries.

So the idea of eliminating this practice is probably much to idealistic but I don’t think it is to much to ask that it be disclosed publicly and prominently.  Perhaps politicians could wear logos on their suits when they were speaking publicly so we could understand who is supporting them?

Can you imagine a Senator at a Town Hall Meeting with a big “United Healthcare” patch on his suit coat and a “Goldman Sachs” patch on his tie?  I bet that might curb this abuse a little.

Recently, I was at a lunch and a friend of mind was raving about this new band.  She suggested that I consider them for one of our cruises and then I asked how she had discovered the band.  She let me know she recently began co-managing the band.  I told her that I was more interested in the band when I was under the impression that she was just a fan of the band.  As the co-manager, she has the responsibility to sell me on the band vs. the idea of sharing her unbiased passion for the band as a fan.

It is the main reason that Sixthman does not manage artists anymore.  If we did, then our guests might think that the only reason our artists performed on our cruises was because we were managing them.  Stephen Kellogg did not end up on The Rock Boat because his manager told us he was great.  We invited Stephen after his fans assaulted us with e-mails and message board requests.

I think deep down we all want to follow an idea that we can “buy into” versus be “sold on” and when someone is being influenced, it feels like we are being “sold”.

Have a great day,

Andy

*Note- I voted for Obama and am not trying to disparage him with this image.  It was the only one I could find of a politician in a NASCAR suit that demonstrated my point.