June 4, 2009 8:38AM 

# Prosperity in Washington 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

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The current Attorney General, [Eric Holder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder#Private_practice), left DC’s Covington and Burling to return to the Justice Department, where he held a senior post during the Clinton years. Holder’s mission is to supposedly “rein in the free market excesses of the last eight years.” Bush’s people are done with their [own](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3595) [crackdown](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9851) and are now returning to DC’s big law firms to warn their client business firms about the coming [crackdown](http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/06/beware-of-enforcement-agencies-say-exbush-officials.html) by Holder’s prosecutors. This is sorta like the [GOP legislators](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3750) who are now [trying to lodge complaints ](http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-03-14-republicans-address_N.htm)about Obama’s spending. Despite the rhetoric, both sides aggrandize federal power and then [enrich themselves](https://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v22n6/wwf-dc.pdf) (pdf) while advising businesspeople on how to comply with [myriad regulations](http://cei.org/issue-analysis/2009/05/28/ten-thousand-commandments) from the alphabet agencies.

For related Cato work, go [here](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5974) and [here](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9534).

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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