Darrell Delamaide

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The question is, when does it start to bother you.

When does the revolving door between politics and Wall Street start to bother you? When does the reliance of politicians on Wall Street money and the potential for a cushy job cross the threshold from undue influence to outright corruption?

The news this week that former House majority leader Eric Cantor is joining a well-heeled investment banking boutique comes as no surprise.

Cantor, who suffered a surprise defeat in the Republican primary for his district in Richmond, raised millions from Wall Street firms on his own behalf and for other Republicans during his time in office.

As majority leader, he was instrumental in steering the Republican caucus to Wall Street-friendly legislation on taxes, regulation, deficit spending, and any other issues touching on the ability of these institutions to mint money.

Cantor never hid his ambition. He wielded his power in Congress with relish and had his eye on becoming speaker of the House – arguably the most powerful position in the legislative branch and third in line for the presidency.

Now, undaunted, he seems ready to channel this ambition into making a lot of money on Wall Street. While his initial remuneration is reportedly in the single-digit millions – modest by Wall Street standards – it is surely only the beginning of a career that will make him fabulously wealthy.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

Cantor is joining forces with Ken Moelis, a successful investment banker who learned his trade from Michael Milken, the junk bond king at Drexel Burnham Lambert who was convicted on several felony counts, imprisoned and banned from the securities industry for life.

Moelis went on to build up the investment banking business of UBS, the Swiss bank with global ambitions that has been fined billions by regulators in the wake of the financial crisis and subsequent scandals in the industry – well after Moelis left in 2007 to start up his own firm.

Cantor's path from Washington to Wall Street is a well-trodden one.

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, after putting in short waiting period at a think tank, earlier this year joined Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm. Geithner has been criticized by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other lawmakers for going too easy on the banks during the financial crisis.

Numerous other Treasury and Justice officials have recently joined, or re-joined, Wall Street banks and law firms, bringing the benefits of their government networking with them.

Lanny Breuer, the former assistant attorney general of the criminal division, who found countless reasons not to prosecute any bankers in the wake of the crisis, rejoined the corporate law firm of Covington & Burling, which bills many of those banks millions for legal advice.

Outgoing regulators, too, are welcomed on Wall Street with open arms and fat salaries. Mary Schapiro, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, joined Promontory Financial Group, a well-connected Wall Street consulting firm, after leaving her post.

Kathleen Casey, a Republican appointee to the SEC who voted against an enforcement action against Goldman Sachs that ultimately resulted in a $550 million settlement, earlier this year joined the board of HSBC, a London-based bank that has been fined $1.9 billion in connection with money laundering probes.

But the billions of dollars paid by these banks in fines is a small fraction of the profit they make, including the profit from illegal activities.

In contrast to the savings and loan scandal in the late 1980s, however, which led to more than 10,000 criminal referrals and a thousand convictions, not a single top executive has been fined, convicted or imprisoned in spite of widespread findings of fraud and other illegal activity.

Banks have found, in short, that crime does pay. In the meantime, former public servants find that banks pay – very, very well.

Are you bothered yet?

All this is worth contemplating as Hillary Clinton gears up for another presidential run in 2016. The former secretary of state has been collecting upwards of $200,000 a speech from the likes of Goldman Sachs, assuring them of her intentions to treat Wall Street fairly.

The banks, in turn, are ready to contribute to her campaign, just as they have to the foundation and presidential library set up by former President Bill Clinton.

Your call – undue influence or outright corruption?