Mr. Washington goes to Wall St.

Sacramento Bee: For people wondering how close the relationship is between Washington and Wall Street, look no further than former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s new job.

As you will recall, Cantor, R-Va., was turned out in June by GOP primary voters in his Richmond-area district by a virtually unknown economics professor named Dave Brat, a tea party favorite. Brat’s campaign centered on Cantor’s personal disconnection from his district and a perception of elitism. It sent the national GOP establishment reeling when the young speaker-to-be lost. While Cantor wound up being the only major scalp the tea party took in 2014 thus far, it is the biggest yet and second in size only to that of Speaker John Boehner.

The news that Cantor just signed on as vice chairman and managing director with the investment bank Moelis & Company, a 500-employee outfit with 15 international offices, describes the current state of Washington in one sentence: All too often, it works precisely the way you think it does.

Cantor will provide “strategic advice.” He’ll get $3.4 million for that advice over two years, which is about $3 million more than some flunky House majority leader would get.