Every time I see the donations accounts, I am astounded at how little politicians cost. Just goes to show they’re already on the side of capital, and they just take a little bonus to do what they would’ve done for free.
Well, that is sort of the sad underlying truth to lobbying. They do it for cheap because they either fully agree or don’t care. Supporting the status quo and “not caring” is functionally the same as agreeing in the end, so there you have it. These politicians were always going to hold these beliefs and cast these votes in favor of capital.
Not to say lobbying does nothing because it’s pretty clear that it does. But it’s not because of “bribes” necessarily (although of course they get those…). It’s more like they already agree or are willing to cast a vote from the start. But corporations and special interest groups pay the small campaign fund donation fee to get a seat at the table and make their case explicit to the congressperson. They have now intertwined their fates by putting something (although small in the grand scheme) on the line. The politicians get to stick to their own internal ideological compass while also having a cheerleader in their ear letting them know someone out there supports this vote. And hey, your son is graduating from Harvard next year with his MBA and needs a job? How does an executive at Aetna or whatever sound? Maybe he can be CEO one day! Or a senator!
It’s pretty easy to see why all of them fall into this shit eventually. If you’re in a bubble disconnected from reality and all you hear is the opinions of the donors because they get the privilege of passing along some “sage advice” with their yearly max payment to the campaign and PACs that support you… it won’t take long before you see them as your only friends and also the only ones being “nice” to you. They fund your campaigns, tell you you’re really smart and doing great things. All the plebs do is tell you that you killed their mother when you voted to deregulate medical insurance further. Who wants to hear that shit? Write me the check, fly me to the condo next to a beach for a weekend, tell me why it’s so important to vote yes on “liquify the children” bill, and let me go roast in the sun for a few hours.
Not to excuse the behavior of congress. Just to consider the reality that only those with strongly held convictions would he immune to that sort of corporate lobbying. Even then… the corrupting power and insanely unbalanced power corporations hold is incredible. PACs as well of course
Every time I see the donations accounts, I am astounded at how little politicians cost. Just goes to show they’re already on the side of capital, and they just take a little bonus to do what they would’ve done for free.
Well, that is sort of the sad underlying truth to lobbying. They do it for cheap because they either fully agree or don’t care. Supporting the status quo and “not caring” is functionally the same as agreeing in the end, so there you have it. These politicians were always going to hold these beliefs and cast these votes in favor of capital.
Not to say lobbying does nothing because it’s pretty clear that it does. But it’s not because of “bribes” necessarily (although of course they get those…). It’s more like they already agree or are willing to cast a vote from the start. But corporations and special interest groups pay the small campaign fund donation fee to get a seat at the table and make their case explicit to the congressperson. They have now intertwined their fates by putting something (although small in the grand scheme) on the line. The politicians get to stick to their own internal ideological compass while also having a cheerleader in their ear letting them know someone out there supports this vote. And hey, your son is graduating from Harvard next year with his MBA and needs a job? How does an executive at Aetna or whatever sound? Maybe he can be CEO one day! Or a senator!
It’s pretty easy to see why all of them fall into this shit eventually. If you’re in a bubble disconnected from reality and all you hear is the opinions of the donors because they get the privilege of passing along some “sage advice” with their yearly max payment to the campaign and PACs that support you… it won’t take long before you see them as your only friends and also the only ones being “nice” to you. They fund your campaigns, tell you you’re really smart and doing great things. All the plebs do is tell you that you killed their mother when you voted to deregulate medical insurance further. Who wants to hear that shit? Write me the check, fly me to the condo next to a beach for a weekend, tell me why it’s so important to vote yes on “liquify the children” bill, and let me go roast in the sun for a few hours.
Not to excuse the behavior of congress. Just to consider the reality that only those with strongly held convictions would he immune to that sort of corporate lobbying. Even then… the corrupting power and insanely unbalanced power corporations hold is incredible. PACs as well of course