> You get elected on hopes and dreams, and propose a bill, but you are a freshman. The senior guy you ask to help you sponsor the bill which is only 10 pages lo

> You get elected on hopes and dreams, and propose a bill, but you are a freshman. The senior guy you ask to help you sponsor the bill which is only 10 pages long then says he will support you if you add an amendment that says X, even that amendment has nothing to do with the main bill, and he has been donated money or promised campaign support by $KSTREETGROUP. If you say no, you get derailed, the bill never leaves committee, and you have made an enemy. You agree, and then the floodgates are open for 10 other sitting house members to throw in their amendments too. Before you know it, your bill is 250 pages and they removed all your original text and it's no longer your bill. If you rock the boat, you make enemies and forever get shoved aside. Agree and support the bill you introduced, that is actually now bad legislation, and all those people say they will help you next time. The alternative is that you're a freshman congressman (so are many of the rest—term limits!—and no-one could be called senior) so you have no idea WTF is going on, so one or both of 1) long-term staff you inherited from your predecessors—mind you, I'm not even sure such people exist under the current system, so this is hypothetical, or 2) lobbyists, who really are so helpful, telling you how to get things done and summarizing complicated bills for you, and won't you just do this one little thing for them? end up running the show.