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Just finished reading Sen. Warren's book A Fighting Chance. It was remarkable how cozy the lobbyists got with "our" congressional representatives, how they cont

by abawany 11y ago

Just finished reading Sen. Warren's book A Fighting Chance. It was remarkable how cozy the lobbyists got with "our" congressional representatives, how they continuously bombarded them with lobbyists to drown out the citizen perspective, and how many billions they spent on lobbying. All the bellyaching about not being able to afford regulation rings hollow given the huge scads of money corporations spend on elections and lobbyists.

nickff 11y ago
It seems you vastly overestimate the citizenry; there is a great deal of evidence that elected representatives listen when their constituents have a strong view, but the citizens rarely bother to take a side.
- Retra 11y ago
  Partly because citizens expect the representatives to make the effort to ask them of their opinions. It's like software: most people won't file a bug report if it's broken, they'll just look for some other program that works properly.
  - abawany 11y ago
    In addition, it is a bit naive to expect a typical two income family that struggles to pay its bill to set up camp in DC or engage in a concerted letter writing campaign to outline their grievances to their congressional representative. For those that do stick their necks out, their alleged corporate-brought "representatives" often tell them to leave: http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/03/ms-state-rep-to-constituent-opposed-to-tax-cuts-move-back-to-illinois/ http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/03/ms-state-rep-to-constit... .
- pessimizer 11y ago
  Most people aren't aware of any particular industry or business that causes difficulty for a minority or permanent damage to the environment somewhere most don't see or some critical infrastructure most people aren't aware of unless some media choose to point it out. There's no way to be aware of every scam that some faction with a bunch of lobbyists and business connections to media outlets is running - they thrive on silence and/or misdirection and the effort to keep it is a predictable business expense and an industry in itself. edit: If our government, in order to act, has to rely on the majority of the population both understanding every critical subject and forming a similar opinion on those subjects that is in opposition to current policy, then our government has become purely parasitic. Honestly, it's called policing, and it doesn't just have to happen to poor people.
- unclebucknasty 11y ago
  This overlooks the fact that citizens are expressing a "strong view" when they vote for said representatives and their platforms.
jelly 11y ago
An important factor on what a corporation might be able to "afford" is the return on that spending. There's a nice short story from NPR's Planet Money [1] estimating on the order of a 22,000% return for money spent on lobbying. Granted that estimate was for tax breaks specifically, but it rather suggests big industries can't afford /not/ to lobby. [1] http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forget-stocks-or-bonds-invest-in-a-lobbyist http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forge...

by abawany 11y ago

nickff 11y ago

It seems you vastly overestimate the citizenry; there is a great deal of evidence that elected representatives listen when their constituents have a strong view, but the citizens rarely bother to take a side.

Retra 11y ago
Partly because citizens expect the representatives to make the effort to ask them of their opinions. It's like software: most people won't file a bug report if it's broken, they'll just look for some other program that works properly.
- abawany 11y ago
  In addition, it is a bit naive to expect a typical two income family that struggles to pay its bill to set up camp in DC or engage in a concerted letter writing campaign to outline their grievances to their congressional representative. For those that do stick their necks out, their alleged corporate-brought "representatives" often tell them to leave: http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/03/ms-state-rep-to-constituent-opposed-to-tax-cuts-move-back-to-illinois/ http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/03/ms-state-rep-to-constit... .
pessimizer 11y ago
Most people aren't aware of any particular industry or business that causes difficulty for a minority or permanent damage to the environment somewhere most don't see or some critical infrastructure most people aren't aware of unless some media choose to point it out. There's no way to be aware of every scam that some faction with a bunch of lobbyists and business connections to media outlets is running - they thrive on silence and/or misdirection and the effort to keep it is a predictable business expense and an industry in itself. edit: If our government, in order to act, has to rely on the majority of the population both understanding every critical subject and forming a similar opinion on those subjects that is in opposition to current policy, then our government has become purely parasitic. Honestly, it's called policing, and it doesn't just have to happen to poor people.
unclebucknasty 11y ago
This overlooks the fact that citizens are expressing a "strong view" when they vote for said representatives and their platforms.

jelly 11y ago

An important factor on what a corporation might be able to "afford" is the return on that spending. There's a nice short story from NPR's Planet Money [1] estimating on the order of a 22,000% return for money spent on lobbying. Granted that estimate was for tax breaks specifically, but it rather suggests big industries can't afford /not/ to lobby. [1] http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forget-stocks-or-bonds-invest-in-a-lobbyist http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/06/144737864/forge...