3 ms·

If I hold several billion (or whatever absurdly high amount you want) dollars in front of your face, you'd vote against your beliefs as well.

by younata 16y ago

ryandvm 16y ago
Try me.
- jimmyjim 16y ago
  Are you running for office?
  - camiller 16y ago
    With your contribution to my campaign fund...
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Try me too.... I will take the billions.
cabalamat 16y ago
This assumes that politicians actually have beliefs. While I'm sure that some do, I'm also sure that some of them -- especially after years of being bribed with money -- vote in ways that're indistinguishable from how they would vote if they were trying to maximise their wealth and power.
- lucasjung 16y ago
  I agree with you, but I want to add a tempering thought: in many cases (not all, but probably most), voting to "maximize their wealth and power" ends up looking a whole lot like voting to do what their constituents want. You can get away with doing the will of the lobbyists against the will of your constituents in cases that don't garner much attention, or that your constituents are indifferent to, but if it's an issue your constituents care about, all of the special interest money in the world isn't going to save you from their wrath at the ballot box. When my cynicism starts to get the better of me, this is the thought that keeps me sane: whether by accident or design, the system we have keeps naked self-interest somewhat in check by correlating (at least moderately) the fortunes of the representative to the desires of the people.
aw3c2 16y ago
It was 800000$ that Franken got from media companies, so not even one single billion. What are you implying! Source: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00029016&cycle=2010 http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N0002... via: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/e8bh8/guys_this_is_bad_the_tsa_maybe_doing_some_groping/c164ysu http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/e8bh8/guys_this_...

If I hold several billion (or whatever absurdly high amount you want) dollars in front of your face, you'd vote against your beliefs as well.

by younata 16y ago

If I hold several billion (or whatever absurdly high amount you want) dollars in front of your face, you'd vote against your beliefs as well.

ryandvm 16y ago

Try me.

jimmyjim 16y ago
Are you running for office?
- camiller 16y ago
  With your contribution to my campaign fund...
kenjackson 16y ago
Try me too.... I will take the billions.

cabalamat 16y ago

This assumes that politicians actually have beliefs. While I'm sure that some do, I'm also sure that some of them -- especially after years of being bribed with money -- vote in ways that're indistinguishable from how they would vote if they were trying to maximise their wealth and power.

lucasjung 16y ago
I agree with you, but I want to add a tempering thought: in many cases (not all, but probably most), voting to "maximize their wealth and power" ends up looking a whole lot like voting to do what their constituents want. You can get away with doing the will of the lobbyists against the will of your constituents in cases that don't garner much attention, or that your constituents are indifferent to, but if it's an issue your constituents care about, all of the special interest money in the world isn't going to save you from their wrath at the ballot box. When my cynicism starts to get the better of me, this is the thought that keeps me sane: whether by accident or design, the system we have keeps naked self-interest somewhat in check by correlating (at least moderately) the fortunes of the representative to the desires of the people.

aw3c2 16y ago

It was 800000$ that Franken got from media companies, so not even one single billion. What are you implying! Source: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00029016&cycle=2010 http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N0002... via: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/e8bh8/guys_this_is_bad_the_tsa_maybe_doing_some_groping/c164ysu http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/e8bh8/guys_this_...