3 ms·
Innocent question: what other major lobbying monsters are there in the US?
by farseer 2y ago
Innocent question: what other major lobbying monsters are there in the US?
- karaterobot 2y agoSomething that surprised me recently was learning that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a private organization. I assumed it was some office funded by the government in a town, that worked with local businesses—or something along those lines. But no, they're a lobbying group, and they are the biggest lobbying group in the country. I'm not saying they are a monster (I clearly don't know anything about them) but at that size, how could you not be? https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-spenders https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-spenders
- lovich 2y agoId posit that they are simply from giving themselves that name and not disabusing anyone of the notion. They like to get puff pieces in the news with their analysis on legislation and most people have the same misconception as a result
- js2 2y agoYou can view it sliced various ways here: https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying
- auntienomen 2y agoOil/energy, real estate pros, health insurance, ...
- mlinhares 2y agoCar dealers. Also the biggest financiers of the Republican party.
- AnarchismIsCool 2y agoSee also, MLMs and the supplement industry. They're contributing for the legal right to screw average people out of their money.
- mlinhares 2y agoThe trifecta. If we regulated the supplement industry, ended MLMs and removed the requirement of car companies of having to use dealerships the country would be at a much better place.
- it_citizen 2y agoBoeing
- julianeon 2y agoA lot of the action has moved upstream now that Citizens United is the law (January 21, 2010: "this decision allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns"). Ideally from the corp. perspective you don't wait until a crisis point. You spend early and shape the narrative to prevent a crisis from ever happening. The Koch brothers created a network of donors who operate on this strategic plane more than the tactical "this specific regulation has to be changed" level. See Mayer's "Dark Money" for a comprehensive history.
- insane_dreamer 2y agoCitizens United has got to be one of the worst and most anti-democracy rulings of the Supreme Court ever.
- b3ing 2y agoHealthcare