Friday, October 9, 2009
Bought and Paid For
Lobbyists from the financial industry have paid hundreds of millions to Congress and the Obama administration. They have bought virtually all of the key congress members and senators on committees overseeing finances and banking.
This is easy to confirm in black-and-white. See for yourself: here, here, here, here, here and here.
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Nicole Gelinas says:
The too-big-to-fail financial industry has been good to elected officials and former elected officials of both parties over its 25-year life span
And economic historian Niall Ferguson says:
No wonder two powerful congressmen said that banks run Congress.Guess which institutions are among the biggest lobbyists and campaign-finance contributors? Surprise! None other than the TBTFs [too big to fails].
No wonder two leading IMF officials, the former Vice President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, and the the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City have all said that the United States is controlled by an oligarchy.
With the exception of a handful couple of Congress members who have the American people's interest in mind, Congress is bought and paid for.
Note: A friend on the Hill made an important point to me by email.
The story isn’t just that a lot of members are bought and paid for, it’s that some aren’t.
15 comments:
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Don't be silly. All congressmen are always indignant and swear money has NOTHING to do with their votes and legislation. Just ask one.
ReplyDeleteThose corporate providers of campaign swag don't get anything for it. The army of lobbyists are milking a job that provides no benefit to their employer. I think the corps and lobs are civic-minded patriots.
Nobody gets anything for the money. Its just something they do, like a hobby.
Anony again.
ReplyDeleteThink of it as a don't ask, don't tell policy. Politicians take the money and deliver the legislation. But if anyone admitted this was so, it would be BRIBERY, which is illegal. It would also mean they were breaking their oath to uphold the Constitution, which requires them to represent their constituents.
If congress ever admitted that, they'd have to roll back the corruption and do without a lot of perks that they've grown rather fond of. Better the whole country circle the toilet than congress give up the wine, the dine, and their trips and golden parachutes.
The system has been broken for a long time. It is now just coming to light. Greed and Corporate Globalization, has turned it into a Fascist State. A financial system based on debt, and unregulated usury. along with casino type financial instruments can not, and will not survive.
ReplyDeleteAmerica should be storming the Capital! Too busy watching TV I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe bankers told Congress to give them the money and Congress did what they were told.
ReplyDeleteThe paymaster for our Congress is the International Banking Cartel. Not the American tax payers.
ReplyDeleteGreat post again Washington.
ReplyDeleteEverybody fast aleep as long the tummies are full.
Washington
ReplyDeleteYou write like superman, but you really need some help with the design.
Well meant but colors are awful.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteWhat colors would you suggest?
A 1st time visitor will have a difficult time to understand what your blog is about. It is blurry, one colour and one cannot see the pics clearly.
ReplyDeleteIt is like wine. All quality indications should be more or less the same: from paper of the label, to a clear label design, quality cork & bottle and of course the wine and price all have to work together to get a max experience.
A quality wine in a plastic bottle does not make sense.
I regard you as one of the top financial bloggers but this design does not work for me.
This does not mean I will stop reading your blog!!!
Perhaps it is an idea to talk to and give a brief to a graphic designer.
Good luck!
Most people do not realise how bad the economy really is. The mainstream media are associated with the government and corporate interests. Therefore they are not necessarily telling the truth, especially when the truth could disrupt the current social order. See:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.naturalmoney.org/howbad.html
It is possible to achieve a much greater prosperity, with maximum capital growth without inflation, large debts, economic crises, unproductive government intervention and the unproductive part of the financial sector. Natural selection will ultimately determine the most efficient economic system, despite the political power structures that still exist at this moment. The investigation of alternatives and dissemination of knowledge will accelerate this process, but the ultimate outcome will not change. See:
http://www.naturalmoney.org/introduction.html
This is great. They will literally say anything to do their masters bidding won’t they?
ReplyDeleteThis filth pig sty called The US Congress needs to be cleaned up in a hurry. But they have knitted a complex web or rules and laws over the years to insulate themselves from our wrath.
And the campaigns never really address the filthy wrongdoings do they? No of course not. Because each candidated is a dirty piece of filth. One more dirty than the next.
Since it will be hard to clean this stain up legally how can we get it done?
Ultimate Janitor.
Why were all the safeguards so intentionally set in place in 1933 and 1934 abandoned? Because those empowered to make and enforce our laws— sworn to be good stewards of the public interest— allowed themselves to be seduced and inducted to serve private interests, not the least of which their own, courtesy of campaign contributions, lobbyist largess, lucrative job prospects, and other co-optive emoluments known anywhere else in the world as bribes. When will we learn that it’s not about politics, ideology or principle? It’s about the money! But drop me a line the next time you hear any corporate or mainstream media pro daring to talk or write about it in those terms. Somehow, as obvious and pernicious a role as it plays in our political process, discussing venal motive is off limits, part of the pretense that our elected officials actually represent the best interests of the people who voted for them (as distinguished from those who bankroll them)....
ReplyDeleteread full comment at http://calltoaccount.wordpress.com/
I have been aware for some time that the American People do not own their own government, at least in the Congress and the Senate.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand why the people tolerate this situation. It calls for something like a revolution since you are being taxed without your politicians actually representing you.
How this fulfills their oath of upholding the constitution I don't know.
I fear that the capture and killing of long-dead Osama is the beginning of a worse than horrible Act II.
ReplyDeleteTSA and Homeland Security nightmares?
We ain't seen nothing yet.
Awaiting the devaluation chaos,
S