Most people are unaware that outside lobbyist groups hold the power over the internal dynamic. In addition to internal financial systems, each congressperson is aligned with a lobbyist group that pays for their political election efforts, sort of like a corporate sponsor in a professional sports team. Ultimately the sponsors determine what issues the politician supports. This is the business end of DC politics.
According to Politico, the Congressional Leadership Fund (team McCarthy) has come to an agreement with the Club for Growth Fund (team not McCarthy) and worked out a deal the representatives may be permitted to support. The deal “includes a vote on term limits for members, more seats for Freedom Caucus members on the powerful House Rules Committee and allowing a single member to force a vote on ousting the speaker.” The voting continues today.
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Most people think when they vote for a federal politician -a House or Senate representative- they are voting for a person who will go to Washington DC and write or enact legislation. This is the old-fashioned “schoolhouse rock” perspective based on decades past. There is not a single person in congress writing legislation or laws.
In modern politics not a single member of the House of Representatives or Senator writes a law, or puts pen to paper to write out a legislative construct.
This simply doesn’t happen.
Over the past several decades a system of constructing legislation has taken over Washington DC that more resembles a business operation than a legislative body. Here’s how it works right now.
Outside groups, often called “special interest groups”, are entities that represent their interests in legislative constructs. These groups are often representing foreign governments, Wall Street multinational corporations, banks, financial groups or businesses; or smaller groups of people with a similar connection who come together and form a larger group under an umbrella of interest specific to their affiliation.
Sometimes the groups are social interest groups, activists, climate groups, environmental interests etc. The social interest groups are usually non-profit constructs who depend on the expenditures of government to sustain their cause or need.
The for-profit groups (mostly business) have a purpose in Washington DC to shape policy, legislation and laws favorable to their interests. They have fully staffed offices just like any business would – only their ‘business‘ is getting legislation for their unique interests.
These groups are filled with highly paid lawyers who represent the interests of the entity and actually write laws and legislation briefs.
In the modern era this is actually the origination of the laws that we eventually see passed by congress. Within the walls of these buildings within Washington DC is where the ‘sausage’ is actually made.
Again, no elected official is usually part of this law origination process.
Almost all legislation created is not ‘high profile’, they are obscure changes to current laws, regulations or policies that no-one pays attention to. The passage of the general bills within legislation is not covered in media. Ninety-nine percent of legislative activity happens without anyone outside the system even paying any attention to it.
Once the corporation or representative organizational entity has written the law they want to see passed – they hand it off to the lobbyists.
The lobbyists are people who have deep contacts within the political bodies of the legislative branch, usually former House/Senate staff or former House/Senate politicians themselves.
The lobbyist takes the written brief, the legislative construct, and it’s their job to go to congress and sell it.
“Selling it” means finding politicians who will accept the brief, sponsor their bill and eventually get it to a vote and passage. The lobbyist does this by visiting the politician in their office, or, most currently familiar, by inviting the politician to an event they are hosting. The event is called a junket when it involves travel.
Often the lobbying “event” might be a weekend trip to a ski resort, or a “conference” that takes place at a resort. The actual sales pitch for the bill is usually not too long and the majority of the time is just like a mini vacation etc.
The size of the indulgence within the event, the amount of money the lobbyist is spending, is customarily related to the scale of benefit within the bill the sponsoring business entity is pushing. If the sponsoring business or interest group can gain a lot of financial benefit from the legislation, they spend a lot on the indulgences.
Recap: Corporations (special interest group) write the legislation. Lobbyists take the law and go find politician(s) to support it. Politicians get support from their peers using tenure and status etc. Eventually, if things go according to norm, the legislation gets a vote.
Within every step of the process there are expense account lunches, dinners, trips, venue tickets and a host of other customary financial waypoints to generate/leverage a successful outcome. The amount of money spent is proportional to the benefit derived from the outcome.
The important part to remember is that the origination of the entire process is EXTERNAL to congress.
Congress does not write laws or legislation; special interest groups do. Lobbyists are paid, some very well paid, to get politicians to go along with the need of the legislative group.
When you are voting for a Congressional Rep or a U.S. Senator you are not voting for a person who will write laws. Your rep only votes on legislation to approve or disapprove of constructs that are written by outside groups and sold to them through lobbyists who work for those outside groups.
While all of this is happening the same outside groups who write the laws are providing money for the campaigns of the politicians, they need to pass them. This construct sets up the quid-pro-quo of influence, although much of it is fraught with plausible deniability.
This is the way legislation is created.
If your frame of reference is not established in this basic understanding you can often fall into the trap of viewing a politician, or political vote, through a false prism. The modern origin of all legislative constructs is not within congress.
“we’ll have to pass the bill to, well, find out what is in the bill” etc. ~ Nancy Pelosi 2009
“We rely upon the stupidity of the American voter” ~ Johnathan Gruber 2011, 2012.
Once you understand this process you can understand how politicians get rich.
When a House or Senate member becomes educated on the intent of the legislation, they have attended the sales pitch; and when they find out the likelihood of support for that legislation; they can then position their own (or their families) financial interests to benefit from the consequence of passage. It is a process similar to insider trading on Wall Street, except the trading is based on knowing who will benefit from a legislative passage.
The legislative construct passes from K-Street into the halls of congress through congressional committees. The law originates from the committee to the full House or Senate. Committee seats which vote on these bills are therefore more valuable to the lobbyists. Chairs of these committees are exponentially more valuable.
No legislation provided by outside interests means no work for lobbyists who sell it. No work means no money. No money means no expense accounts. No expenses mean politicians paying for their own indulgences etc.
In the aftermath of President Trump winning the 2016 election, politicians on both sides were not happy – but the issue was actually bigger. No K-Street expenditures also means no personal benefit; and no opportunity to advance financial benefit from the insider trading system.
Without the ability to position personal wealth for benefit, why would a politician stay in office? The income of many long-term politicians on both Republican and Democrat sides of the aisle was completely disrupted by President Trump winning the election. That is one of the key reasons why so many politicians retired immediately thereafter.
When we understand the business of DC, we understand the difference between legislation with a traditional purpose and modern legislation with a financial and political agenda.
Lastly, this is why -when signing legislation- President Trump often said “they’ve been trying to get this through for a long time” etc. Most of the legislation passed by congress and signed by President Trump in his first term was older legislative proposals, with little indulgent value, that were shelved in years past.
Example: Criminal justice reform did not carry a financial benefit to the legislative bodies, and there was no financial interest funding the politicians to pass the bill. If you look at most of the bills President Trump has signed, with the exception of a few economic bills, they stem from congressional construction many years ago.
(1) Trump looks good.
(2) Hannity looks ancient.
(3) How does stuff like the limit issuing a 1099K for online sales drop from $20K to $600 get included in legislation?
Reduction from $20k to $600 wasn’t in legislation, was it? Isn’t that just a rule change by the IRS?
Could be wrong about that but I seem to remember it’s on temporary hold because of some sort of technical irregularity.
Now that they want something ( McCarthy ) the RINO’s are all about talking in favor of
” Fiscal Responsibility ” …… after the $$$$ Two Trillion $$$ spending bill got passed.
HOLD THE LINE !!!!!!
Trump Trump Trump!!
Go Matt!!
So, DC is a giant prostitution ring?
Yup.
This is Why the “ Virgin “ Donalds HAS to Be Sacrificed in the Temple of Prostitutes.
ONLY a Virgin Can Be Used to Attempt the Cleansing
The McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and conservative activist group Club for Growth have also struck a deal that would prevent CLF from weighing in on any open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/05/mccarthy-holdout-rep-ralph-norman-says-there-is-written-deal-for-speakership/
people who have lost credibility:…Gingrich, Hannity, MTG, Pres. Trump is on the edge as he is making unforced errors… who else?
“Again, no elected official is usually part of this law origination process”.
should not be allowed. My understanding, limited, is that members’ staffers and aides live in a gray space where the law does not preclude them from basically being liaison between members and outside lobby groups. In fact, most if not all staffers and aides are pretty much supplied by various lobby groups…
so when you read the dangers of how corporations have so much control and favor peddling with THE PEOPLE’s REPRESENTATIVES…understand the very institutional control over nearly every political decision and law made in America.
to the uninitiated, they see only the effects: “why does my representative vote against the basic position of his constituents?
the answer is: you are not controlling those decisions. you are just the “VOTER”.
which is why I have often written:
the LEAST DEMONSTRATION OF YOUR ROLE IN AMERICA …is the vote.
it truly is a matrix.
God Bless America
Lobbyists. The blight on the Republic.
Elected officials are supposed to be OUR lobbyists.
But in reality, only mega corps & politically charged, often illogical philosophies, have lobbyists.
Call them what they are:
Parasites.
We’re pretty much on our own.
As with all evil, follow the money.
Always.
And this is why they, the Uniparty, are fighting so hard to keep from moving towards Term Limits.
The day I saw both Republicans and Democrats coming out against Trump was the day I knew he was going to get my vote. Even though I find his behavior annoying and think he is narcissistic, it became clear that he was a threat to upset the apple cart and stop the congressional gravy train. The system is corrupt to its very core. We’re in a spiritual battle that cannot be won without the help of God. We need to repent of our national sin and turn to Him for redemption of our country. We need fighters on every political level to root out the evil. Until it is rooted out, the downward spiral of our nation will continue.
How the Founding Fathers prevented special interest groups and lobbyists from corrupting our democracy – and how President Nixon shredded their work with an unheralded bill in 1970. The 1970 Legislative Reorganization Act was pushed through by both Ds and Rs. And it has been an absolute nightmare.
As a result, Legislators are intimidated by lobbyists who are invited into the Legislative Committee Metinhgs.
Repeal the 1970 Legislative Reform Act.