I’m going to build out on this in the next several days and weeks. The reason is simple, this is the cornerstone of DC Business; it has nothing to do with legislation, lawmaking, or the other reference points we retain in the illusion of modern politics. It’s going to get ugly!
CTH often describes the background DC motives with the phrase: “There are Trillions at Stake.” Here we take a look at what that really means, and how DC politics is not quite based on the ideas that frame many reference points.
With people taking notice of DC politics for the first time, and with people not as familiar with the purpose of DC politics, we end up within two different references. Perhaps it is valuable to reset the larger frames of reference and provide clarity.
I’ve been talking about this for well over a decade, and we have had this conversation on these pages for just as long. However, in this video Bill Gurley brings some modern receipts. WATCH:
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.
Now, think about this reality against the backdrop of the 2016 Presidential Election. Legislation is passed based on ideology. In the aftermath of the 2016 election, the system within DC was not structurally set up to receive a Donald Trump presidency.
If Hillary Clinton had won the election, her oval office desk would be filled with legislation passed by Congress which she would have been signing. Heck, she’d have writer’s cramp from all of the special interest legislation, driven by special interest groups that supported her campaign, that would be flowing to her desk.
Why?
Simply because the authors of the legislation, the originating special interest and lobbying groups, were spending millions to fund her campaign. Hillary Clinton would be signing K-Street constructed special interest legislation to repay all of those donors/investors.
Congress would be fast-tracking the passage because the same interest groups also fund the members of Congress.
President Donald Trump winning the election threw a monkey wrench into the entire DC system…. In early 2017 the modern legislative machine was frozen in place.
The “America First” policies, represented by candidate Donald Trump, were not within the legislative constructs coming from the K-Street authors of the legislation.
There were no MAGA lobbyists waiting on Trump ideology to advance legislation based on America First objectives.
As a result of an empty feeder system, in early 2017 congress had no bills to advance because all of the myriad of bills and briefs written were not in line with President Trump policy. There was simply no entity within DC writing legislation that was in line with President Trump’s America First economic and foreign policy agenda.
Exactly the opposite was true. All of the DC legislative briefs and constructs were/are antithetical to Trump policy. There were hundreds of file boxes filled with thousands of legislative constructs that became worthless when Donald Trump won the election.
Those legislative constructs (briefs) representing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of time and influence were just sitting there piled up in boxes under desks and in closets amid K-Street and the congressional offices. Legislation needed to be in-line with an entire new political perspective, and there was no-one, no special interest or lobbying group, currently occupying DC office space with any interest in synergy with Trump policy.
Think about the larger ramifications within that truism. That is also why there was/is so much opposition.
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.
Politicians were not happy without their indulgences, 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 says, “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 signed, with the exception of a few economic bills, they stemmed from congressional construction many years ago.
More to follow….
And, Senior Executive Service… What is their role?
Most SES members are “Experts” who “review” and “provide academic back-up” for positions.
Getting most SES to actually commit to anything was like trying to nail jello to the wall.
Look at Dr. Death Fauci and Dr. Bixie Dust Brix … even during the height of mandate mania, neither of them gave a definitive answer to anything … just waffling contradictory opinions.
SES employees are long term sleeper political operatives!
If they were solely “experts” who “review,” there would be no need for protection against removal.
They are protected subversives!
Yep, this all must be ripped out.
Their ‘waffling’ provided the needed injection of ambiguity for the MSM to drone on with for years. Nothing definitive, new story every week. They had the American public chasing the ‘follow the science’ rainbow and still do.
It is now clear that many MDs are just acting as pushers for the CDC, and ‘vaccine’ and pill pushers.
HERE’S THEIR Published Title Page –
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/
” “…ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality.” “
The demons den.
They’re evil. The SES needs to be totally eliminated, along with the Dept of Ed, and countless others!
I contend that the only way forward for the USA is to dissolve the Federal Government.
A rehab of something this size and so corrupt is impossible.
It can be done but it requires the individual states to do it. We take back the states bring the social programs in state to be administrated locally followed by elimination of federal payroll taxes. We do this and DC dies on the vine from dehydration!
I agree and would be quite surprised to see our state legislatures go down this path before either a total federal implosion or a straight up totalitarian rule come into place.
Either way, the USA would become ripe for take-over. At least, the blue states and cities that is. No guns to protect and defend these citizens. No rule of law or law enforcement.
Every agency has employees in the “Senior Executive Service” (SES)…it is for those who get paid higher than GS grade employees. You can get a SES position by kissing enough butt and selling your soul enough. Much more salary money, travel budget and other benefits. SES employees have usually worked the system for the benefit of the agency and more. I had the chance to “advance” into a SES position…but I chose early retirement instead. I just could not stand the system.
If you ever want to see the real effects of some lobby groups….just look at the so called “Food Pyramid” USDA). It is entirely controlled by lobbyists and does change. I know this because I was in that system for a brief time. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. They will lie about other things too!
…eliminate them…
To avoid a repeat of 2017 we can stock the feeder system with bills that are in line with Trump’s policies and have them ready to go on Day 1. Perhaps there are Republicans who will promote them (raucous laughter here).
As for lobbyists’ “indulgences” and Congress members’ dishonorable self enrichment, I don’t know what we can do about that. At least not this cycle.
Find out the products the lobbyists are pushing, and boycott them.
Or serious jail time for any and all lobbyists, and the company heads, whom they represent, who make one red cent off of DC.
We the people had our chance a few years back. Predictably, we blew it.
When the were doing the recon work for “Occupy Wall Street”, we should
have been doing some quality rioting around the vicinity of “K” Street.
Little signs, everywhere. “No one elected you.”
“You’re the pimps, congress is your prostitute”
“There’s ways to make money without ruining
things for everybody else. FIND THEM”
Nancy Reagan’s “just say no to drugs”, “this is your brain on drugs”, etc.
worked at the time. On billboards all over the country.
“FJB” sticker campaign on gas pumps worked
until the threatened arrests.
We need another citizen campaign.
People need to be educated outside the mainstream media coverup and lies.
Sad fact-progressives are well disciplined, conservatives, not so much. Not a bad thing, but we must improve our cheating skills to compete. File under things that need to happen: Abolish Lobbyists and require Congress to write the laws.
Progressives are collectivists, easy to round up.
Conservatives are individualists, harder to round up?
ymmv
https://rumble.com/v3hscye-scott-presler-is-making-voters-realize-their-impact.html
Improve on cheating?!
How ‘bout Bastille Day?
La guillotine will claim her bloody prize.
Term limits.
I think that will help.
Congress will never pass term limits, it will require a convention of the states to impose necessary changes on congress and the government.
So you plan to ask professional grifters to sign and pass legislation that limits their grifting? HA.
Would be nice, but don’t hold your breath. Going to have to totally bankrupt the government.
The Heritage Foundation, Center for Renewing America and some other “think tanks” are working on this but they need support and people who will step up to serve.
https://americarenewing.com/
https://www.heritage.org/
I think we need to add baseball bats to the pitchforks and torches
Wrapped in barbwire.
If you plan on that strategy, I suggest you will need firearms to back up your ball bats.
This is not just in DC, this is in every State capitol. In every city town burg hamlet that has a Chamber of Commerce insignia on its welcome to sign, it is a globalist controlled region inside America.
I was once in a union, IATSE – International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. We had a lobbyist, I being on a committee received a ‘thick’ vanilla envelope with legislation that was passed in the unions favor (State gov). I, tell you this was thick load of garbage I had to search through all of it to find what passed, it was three quarters through from page one and it was less than two sentences, word changes. The only thing that came to my mind is how much we were paying this guy to do that, union members dues going for this, plus the local union mafia president going golfing with city gov officials?
If you want a visual of your state, pull up Ggl maps and type in the name of your state and the word, ‘capitol.’ The map will put a blue pin on top of your state capitol building. In the box where it says, ‘Directions,’ Save,’ etc., click on ‘Nearby.’ Another box pops up with suggestions for ‘restaurants’ and ‘hotels.’ In the space above the suggestions, type in the word, ‘association’ and hit enter. Then watch all the red pins pop up on the map. A list will also be provided for each red pin. This is by no means all inclusive, but it will give you and idea of the special interests that have offices near your state capitol.
“There is not a single person in congress writing legislation or laws.”
So few discuss Newt Gingrich’s role in that demise.
Just one term of President Trump and it hurts that bad.
Another term and the hurt will knock a bunch more of the feeders of the gravy train.
I really like that.
Enjoy Biden for a few free money days and then get the hell out of here you jerks
I have first hand, HANDS ON, experience that validates Sundance’s article.
That experience spanned 20+ years of my civilian employment experience.
ALL major entities who have interests linked to DC have offices in DC. Those offices are manned by experts and very very smart people, to include SUGAR TRAPs. In the case of my employer; it was nearly 6 foot TALL, BLOND, BLUE EYED KILLERS with MBA’s and degrees in Communications. You underestimated these gals at your peril. They were the congressional liaisons, who did the recon, coordination, delivery and in person reviews with congressional staffers. The other very very smart folks did the budgetary research, buzz word research, issue research and writing. My job as a subject matter expert was do the drafting and “technical” reviewing.
I actually WROTE and REVIEWED Legislation for our TX Senator (Kay Hutchison, Ted Cruz and John Cornyan) and our TX House REPS from across the State.
In addition, I wrote White Papers and Position Papers as well as did modeling for the State Department, while working overseas, and for the DoD to justify “new” programs.
My nickname was the Doctor [Note: I do not have a PhD]
My experience spanned 1983 to 2010.
What Sundance writes really is happening.
And Gurley in the video did a great job outlining it with current events, articles, and recent legislation with the stats to back it. The video is worthy the watch. The Gurley portion is only slightly more than half the posted video.
So, from your inside experience, how do we TOTALLY ELIMINATE IT?
In aftermath of 9/11, our parent Company selected very gifted people to descend upon K Street to “sell” and construct suitable language into the Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program. Our Team co-wrote the specific Grant language! Then, after months of tactical schmoozing, CONgressional lobbying, dinners, trips, etc., presto, our product/gizmo (in generic language form) appeared as a suitable Grant item. Seeing how the $ system works in D.C. was an eye opener. Sundance is 100% correct; CONgress simply rubber stamped our work. They had zero input, and for years after our family of Companies procured 100’s of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Essentially speaking government picks losers and winners by how much they are bribed over and over again.
That may have been true up to about 20 years ago.
In today’s environment of Financial Puppet Master Fascism … the Government Officials are TOLD who to pick as winners .
This ^^^^. Schumer may have been running the meeting but the people who run those companies are going to tell him what to do. Fascism with a twist.
Yep, inverse fascism.
A necessary essay for the uninitiated, Sundance. Can’t help but get the feeling that this information may help to explain why the 2024 election (if we even have one) will not go well.
Somehow we need to get rid of Citizens vs United. Only people in a politician’s voting district should be able to donate to them. Since companies and corporations are legal entities, not actual people, they cannot donate to them.
Also, any government that enacts an inheritance tax on its citizens must also force corporations to die every 40 years and pay the same tax.
Agree. The current structuring of corps are in direct contradiction to a functioning republic.
They are vampires living in the blood of others. Or if you prefer zombies, wandering living only to consume, kill and infect.
Citizens United was one of the rare issues where I disagreed with Rush Limbaugh vis a vis “corporations are people”.
Corporations are being treated as people who never die. Eventually, they will end up owning everything.
1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
After watching the video with Bill Gurley I must comment before getting caught up in the rest of the post (I do definitely plan to review this post and comments in detail)
Anyway, the video:
It is a must watch for not only us but for us to share as we feel appropriate. Many of us know a lot of, or perhaps even most or all of the the main points in the video but the masses out there do not.
I’m not suggesting that posting the video on facebook (to use an extreme example) is going to convert anyone. However you know individuals and possibly other forums where someone is kind of red-pilled but needs another dose.
There are certain people who showing them The Conservative Treehouse is like giving them a shot of whiskey when they’re only ready for a glass of wine. The video by itself is the wine.
There are many points made in it that you don’t see assembled together in a manner that holds interest well as this does.
Very powerful.
Once they appreciate the wine they may be ready for the whiskey next time.
I thought Gurley did a great job too. And his disdain for it comes out during he presentation.
Yes, it comes out quite clearly.
Yes but he seems to ignore the fact that this is a feature not a flaw of the system. THEY know EXACTLY what they are doing. His comment about obama hating how his “healthcare” bill turned out is a joke. Obama and his cabal KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THAT BILL WOULD DO. It was no accident.
🍷 vs 🥃
Id add that the All-In Podcast every Friday is becoming must listen/watch, especially for our younger Americans, age 16 and up. My college aged son suggested I give them a listen a year ago and now I look forward to every episode. They have a bigger audience and impact than our Treehouse, and while they don’t focus on the main points we touch on here, they represent one of the better alternative medias for actual thought and discussion between members who disagree politically yet aren’t RNC or DNC owned. They are all creatures of the Silicon Valley V.C. side of tech. There are Wall Street, big money connections, but they in general align more with entrepreneurial business and start-ups vs Wall Street globalist massive corporations. Fantastic points about “Regulatory Capture”. This phrase needs to become dinner table conversation stuff.
That video, and SD preceding comments, is RIGHT ON THE MONEY!
Now then, kids. What to do to correct the problem? Past methods have only appeased the ill-informed.
What to do, what to do…?
That is THE question.
Perhaps there’s an answer somewhere in the Constitution and/or The Bill of Rights.
Perhaps that’s they both documents are not popular with those in power in the government, business, media, globalists, etc. Those groups are where the problem resides.
Identifying where the problem resides is a key step.
Now we go back you your question. What to do, what to do about those groups?
The real question is, is the answer in the Constitution, or do we have to look to an earlier document, to find the answer?
And THAT question, is what the 2024 election WILL, definetively resolve.
IF we CAN resolve “things” by areturn to a Constitutional form of Govt. with PDJT leading an army of MAGA patriots into D.C. to deconstruct the deep state, and with many in Congress primaried and replaced with patriots that are NOT interested in a career of personal enrichment, and if we can similarly gain control over our State Govt.’s, to ensure election integrity and put people into State Gov. that will complement the effort at the Federal level, by assertive, aggressive pursuit of Federalism, …
GREAT, and so be it. And, even then it will require TIME, and COMMITMENT, as our opponents will NOT surrender.
And, if the results of 2024 show that is no longer possible, well then ….
“When in the coarse of human events,….”
There can be no more “Hopium” after 2024, which is WHY both ‘sides’ know it is “for all the marbles”.
Term limits comes to mind. These creatures would never vote for that. Since the grift buys the money to keep them in office, it is circular.
Next in mid would be election donation reform. O, wait, that would be something they would vote to change?
Ok, what about free and fair elections? Ok, I know that was a silly comment.
What else do we the people have? We have the 1st Amendment. Hum, that would work, maybe we protest their offices. Well, I know I am being stupid.
I know what about a president that knows their grift, game and who the players are. You know someone that loves America, has been burned and abused by every game in they can come up with and still stands tall? Maybe someone that can put the brakes on the grift, expose it veto it. Does anyone know someone that is like that. Someone that seems to divine Providence in almost everything he does?
I say the only power We the People have is through God. I feel that is this time God has allowed his people to see the corruption, and is answering our prayer.
2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV
if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
God says here: Humble yourself ~ admit your sin. Seek God though His Word. Reject your sin, change your behavior. God will answer our prayers.
This problem is greater than one person. We all need to do just a little. Education, red pilling and standing against this the tide will turn.
This points out clearly that we are no longer a representative government, those who operate at the Capitol represent their corporate backers.
No pretending.
From the time our founders rebelled, the old monarchies have regarded representative government a danger to their rule.
The Treaty of Verona in 1822 plainly stated the fact they would work together to end representative government.
The elite or royalty finally made sure congress does NOT represent the people.
OK, then how do We the people change this? How many people on our side of the cultural/political war in which we are engaged actually do more than just complain? Very few. This has been my mantra since the election was stolen and the J6 Fedsurrection. MAGA could take over the party, yet few get involved at any level. Until we do not a lot will change, or not nearly quickly enough.
“Almost all legislation created is not ‘high profile’, they are obscure changes to current laws, regulations or policies that no-one pays attention to.” – Sundance
Anyone can verify this by going to congress.gov and reading the text of a bill. For instance, here’s an excerpt from S.2324:
(b) Special Immigrant Visas For Certain Relatives Of Certain Members Of The Armed Forces.—Section 101(a)(27) [sic] of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (L)(iii), by adding a semicolon at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (M), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(N) a citizen or national of Afghanistan who is the parent or brother or sister of—
“(i) a member of the armed forces (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code); or
“(ii) a veteran (as defined in section 101 of title 38, United States Code).”.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2324/text?s=4&r=1&q=%7B“search”%3A”S2324″%7D
Unless you actually look up 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27) and parse these amendments, you may have little idea what they actually do. [Note that there’s a typo marked by my added [sic]; will anyone even notice?]
This opaque style of drafting, universally used, means that even reading a bill in full may offer little enlightenment.
Now you know why Nancy Pelosi advocated to ‘pass it to find out what’s in it.’
And I think of all the. Time I spent, when I was in school, memorizing ‘how a bill becomes a law’. A waste of time.
I found all this out years ago when I discovered this:
I believe you mean millions. The figure you cite would exceed what realtors earn in commissions on the total value of real estate sold each year.
Actually is says Billions in one place..the headline and millions down further.
https://www.zippia.com/advice/largest-lobbyist-groups/
The National Association of REALTORS®’ total membership August 2023 month end is 1,573,994.
#1 NAR
# Chamber of Commerce
#3 Pharmaceutical
Since 99.9% have to join to have MLS access, 150.00 per agent is a lot.
Plus 2 other PAC’s. RPac1 (supports candidates) an RPac2 (supports issues)
I never saw an old house I didn’t want to remodel or old car I didn’t want to restore. I never saw an overgrown piece of ground I didn’t want to prune and turn to a park.
Unfortunately sometimes a house must be torn down to rebuild, a car is better scrapped and purchased anew. Sometimes a fire is the best solution to restoring a forest. I pray it doesn’t come to that.
Exactly. 2024 answers the question; IS there anything here worth salvaging, or is it more practical to just demolish, and start from scratch?
Where I live there are a lot of different smaller cities around one big city. Over 50 years the reputations of the various governments and especially police departments has remained the same. It’s amazing.
The incompetent departments are in 2023 still incompetent like they were in the 1970s. The good ones are still good. All the people have changed but the institutional culture, performance has survived.
This means we must have a complete institutional overhaul IMHO. Eliminate agencies, departments and create entirely new ones.
What does history show about this?
Much is said of those that don’t know history.
But those who deny history are a sorrier bunch.
Every day which passes without forcing change, in this case a return to tradition, makes such change exponentially more difficult.
Not to get long winded, yet consider the eventual devastation wrought by zealous prevention of fires in a forest.
How do you propose to overthrow those who have overthrown the govern and hold great disdain for the U.S. Constitution?
Every healthy forest depends upon the occasional wildfire.
We are long past ‘light and transient causes’.
Has ever a despotic government recanted of its tyrannical ways?
Hasn’t the demise of tyrants only come by either brutal forceful opposition, or that the tyrants become so weak by their decadence that they are easily overcome.
How much time have you got? How long will those who love freedom wait? For as bad as it is now, the tyranny is still in its ascendency.
“Sometimes a fire is the best solution to restoring a forest.“
It may have to come to that.
Our so-called government is perfectly fine for a razing. I am in the business of architecture, and sometimes all must be razed.
Lobbying Congress = Bribing Congress
Thanks to you Sundance, many of us know now.
Truism’s, always follow the money. Everything’s fraud that comes from the swamp.
Sundance, it’s not just lobbyists and corporations- federal agencies have offices with teams of lawyers writing these too to make sure it aligns with their agendas.
And the agencies recruit by ideology. I know, as example, F&G selects candidates at select universities known for their very leftist views.
Why does this continue? Gaetz single purpose legislation effort really needs to come to fruition
Sundance, thank you for refreshing the info about bill creation in DC. That is one of the posts I most often refer people to, and keeping it in the forefront will make it easier for them to locate!
I have yet to recommend that reading to a single American citizen, no matter their educational level, who is not absolutely stunned at the way this process works now! And I mean stunned in a bad way!
This needs to be stopped. I just noticed that PDJT is taller than Mitch O’Connell. Only Trump can stop this practice that has made some congress people rich like Mitch
12 year old book below. I read books back in the 90s that said the same thing. We can’t rely on an idiocracy to vote them all out even if we could count on a legitimate voting mechanism.
It will take a serious collapse to get significant, lasting changes and considering our idiocracy which is ignorant of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and how far we’ve strayed from obedience to those and the mass formation psychosis clearly revealed by COVID compliance, I don’t expect those changes to be wise ones.
I did a little bit of research using a search engines to find this book( and others) that folks may wish to read without purchasing the book hard/soft copy, so to find out what is in the book & then if interested enough. perhaps help out the author by purchasing a hard/soft copy if they find it worthwhile to do so.
It was pretty hard for me to locate anything that would not require a purchase of the whole thing without any preview, although I did find one or maybe two “Preview” sites.
(Go figure, eh? Not saying the author is not entitled to be paid for the work, but interesting that it is not popular enough to have those who would offer more previews.. I dunno. Seems to me that the more the word gets out, the more folks would want to read more about such things… ??? )
Anyway, here is one link for those who wish to try it:
https://www.scribd.com/book/623623364/Throw-Them-All-Out-How-Politicians-and-Their-Friends-Get-Rich-Off-Insider-Stock-Tips-Land-Deals-and-Cronyism-That-Wou?utm_device=c
A possibly related book by Peter Schweizer:
2018 – https://archive.org/details/SecretEmpiresPoliticalClassCorruptionPeterSchweizer2018
This series of articles Sundance is starting, and as stated that chrystalise whats been said by Sundance for 10 years, ARE vital.
They “bring the reciepts” and explain the “nuts and bolts” of HOW ghe system works, and why it works that way.
However, I think for an awful lot of people, this won’t really come as a shock, so much as it will confirm what they always SENSED, on a level below conscious thought.
George Carlin was saying the same thing, essentially, 10-20 years ago, and when you watch his videos, you do not hear gasps of shock from the audience, you hear agreement.
But there is a kind of MAGIC, to TRUTH, which is one of the reasons it is vital, and its what gives it VALUE.
As Sundance continues with this series, COPY it, and DISSEMINATE it, as far and wide as possible.
This is going to be an enlightening CTH series – I look forward to it.
The video is excellent. Consider how the use of lobbyists and regulations is used to kill innovation and market competition.
Then consider what they are killing with carbon, environmental, insurance, emission, energy, building, mortgage, healthcare and transportation regulations.
I have long been of the belief that we should take Washington D.C. apart, brick by brick and rebuild it in the physical center of the Country. The original move from Philadelphia
was posed as that sentiment but had more to do with spying on the southern states. That would place it in southern Kansas. It would also put K Street out of business. I would love to see these steaming assbags, tin cups in hand, begging for dinner!
And He said, I sent you men in a rowboat. I sent you a helicopter.
Haven’t read the whole thing yet, but the video puts a whole new light on why Big Business and the crazies were so upset when President Trump had his administration go through regulation and see what could be dispensed with.
A lot of the regulations which were ended WH Resident Biden replaced.
Biden has been sending Billions of taxpayer dollars to Illegal Immigrants to pay for their housing, food and whatnot, they then stay at hotels all over the country such as Hyatt Hotels which have inflated the cost of rooms by 2-3x the normal prices in the last decade. Giving Hotel owners tremendous windfall profits/ grift on the back of the taxpaxers. Now Bidet installs Hyatt Hotel owner to manage Ukraine Recovery LMAO….. These people are as crooked as you think they are and then some.
Biden Names Multi-Billionaire Heiress and Obama Mega-Donor Penny Pritzker to Oversee Ukraine’s Economic Recovery | The Gateway Pundit | by Margaret Flavin
Penny was a huge financial backer of O, the chosen one. Maybe it’s payback time?
the inflated payment is probably for the damage they will cause
does anyone think Hyatt had a choice?
one learns to not say “no” to the feds
not defending Hyatt
I think corporations are told to do or else
all across the board
Goes even further. People owning rental
Property in urban cities spend day weeks months in court trying to evict tenants. Now they can house illegals and receive 12 months rent upfront paid by feds of feds through the NGO’s (Catholic Church). No more days sitting in court and free time to enjoy their profits. Almost forgot the rent price is also just shy of double.
This is the G rated stuff that goes on in DC. The surface stuff if you will. The under the surface stuff is truly evil. DC is the world epicenter of evil.
More proof…that the system needs to go…and the fricking swamp, and the rats that live there too!
Wonderful that there are people out there who aren’t afraid to speak up and reveal the corrupt stuff that happens; shedding light on where the actual problem lies and happening right in front of us. We do not need government to help us with any future ideas.
What a bunch of crumbs; absolutely no integrity. This is messed up
Sundance thank for
posting the Gurley
YouTube.
I watched it and found it
very Interesting and informative.
Tomorrow I am going
watch the others that were part
of the conference.
His segment on regulation
was interesting. I wonder
how it relates to Huawei phones.
China found work around regarding
chips,etc. and their new Huawei phones
just came out.
Listening to reports in China…
the Huawei stores in malls
are packed. Apple stores across
from Huawei practically empty.
Was “security “ the only reason-
were our Politicians also
protecting Apple and stockholders
from loss due to competition from
Huawei….
Guess it is a wait and see….
may i suggest, though this is 20 years ago, that most on Capitol Hill are red hot idealists on some topic or other, but view other topics as negotiable. Same as you and me. What the winners do is to know, person by person, where the idealism is and what are the issues they may use as bargaining chips for their main goals. Money talks, and people change… but mainly these are each one of them red hot idealists about something. The way to influence them is to understand that they are idealistic indeed…. but …. about what. … Closing thought: yes, they are too idealists. Not enemies.
WOW.
“little indulgent value”
Very nice roundup. That may help accepting the understood, less emotionally discomforting. My opinion only. Great read.
Bad actors from within…
https://rumble.com/v36wtp1-bad-actors-from-within.html
The founders saw this coming. It has to all burn down because “The love of money is the root of all evil”.
Explains the onset of such phoniness on the part of MTGreene, Boebert and others. So clear now.
Sundance everything you write is true, but only the Lord can fix our world. He’s going to soon.
An important component of how the elected legislators don’t really have control of the process is the concept of the Administrative State. Basically congress doesn’t pass laws. They approve general guidelines and grand authority to executive branch regulatory agencies to fill out the details with their rules and regulations.
Many argue that this delegation of quasi legislative power is unconstitutional. Here are a few good articles:
https://thefederalist.com/2019/02/08/administrative-state-undermines-constitution/
https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/administrative-state-constitutional-government
Money is the root of all evil…and MONEY influences our legislation and elections EVERY STEP OF THE WAY… starting with candidates running for office to “represent us”.
Stopping the various sources at the root seems to be a way to curb influence.
Financial contributions to ANY candidate should be limited to only those who qualify to directly VOTE for that candidate. Allowing big money from California to a race in Georgia dilutes the votes of those the c
Citizen voter“wants to “represent” them. There would probably be less $$$ wasted on elections and the winner would be beholden to the local voters… not a group with an entirely different agenda than the wishes of the voters
The problem is that special interests fund legislators after they are elected also. So stopping special interests from funding candidates would not be enough
This guy is correct in his outline and statement of the problem. He falls VERY short in oulining or even realizing this is a feature, not a flaw of the current system and he seems ignorant about big techs role in getting us to this place.
Big tech didn’t have a role in getting us to this place. Lobbying for beneficial regulation has been going on since the progressive era. That was the horse and buggy days.
Furthermore everybody knows that regulatory capture is the aim of incumbent corporate interests. So no one is surprised that it is a “feature” not a “flaw”
Government by AI
Is anyone else surprised that President Trump is still alive? Does anyone else think that if he wins these people will just kill him? I pray God will protect President Trump.