6 ms·

One of the things I have found so alarming about a lot of recent revelations is just how cheap congress goes for.

by Fomite 3mo ago

nelsondev 3mo ago
I believe $50-100k
- refulgentis 3mo ago
  Absolutely not.
- PyWoody 3mo ago
  You're off by 10.
georgemcbay 3mo ago
> One of the things I have found so alarming about a lot of recent revelations is just how cheap congress goes for. The executive branch is also available for relatively bargain basement prices! Ask us about our unlimited pardoning power for federal offenses! #Ad #WorldLibertyFinancial
tzs 3mo ago
Watch out though because many of those revelations are bogus and only look at how much money people lobbying for a position donated to some member of Congress who voted for that position. They fail to look up how much money people lobbying against that position donated to that same member of Congress. Often times it is about the same amount, which means you cannot infer that the money influenced the vote. Some do it right, but enough do not that unless you know you are getting the information from one of the ones who does it right you really need to check for yourself.
vineyardmike 3mo ago
I only-kinda-jokingly say that I'd be willing to be the sacrifice and get a second mortgage on my house if it could buy the entire nation some new rights. Our politicians routinely sell out smaller issues for "downpayment in a coastal metro" level of money. It's just about within reach of a middle-class urban adult to directly fund with some personal sacrifices. I feel like we like to imagine that these corporations are budgeting big-bucks to bribe/lobby politicians, because they have more money than most humans can actually mentally picture, but their budgets are often closer to a small team of software engineers' salary. Meta spend ~$25M on all lobbying last year - and they're the top corporate spender. That's under 1 hours of revenue for them.
- nine_k 3mo ago
  > could buy the entire nation some new rights It's important to remember that rights cannot be received, or bought. Privileges can. Equally easily privileges can be taken away again. But rights can only be won in a fight. Sadly, they also require a constant readiness to fight for keeping them; in civilized societies this happens in courtrooms, but escalations to the worse happen periodically.
- BobbyTables2 3mo ago
  Always wondered about this… Are politicians really so beholden to an anonymous donor that makes a single $50k donation? Or even a single $500k one? Or is it the real knowledge that said known regular donors will continue indefinitely as long as things go their way (and indefinitely support the opposition otherwise) …? The pessimistic part of me wonders if a grassroots campaign that raised $10M would even be able drive any change with it.
  - rightbyte 3mo ago
    I think it is more that corps select which politician gets ahead than that they are beholden to them. 50k USD is a an awful lot of money for a lower level politician to run an election campaign with.
- red-iron-pine 3mo ago
  > Our politicians routinely sell out smaller issues for "downpayment in a coastal metro" level of money you act like 1) ideology doesn't play in, and that 2) it's not a long-con situation; you give 60k now, but they're gonna expect 60k next election cycle. and remember: if you can buy them now, someone else could by them with more money. see also that asshole from PA, J Fetterman
janalsncm 3mo ago
In that case, maybe it would make sense for regular people to create their own PACs. Like a privacy PAC. Pay for lobbyists who are more persuasive than our angry emails. As they say, freedom ain’t free.
- orblivion 3mo ago
  https://theonion.com/american-people-hire-high-powered-lobbyist-to-push-inte-1819571821/ https://theonion.com/american-people-hire-high-powered-lobby...
panicinducer 3mo ago
This gets it a bit backwards, the money is a reward for playing along within the system, not a straight cash-for-policy transaction. If you don't play along with the elite line, they throw $50 million into a primary election to get you out of power. That's where you start to get into enough money to make a political difference, and even then the money is only part of the equation.

One of the things I have found so alarming about a lot of recent revelations is just how cheap congress goes for.

by Fomite 3mo ago

One of the things I have found so alarming about a lot of recent revelations is just how cheap congress goes for.

nelsondev 3mo ago

I believe $50-100k

refulgentis 3mo ago
Absolutely not.
PyWoody 3mo ago
You're off by 10.

georgemcbay 3mo ago

> One of the things I have found so alarming about a lot of recent revelations is just how cheap congress goes for. The executive branch is also available for relatively bargain basement prices! Ask us about our unlimited pardoning power for federal offenses! #Ad #WorldLibertyFinancial

tzs 3mo ago

Watch out though because many of those revelations are bogus and only look at how much money people lobbying for a position donated to some member of Congress who voted for that position. They fail to look up how much money people lobbying against that position donated to that same member of Congress. Often times it is about the same amount, which means you cannot infer that the money influenced the vote. Some do it right, but enough do not that unless you know you are getting the information from one of the ones who does it right you really need to check for yourself.

vineyardmike 3mo ago

I only-kinda-jokingly say that I'd be willing to be the sacrifice and get a second mortgage on my house if it could buy the entire nation some new rights. Our politicians routinely sell out smaller issues for "downpayment in a coastal metro" level of money. It's just about within reach of a middle-class urban adult to directly fund with some personal sacrifices. I feel like we like to imagine that these corporations are budgeting big-bucks to bribe/lobby politicians, because they have more money than most humans can actually mentally picture, but their budgets are often closer to a small team of software engineers' salary. Meta spend ~$25M on all lobbying last year - and they're the top corporate spender. That's under 1 hours of revenue for them.

nine_k 3mo ago
> could buy the entire nation some new rights It's important to remember that rights cannot be received, or bought. Privileges can. Equally easily privileges can be taken away again. But rights can only be won in a fight. Sadly, they also require a constant readiness to fight for keeping them; in civilized societies this happens in courtrooms, but escalations to the worse happen periodically.
BobbyTables2 3mo ago
Always wondered about this… Are politicians really so beholden to an anonymous donor that makes a single $50k donation? Or even a single $500k one? Or is it the real knowledge that said known regular donors will continue indefinitely as long as things go their way (and indefinitely support the opposition otherwise) …? The pessimistic part of me wonders if a grassroots campaign that raised $10M would even be able drive any change with it.
- rightbyte 3mo ago
  I think it is more that corps select which politician gets ahead than that they are beholden to them. 50k USD is a an awful lot of money for a lower level politician to run an election campaign with.
red-iron-pine 3mo ago
> Our politicians routinely sell out smaller issues for "downpayment in a coastal metro" level of money you act like 1) ideology doesn't play in, and that 2) it's not a long-con situation; you give 60k now, but they're gonna expect 60k next election cycle. and remember: if you can buy them now, someone else could by them with more money. see also that asshole from PA, J Fetterman

janalsncm 3mo ago

In that case, maybe it would make sense for regular people to create their own PACs. Like a privacy PAC. Pay for lobbyists who are more persuasive than our angry emails. As they say, freedom ain’t free.

orblivion 3mo ago
https://theonion.com/american-people-hire-high-powered-lobbyist-to-push-inte-1819571821/ https://theonion.com/american-people-hire-high-powered-lobby...

panicinducer 3mo ago

This gets it a bit backwards, the money is a reward for playing along within the system, not a straight cash-for-policy transaction. If you don't play along with the elite line, they throw $50 million into a primary election to get you out of power. That's where you start to get into enough money to make a political difference, and even then the money is only part of the equation.