cdtm
Been thinking about the most influential special interest groups, and how they get what they want. They all have one thing in common:
Money.
It's no secret money turns the wheels of politics. You look at Opensecrets.org and such, and these groups are throwing around money like they're Scrooge McDuck.
But just how bad is the problem, really? Is there an unofficial list, where such and such amount will get you a law passed? Will politicians, who ar always desperate for money, ever go against their self interest and NOT push for a law from the deepest pockets?
If all politician do is cater to the deep pockets, that means they're not really running things. And neither are we, the people.
There's another angle to this, though. Let's say you're a feminist, or NRA member, or whoever. That means it's YOUR money going into these pools. If we're talking millions/billions, are you really getting your money's worth?
How much did that anti-harassment law cost you?! A few hundred million, every year, for the rest of the life of the organization?
So essentially, we have the dollar trumping the will of the people, and the lifeblood of special interest groups being perpetually siphoned off, for relatively very little return. Someone's getting rich as hell in all this, that's for sure.
Money.
It's no secret money turns the wheels of politics. You look at Opensecrets.org and such, and these groups are throwing around money like they're Scrooge McDuck.
But just how bad is the problem, really? Is there an unofficial list, where such and such amount will get you a law passed? Will politicians, who ar always desperate for money, ever go against their self interest and NOT push for a law from the deepest pockets?
If all politician do is cater to the deep pockets, that means they're not really running things. And neither are we, the people.
There's another angle to this, though. Let's say you're a feminist, or NRA member, or whoever. That means it's YOUR money going into these pools. If we're talking millions/billions, are you really getting your money's worth?
How much did that anti-harassment law cost you?! A few hundred million, every year, for the rest of the life of the organization?
So essentially, we have the dollar trumping the will of the people, and the lifeblood of special interest groups being perpetually siphoned off, for relatively very little return. Someone's getting rich as hell in all this, that's for sure.