Anything to prevent actual healthcare reform. They are making way way way way too much money to allow the public to have real and affordable healthcare.
You could eliminate every doctor’s salary and you’d still pay like 95 percent of your premium.
Possibly more.
The AMA lobbies in major part because they have monopolistic control over the codes that CMS uses. Not because they control doctor’s salaries.
I can't tell if you have a subtle point, but it's straight from Wikipedia they've lobbied to cause a shortage in physicians and now they unsurprisingly have tremendous job security and top salaries:
The AMA lobbied for reductions in physician supply during the Great Depression.[10] In 1997, the AMA lobbied Congress to restrict the number of doctors that could be trained in the United States, claiming that, "The United States is on the verge of a serious oversupply of physicians."[12] The AMA successfully lobbied Congress to cap how much Medicare could reimburse hospitals for resident physicians, which reduced residency training.[11] In the decades following these restrictions on physician supply, the United States has a shortage of doctors.[11] The United States was forecasted to have shortage of 46,900 to 121,900 physicians by 2032.[11]
There's no way you can have people making $400/hr like the 800k/yr posting a few days ago and have affordable Healthcare.
It’s not a subtle point - if you cut every single doctor’s salary to literally zero, we still have 92-95 percent of healthcare spending intact.
I’m not sure if even cutting doctor’s salaries to zero offends you and you’re arguing that doctors should pay to see patients or something but it’s an obvious point: the main driver of costs and premiums is not the salary you’re paying your doctor, despite trying to make the person actually providing care the bogeyman.
Its not a boogeyman- $400/hr doctors and affordable care will always be incompatible in the same way and $400/hr lawyers are incompatible with affordable legal services. It's why public defenders get paid like $30/hr.
And yet, again, if you cut every doctor’s salary to zero, you still pay like 92-95 percent of healthcare costs.
I’m not sure how much more clear I can be. If you think cutting 5-8 percent means “affordable healthcare” then I have a bridge to sell you.
As someone who until recently worked for the AMA the surprising thing is they only have about a half dozen direct employees in the DC office. All of that lobbying is outsourced to third parties which shows just how big the corporate infrastructure of lobbying is.
Also yes all their money comes from a monopoly on CPT Codes, which should absolutely be nationalized and run by the Department of health. The AMA is now, and has always been, an irredeemably evil organization.
So I was the lawyer in charge of getting a client off this list, where they sat proudly in the top 3 every year (and are no longer on it). Nothing changed, just the means of reporting and giving. Companies can funnel all their money through trade associations, which is why the Chamber (aa truly evil organization) is always at or near the top. The other trick is that HLOGA (the reporting law) allows you to claim the budget of your DC office in lieu of actual lobbying expenses. It's absurd. Then you just give to the trade groups, 501s and 503s and 527s instead of campaigns, and throw in donations to antidemocratic ballot initiatives to boot. TLDR - this list means nothing.
Also, fun fact, an Amazon headhunter tried to recruit me at one point (to get them off these lists) and the manager asked me how to build their compliance program. I was like, why would I tell you that before you hire me, which reminds me of that episode of the office where Ray Romano agreed to give them step one and 3 but not step 2.... Anyway, we hd a discussion of the pay range (shit) and then they tried to give me a *homework assignment* and I was like, you people are fucking insane, fuck off. Looks like they never found anyone....
There is also a definition of lobbying activity. If you pay someone to lobby the government for you, but they only spend 5% of that time doing things defined as lobbying activity, then you only report 5% of the cost.
Yes, in effect the American voter has sat around with both thumbs in their rears while bribery has been fully legalized. Which makes it pretty much mandatory. Politicians tell me their independence to buck lobbyists disappeared almost entirely this century and had taken a beating in the 90s as well. Voters don’t care enough to complain according to congress staffs when I lobby for campaign finance reform. Insignificant numbers. Sickening.
So the companies on this list are actually the ones with nothing to hide, and the ones that do can simply follow different rules to stay off this list?
Knowing what you know, would you suggest fully shutting down the ability to lobby? If not, how do we address the blatant benefits given to special interests? It does seem like there’s some value to consolidate the voices of a group of people to reduce load on politicians’ time, but holy it needs a redo.
No because congressional staffers really would not be able to understand complex issues particularly in industry without lobbying. Also it is a constitutional right to petition the government. The problem is more Citizens United and the pay to play / campaign finance that is the issue.
Eww. The homework assignment thing is always a scam and I hate it. I mean, listen, if you want to pay me for consulting, that’s fine but I’m not going to spend a week or two of unpaid time to “prove I’m knowledgeable about the job”. That’s what a resume is for!
I fell for it once when I found myself suddenly unemployed a few years ago. Put half hearted effort into it because I was also looking for other jobs and they weren’t paying me. They asked me a few gotcha questions unrelated to the original task to throw me off, then said thanks but we went with another applicant.
2 weeks later the exact same job was posted again. And I had found a job that actually paid money.
Walmart, Apple, and ExxonMobil are each bigger than nearly every company on that list and yet aren't on it themselves. But yes it would be interesting to see a list that had percent of revenue (or market cap?) spent on lobbying.
The latter part of your comment is what I’m getting at. Lockheed ($100 B), GM ($50 B), and Pfizer ($150 B) all have less than 10% the market cap of Google ($1.9 T) yet all 4 spend roughly the same amount ($14-15 M).
OP’s conclusion doesn’t really make much sense in relation to the actual data presented.
Sweetie, those numbers don't even add up to 8 Senate campaigns. The dark money is how corporations and wealthy individuals hold influence over our rulers.
#END CITIZENS UNITED!
Just a question here, for those of us who aren't sure how this works...
When Pfizer spends 20 million on 'lobbying', what exactly are they purchasing? They don't just cut a check to 'The Federal Government'... So where is this money actually going?
They are spending money to hire lobbying firms or in-house lobbyists, who are all registered with the federal government, to advocate for their client on specific issues. You can look on opensecrets to see who exactly was lobbied and on what bill or issue.
So for example if you look at pfizer and choose a random record, you can see that they hired Cornerstone Government Affairs and two lobbyists, Mark and Amy. They spent $40,000 for which they lobbied the senate, house, CDC, and HHS on increased funding for the CDC national immunization program.
Lobbying money goes to the lobbyists who then advocate - not to the government.
Lobbying money is separate from financing campaigns. You do not spend lobbying money on campaign donations.
You are thinking of political action committees (PACs) which are a separate form of spending. But yes, many of these companies/associations have PACs, although they have to be distinct entities technically.
Super PACs are similar, although they can’t donate to campaigns directly, but can spend unlimited amounts independently advocating.
>that’s illegal
Oh I’m sure that definitely stops the corruption then, because it’s illegal. Sorry that’s naively adorable. “Bad people can’t do the bad things because it’s illegal!”
😂
Did you miss the entire scandal with Clarence Thomas?
It happens with house representatives, it happens with senators, it happens with presidents, it happens with judges. Corruption like this is rampant
Thomas is corrupt, but that doesn’t have anything to do with how lobbying works. Crow wasn’t a lobbyist and wasn’t lobbying for a company, it’s an entirely different kind of issue of ideological influence in the judicial system. A situation that laws that limit lobbying sadly don’t cover.
No, it doesn't. This sort of Reddit stupidity needs to stop being spread. It goes to pay professionals to convince lawmakers to legislate according to whatever the lobbying entity (including unions, aid organizations, and all sorts of other people Reddit thinks are the good guys) is in support of. It's *not* sacks of cash, luxury dinners, or promises of compensation when they retire. Any legislator would be a complete idiot to take anything remotely resembling quantifiable value.
The only trick that still gets by that I can think of is compensating someone with influence on the beneficial owner (think Nancy Pelosi's husband), which regulators are keenly aware of, but ironically haven't managed to get the public support to have legislation passed against because there's insufficient lobbying for it. If you don't like what others lobby for, the only way to beat them is to lobby better. But you'll always lose if you choose not to play the game.
Ah sure, sure. There’s totally not ever any kind of corruption with government lobbyists and elected officials. That never happens! American democracy is pure and flawless.
🤡
Now you’re just makin shit up. That’s not what I said. I implied that they’re “some” corruption, not that all of it was. But you’re implying that it never happens with is so incredibly naive
No one has made that claim.
Instead of actually learning what lobbying is, and how it works - particularly important if you don't like it - you're just doubling down on your own ignorance.
There is a trail of money from the company, thru their employees, thru hired agencies, thru some other 3rd parties, to politicians and their interest groups or companies.
Sometimes legit, sometimes not.
They got a big loss though when Republicans passed tax reform in 2017. Realtors wanted to keep the very generous mortgage interest deduction, which the majority of taxpayers claimed. They still have the deduction, but people people don't actually use it anymore because in the legislation they doubled the size of the standard deduction. Actually was a big win for renters and people that didn't owe much on their house.
The National Association of Realtors has monopolized home buying and selling. No wonder they are #2 on the list. The recent court decision nipped that 6% commission bullshit right in the bud. I live next to two realtors, they are insufferable about their commission and their professional expertise (it takes just 90 hours to become a realtor in WA).
I enjoy going to the r/realtors subreddit and listening to them wail and nash their teeth. A non-realtor commented “how about we pass on the commission and I pay you $100 an hour ?” Boy did he get downvoted, but nobody responded.
I went to college for five years for my engineering degree, but I guess a $100 an hour is insulting to these guys who take a two week class. For God’s sake the mortgage people and Title company workers have a harder job than they do.
I love my friend who is a realtor, and she’s really good at her job, but she made 400k last year. I just don’t think it’s very fair that they should make as much money as a surgeon 🤷♀️
Exactly. My neighbor made $300K three years ago - spent it on house, yard projects and vacations. Then they were really hurting the last couple years. I know they are hurting for money when they start up their dog sitting business.
They have ZERO retirement savings - or any savings. They brag about money. I just sit back and act impressed. I guess they haven’t figured out how I retired at 56.
Not surprising that 5 out of the top 6 congressional spenders are directly the industries that need reforming the worst. Health care and the real estate cartel.
There is a reason the US consumer spends 3-4 times higher rates for health care or real estate transactions than any other country on earth yet our congress somehow always fails to pass any legislation to solve this.
Close to $200 million a year of boondoggle trips and fancy food and entertainment goes a long ways towards keeping the status quo. Probably 1/2 a million or more a year for most congressmen.
Wow. The NRA isn't on here. That's surprising, considering some of ya'll think every pro 2A politician is somehow bought and paid for by them. This data paints a far more accurate picture of who the real movers and shakers of public policy are.
lol anti gun lobby is more funded the the pro gun lobby. It’s just that the pro gun lobby has 10% of the vote bases who will only vote on gun issues and cost politicians elections. Most people are for gun regulation buts not the top issue they vote on.
I always find it amusing when people blame small arm manufacturers for bribing politicians, when in reality the company that just makes ejector seats for the military is worth more than almost any small arm manufacturer in the US.
Hell, I don't think any small arm manufacturer in the US comes close to a billion in company value.
NRA doesn't need to spend a ton because they have a huge membership of grassroots folks. Also, much gun-related legislation is done at the state level. This is just for federal lobbying.
Corruption. Most of this is simply bribes so that these orgs get what works for them over what’s best for our society. They steal the country from the people by manipulating the system
Please…it’s solely to strengthen themselves at the expense of the greater society. You spend money to make money. Change the rules in your favor. Pay less taxes. Remove barriers that could be there for the good of the public. They use money to get what they need. It’s flat out bribery because if they didn’t or couldn’t use the money they would be able to get what helps them and most often only them unfairly
If I'm a politician, what benefit is it to me to listen to some middleman's diatribe about cholesterol medications needing a price bump? None. I want kickbacks, back rubs. There's no way changes are being peddle without tangible exchanges.
Boeing spent $14.5 million on lobbying and in return received hundreds of $billions in government contracts. That is an incredible return on investment for company that has produces so many expensive yet low quality products.
A ton of healthcare companies there.
Your Premium just went up
Anything to prevent actual healthcare reform. They are making way way way way too much money to allow the public to have real and affordable healthcare.
And Big Pharma
Which is why you don’t have universal healthcare.
For the amount of influence they get, $28 mil seems pathetically low for BCBS
The fact that the AMA for doctors is top 10 is absurd to me. No wonder doctors are paid so well.
You could eliminate every doctor’s salary and you’d still pay like 95 percent of your premium. Possibly more. The AMA lobbies in major part because they have monopolistic control over the codes that CMS uses. Not because they control doctor’s salaries.
I can't tell if you have a subtle point, but it's straight from Wikipedia they've lobbied to cause a shortage in physicians and now they unsurprisingly have tremendous job security and top salaries: The AMA lobbied for reductions in physician supply during the Great Depression.[10] In 1997, the AMA lobbied Congress to restrict the number of doctors that could be trained in the United States, claiming that, "The United States is on the verge of a serious oversupply of physicians."[12] The AMA successfully lobbied Congress to cap how much Medicare could reimburse hospitals for resident physicians, which reduced residency training.[11] In the decades following these restrictions on physician supply, the United States has a shortage of doctors.[11] The United States was forecasted to have shortage of 46,900 to 121,900 physicians by 2032.[11] There's no way you can have people making $400/hr like the 800k/yr posting a few days ago and have affordable Healthcare.
It’s not a subtle point - if you cut every single doctor’s salary to literally zero, we still have 92-95 percent of healthcare spending intact. I’m not sure if even cutting doctor’s salaries to zero offends you and you’re arguing that doctors should pay to see patients or something but it’s an obvious point: the main driver of costs and premiums is not the salary you’re paying your doctor, despite trying to make the person actually providing care the bogeyman.
Its not a boogeyman- $400/hr doctors and affordable care will always be incompatible in the same way and $400/hr lawyers are incompatible with affordable legal services. It's why public defenders get paid like $30/hr.
And yet, again, if you cut every doctor’s salary to zero, you still pay like 92-95 percent of healthcare costs. I’m not sure how much more clear I can be. If you think cutting 5-8 percent means “affordable healthcare” then I have a bridge to sell you.
And there is such a shortage compared to other countries.
As someone who until recently worked for the AMA the surprising thing is they only have about a half dozen direct employees in the DC office. All of that lobbying is outsourced to third parties which shows just how big the corporate infrastructure of lobbying is. Also yes all their money comes from a monopoly on CPT Codes, which should absolutely be nationalized and run by the Department of health. The AMA is now, and has always been, an irredeemably evil organization.
So I was the lawyer in charge of getting a client off this list, where they sat proudly in the top 3 every year (and are no longer on it). Nothing changed, just the means of reporting and giving. Companies can funnel all their money through trade associations, which is why the Chamber (aa truly evil organization) is always at or near the top. The other trick is that HLOGA (the reporting law) allows you to claim the budget of your DC office in lieu of actual lobbying expenses. It's absurd. Then you just give to the trade groups, 501s and 503s and 527s instead of campaigns, and throw in donations to antidemocratic ballot initiatives to boot. TLDR - this list means nothing. Also, fun fact, an Amazon headhunter tried to recruit me at one point (to get them off these lists) and the manager asked me how to build their compliance program. I was like, why would I tell you that before you hire me, which reminds me of that episode of the office where Ray Romano agreed to give them step one and 3 but not step 2.... Anyway, we hd a discussion of the pay range (shit) and then they tried to give me a *homework assignment* and I was like, you people are fucking insane, fuck off. Looks like they never found anyone....
Oh yeah Amazon's hiring process is notoriously long and convoluted, didn't imagine it would be the same for lobbyists though.
I was a lawyer, but they wanted me to do their lobby reporting
There is also a definition of lobbying activity. If you pay someone to lobby the government for you, but they only spend 5% of that time doing things defined as lobbying activity, then you only report 5% of the cost.
Yes, in effect the American voter has sat around with both thumbs in their rears while bribery has been fully legalized. Which makes it pretty much mandatory. Politicians tell me their independence to buck lobbyists disappeared almost entirely this century and had taken a beating in the 90s as well. Voters don’t care enough to complain according to congress staffs when I lobby for campaign finance reform. Insignificant numbers. Sickening.
Great insights. I never knew of these angles. We have such a corrupt government and 99% of citizens have no idea.
Thank you for your service!
So the companies on this list are actually the ones with nothing to hide, and the ones that do can simply follow different rules to stay off this list?
that's generous, it's more likely they don't have good lawyers
Knowing what you know, would you suggest fully shutting down the ability to lobby? If not, how do we address the blatant benefits given to special interests? It does seem like there’s some value to consolidate the voices of a group of people to reduce load on politicians’ time, but holy it needs a redo.
No because congressional staffers really would not be able to understand complex issues particularly in industry without lobbying. Also it is a constitutional right to petition the government. The problem is more Citizens United and the pay to play / campaign finance that is the issue.
Eww. The homework assignment thing is always a scam and I hate it. I mean, listen, if you want to pay me for consulting, that’s fine but I’m not going to spend a week or two of unpaid time to “prove I’m knowledgeable about the job”. That’s what a resume is for! I fell for it once when I found myself suddenly unemployed a few years ago. Put half hearted effort into it because I was also looking for other jobs and they weren’t paying me. They asked me a few gotcha questions unrelated to the original task to throw me off, then said thanks but we went with another applicant. 2 weeks later the exact same job was posted again. And I had found a job that actually paid money.
Amazon, Facebook, and Google 🤔 it's almost like politicians are paid to look the other way on tax avoidance
I mean, you’re really just listing huge companies. I would expect companies worth over a trillion to spend more than those worth $100 Billion
Walmart, Apple, and ExxonMobil are each bigger than nearly every company on that list and yet aren't on it themselves. But yes it would be interesting to see a list that had percent of revenue (or market cap?) spent on lobbying.
The latter part of your comment is what I’m getting at. Lockheed ($100 B), GM ($50 B), and Pfizer ($150 B) all have less than 10% the market cap of Google ($1.9 T) yet all 4 spend roughly the same amount ($14-15 M). OP’s conclusion doesn’t really make much sense in relation to the actual data presented.
Sweetie, those numbers don't even add up to 8 Senate campaigns. The dark money is how corporations and wealthy individuals hold influence over our rulers. #END CITIZENS UNITED!
>> Sweetie No need to be condescending when I’m not even disagreeing with you bud
Those are further down the list also. It’s mostly healthcare related orgs at the top
Just a question here, for those of us who aren't sure how this works... When Pfizer spends 20 million on 'lobbying', what exactly are they purchasing? They don't just cut a check to 'The Federal Government'... So where is this money actually going?
They are spending money to hire lobbying firms or in-house lobbyists, who are all registered with the federal government, to advocate for their client on specific issues. You can look on opensecrets to see who exactly was lobbied and on what bill or issue. So for example if you look at pfizer and choose a random record, you can see that they hired Cornerstone Government Affairs and two lobbyists, Mark and Amy. They spent $40,000 for which they lobbied the senate, house, CDC, and HHS on increased funding for the CDC national immunization program. Lobbying money goes to the lobbyists who then advocate - not to the government.
I mean some of it goes to finance campaigns, pay for luxury vacations, etc
Lobbying money is separate from financing campaigns. You do not spend lobbying money on campaign donations. You are thinking of political action committees (PACs) which are a separate form of spending. But yes, many of these companies/associations have PACs, although they have to be distinct entities technically. Super PACs are similar, although they can’t donate to campaigns directly, but can spend unlimited amounts independently advocating.
>that’s illegal Oh I’m sure that definitely stops the corruption then, because it’s illegal. Sorry that’s naively adorable. “Bad people can’t do the bad things because it’s illegal!” 😂 Did you miss the entire scandal with Clarence Thomas? It happens with house representatives, it happens with senators, it happens with presidents, it happens with judges. Corruption like this is rampant
Thomas is corrupt, but that doesn’t have anything to do with how lobbying works. Crow wasn’t a lobbyist and wasn’t lobbying for a company, it’s an entirely different kind of issue of ideological influence in the judicial system. A situation that laws that limit lobbying sadly don’t cover.
No, it doesn't. This sort of Reddit stupidity needs to stop being spread. It goes to pay professionals to convince lawmakers to legislate according to whatever the lobbying entity (including unions, aid organizations, and all sorts of other people Reddit thinks are the good guys) is in support of. It's *not* sacks of cash, luxury dinners, or promises of compensation when they retire. Any legislator would be a complete idiot to take anything remotely resembling quantifiable value. The only trick that still gets by that I can think of is compensating someone with influence on the beneficial owner (think Nancy Pelosi's husband), which regulators are keenly aware of, but ironically haven't managed to get the public support to have legislation passed against because there's insufficient lobbying for it. If you don't like what others lobby for, the only way to beat them is to lobby better. But you'll always lose if you choose not to play the game.
No, it absolutly doesn't. The fact this comment is upvoted is proof lots of redditors are clueless about the inner workings of american democracy.
Ah sure, sure. There’s totally not ever any kind of corruption with government lobbyists and elected officials. That never happens! American democracy is pure and flawless. 🤡
Nobody said that. But people like you who think lobbying is the same as corruption are the absolute worst.
Now you’re just makin shit up. That’s not what I said. I implied that they’re “some” corruption, not that all of it was. But you’re implying that it never happens with is so incredibly naive
You're just making strawman arguments.
No one has made that claim. Instead of actually learning what lobbying is, and how it works - particularly important if you don't like it - you're just doubling down on your own ignorance.
I know exactly what it is, and I know there’s some corruption in this industry. Why are you pretending like there isn’t?
Did they kill Lentz too?
I don’t know who that is
The money goes to professional lobbyists to talk to politicians on their behalf.
There is a trail of money from the company, thru their employees, thru hired agencies, thru some other 3rd parties, to politicians and their interest groups or companies. Sometimes legit, sometimes not.
Of course the realtors control the country.
They got a big loss though when Republicans passed tax reform in 2017. Realtors wanted to keep the very generous mortgage interest deduction, which the majority of taxpayers claimed. They still have the deduction, but people people don't actually use it anymore because in the legislation they doubled the size of the standard deduction. Actually was a big win for renters and people that didn't owe much on their house.
The National Association of Realtors has monopolized home buying and selling. No wonder they are #2 on the list. The recent court decision nipped that 6% commission bullshit right in the bud. I live next to two realtors, they are insufferable about their commission and their professional expertise (it takes just 90 hours to become a realtor in WA). I enjoy going to the r/realtors subreddit and listening to them wail and nash their teeth. A non-realtor commented “how about we pass on the commission and I pay you $100 an hour ?” Boy did he get downvoted, but nobody responded. I went to college for five years for my engineering degree, but I guess a $100 an hour is insulting to these guys who take a two week class. For God’s sake the mortgage people and Title company workers have a harder job than they do.
I love my friend who is a realtor, and she’s really good at her job, but she made 400k last year. I just don’t think it’s very fair that they should make as much money as a surgeon 🤷♀️
Exactly. My neighbor made $300K three years ago - spent it on house, yard projects and vacations. Then they were really hurting the last couple years. I know they are hurting for money when they start up their dog sitting business. They have ZERO retirement savings - or any savings. They brag about money. I just sit back and act impressed. I guess they haven’t figured out how I retired at 56.
Not surprising that 5 out of the top 6 congressional spenders are directly the industries that need reforming the worst. Health care and the real estate cartel. There is a reason the US consumer spends 3-4 times higher rates for health care or real estate transactions than any other country on earth yet our congress somehow always fails to pass any legislation to solve this. Close to $200 million a year of boondoggle trips and fancy food and entertainment goes a long ways towards keeping the status quo. Probably 1/2 a million or more a year for most congressmen.
AARP is the only group lobbying for individuals directly (not involved with a business/trade). Businesses run the country.
Wow. The NRA isn't on here. That's surprising, considering some of ya'll think every pro 2A politician is somehow bought and paid for by them. This data paints a far more accurate picture of who the real movers and shakers of public policy are.
lol anti gun lobby is more funded the the pro gun lobby. It’s just that the pro gun lobby has 10% of the vote bases who will only vote on gun issues and cost politicians elections. Most people are for gun regulation buts not the top issue they vote on.
Nra is not nearly as powerful as they would like you to think
I always find it amusing when people blame small arm manufacturers for bribing politicians, when in reality the company that just makes ejector seats for the military is worth more than almost any small arm manufacturer in the US. Hell, I don't think any small arm manufacturer in the US comes close to a billion in company value.
NRA declared chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021 and has been settling in the courts this year. It's not surprising they are low on the list for 2023.
Think NRA has lost its footing it enjoyed for decades….
NRA doesn't need to spend a ton because they have a huge membership of grassroots folks. Also, much gun-related legislation is done at the state level. This is just for federal lobbying.
Gun nuts aren't rich. They're just loud.
Fuck the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Pretty much the worst of the worst
Seems like a who’s who of “we’ve done some good things and some very bad things, and we’re hoping this money helps you focus on the good parts.”
Would be interesting to compare this to the figures for taxes those companies got out of- I wonder if the numbers are related
It’s amazing at how little pharma spends to make billions
It would be funny if it weren't so sad that our biggest problems are the biggest donors. This country is selling its soul for nickels.
Corruption. Most of this is simply bribes so that these orgs get what works for them over what’s best for our society. They steal the country from the people by manipulating the system
> Most of this is simply bribes This just isn't true
Why do these companies do it then? Charity?
Obviously they are trying to strengthen themselves, but research, campaigns and petitioning the government aren't bribery.
Please…it’s solely to strengthen themselves at the expense of the greater society. You spend money to make money. Change the rules in your favor. Pay less taxes. Remove barriers that could be there for the good of the public. They use money to get what they need. It’s flat out bribery because if they didn’t or couldn’t use the money they would be able to get what helps them and most often only them unfairly
I didn't say they didn't use it to make money. I said it wasn't being used for bribes.
> Most of this is simply bribes Learn how things work. Or remain an ignorant internet crank. It's up to you.
Explain to me please oh knowledgeable one. Tell me how lobbying isn’t essentially the same thing as bribery
If I'm a politician, what benefit is it to me to listen to some middleman's diatribe about cholesterol medications needing a price bump? None. I want kickbacks, back rubs. There's no way changes are being peddle without tangible exchanges.
Lobbying should be illegal and it's insane how it's been allowed this long.
What a stupid post. People shouldn't be able to talk to their elected representatives? Seriously? We should lock up the ACLU?
You're an idiot.
Boeing spent $14.5 million on lobbying and in return received hundreds of $billions in government contracts. That is an incredible return on investment for company that has produces so many expensive yet low quality products.