Posts Tagged ‘ lobbying ’

The corrupting influence of money in politics

June 19, 2012
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While it’s no secret that concentrated wealth negatively influences the political system, most people are probably unaware of the extent and the details of the corruption. One good source of information on this subject is the American writer Thomas Frank, who recently published an interesting article in Harper’s, appropriately titled “It’s a Rich Man’s World: How Billionaires Pick America’s Candidates.” Here he is, on the same topic, in interview with Bill Moyers. 

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Capitalist logic and student debt

May 12, 2012
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Those who are interested in understanding the American political system–And shouldn’t we all be?–would do well to pay close attention to these two organizations: 1. Republic Report (http://www.republicreport.org/) 2. Open Secrets (http://www.opensecrets.org/) Both organizations are doing good work keeping track of how the US Chamber  of Commerce and the major corporations pervert the political process and prevent politicians from working in the public interest. One good example of this was illuminated in a recent Truthout article by Lee Fang that connects corporate lobbying with a looming rise in student loan interest rates. The following passage gives the essence of Fang’s article: On…

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How profitable is lobbying?

January 15, 2012
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With a number like 25.8 lobbyists per member of Congress (totaling 11,140 in Washington alone), lobbying has become a serious business. The  idea is to get regulations gutted or a tax loopholes and exceptions created to spare corporations of inconvenient profit losses. But getting those laws changed can be fairly expensive. And if so, how much money does a corporation get back from investing in a good lobbyist? Fortunately there is a study conducted by Raquel Alexander, Susan Scholz and Stephen Mazza entitled “Measuring Rates of Return for Lobbying Expenditures: An Empirical Analysis under the American Jobs Creation Act” that provides some hard fact answers…

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Mitt Romney and lobbyists

January 14, 2012
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When criticized about the truthfulness of his statements of “not having lobbyists run his campaign” Mitt Romney reacted angrily and attacked the “unprofessional acting” of journalist Glen Johnson. Romney tried to defend his statements by turning to semantics as the actual fact that there is a large number of lobbyists involved and connected to his campaign is not in question. However, since they are not paid Romney feels justified to state they are not running the campaign. Moreover Romney’s facial expression, intonation, and body language seems to change from the friendly family business owner with game show host charm to a threatening…

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