Steven P. BarrettGOVERNMENT OF K-STREET, BY K-STREET & FOR K-STREET: HOW TO REDUCE ITS HOLD (LINK)
July 27th 2008 00:45
By Steven Barrett
See this street featured above, it's the street of Washington, DC's real movers and shakers, the moneybags, fat cats and puppeteers who control most of the corporate funds available for campaign donations -- which in turn control politicians who control the flow of legislation.
"I'm sick of raising money to get re-elected, so I'm going home to Charleston." Retired US Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings of South Carolina (D) told CBS' Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes" in December, 2004.
Really Long Link
That was four years ago and Hollings is still raising hell about it and just published a book titled "Making Government Work." No matter what one thinks of Hollings old Dixie-style Southern political style, and his populist views that drove both Democrats and Republicans over the edge, his resume speaks for itself.
According to PBS' Bill Moyers Journal:
Ernest "Fritz" Hollings served as a soldier during World War II, as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Charleston, 1949 to 1954, as Lieutenant Governor, 1955 to 1959, as Governor, 1959 to 1963, and finally, as U.S. Senator, 1966 to 2005.
And during his Senate career, Hollings was:
Through it all, I can't imagine how many different committees and sub-committees that overlapped each other, and often caused far greater confusion and log-jamming; thus impeding legislation, or stopping good ideas dead before they could even be put on paper.
But why? When ideas are tossed around between a politician and his staffers, and I'm not just speaking of immediate constituent services offices, but those committee offices as well, sooner or later somebody representing on committee's particular overlapping interest might object, and before you know it, there'll be three or four more voices all representing a sizeable obstacle.
But wait a minute, is it the committee staffer speaking, or the predominate power behind the power that's really pulling the strings of these committees that are supposed to be looking out for the interests of their (human) constituents first? Lesson time:
Good readers, that's what our social studies teachers taught us in our basic courses. But if we paid more attention in high school and college, we would've learned that the Supreme Court made it possible for legal purposes to declare a company a person. Voila! Instant "constituent," even though this potential voter's precinct station is located in the Cayman Islands or Belize.
I'm referring again to those infamous K-Street Lobbying firms whose offices are located in the most expensive and strategically located parcels of land in Washington, DC. (I read where 2/3rds of all government contracts are rewarded to those eager beaver contractor wannabe companies who have offices located within the Washington, DC "Beltway."
Well, the Democrats have their Donkey; the Gop has it's Elephant, and K-Street has its:
And we still have a government paralyzed by the Pirates of the Potomac who've mastered the navigational skills to sail through all those committees, sub-committees and sub-sub-and who knows, perhaps outsourced sub-committees. Butgood ideas keep going to the lockers below.
Want to cut spending without cutting out the hearts of the poor? Cut half of the committee structure out. Put Capitol Hill to work getting legislation passed instead of wasting time investigating the hell out of things and using these investigations as fig-leaf covers for junkets. And, for every pol who takes a company sponsored "fact finding trip" make sure his or her least flattering photo is posted in every Federal and respective state government building.
When the know-it-all Pirates of the Potomac tell you the money's not there, start looking for the smirk.
K-Street, Wash., DC
See this street featured above, it's the street of Washington, DC's real movers and shakers, the moneybags, fat cats and puppeteers who control most of the corporate funds available for campaign donations -- which in turn control politicians who control the flow of legislation.
"I'm sick of raising money to get re-elected, so I'm going home to Charleston." Retired US Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings of South Carolina (D) told CBS' Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes" in December, 2004.
Really Long Link
That was four years ago and Hollings is still raising hell about it and just published a book titled "Making Government Work." No matter what one thinks of Hollings old Dixie-style Southern political style, and his populist views that drove both Democrats and Republicans over the edge, his resume speaks for itself.
U.S. Sen. "Fritz
According to PBS' Bill Moyers Journal:
Ernest "Fritz" Hollings served as a soldier during World War II, as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Charleston, 1949 to 1954, as Lieutenant Governor, 1955 to 1959, as Governor, 1959 to 1963, and finally, as U.S. Senator, 1966 to 2005.
And during his Senate career, Hollings was:
. . . Recognized as a policy expert on the budget, telecommunications, the environment, defense, trade, and space, he is the author of the Coastal Zone Management Act (1972), the Ocean Dumping Act (1972), and the Automobile Fuel Economy Act (1975) and coauthor of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act (1985). Hollings led in the creation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children in 1972 and passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Through it all, I can't imagine how many different committees and sub-committees that overlapped each other, and often caused far greater confusion and log-jamming; thus impeding legislation, or stopping good ideas dead before they could even be put on paper.
But why? When ideas are tossed around between a politician and his staffers, and I'm not just speaking of immediate constituent services offices, but those committee offices as well, sooner or later somebody representing on committee's particular overlapping interest might object, and before you know it, there'll be three or four more voices all representing a sizeable obstacle.
But wait a minute, is it the committee staffer speaking, or the predominate power behind the power that's really pulling the strings of these committees that are supposed to be looking out for the interests of their (human) constituents first? Lesson time:
Good readers, that's what our social studies teachers taught us in our basic courses. But if we paid more attention in high school and college, we would've learned that the Supreme Court made it possible for legal purposes to declare a company a person. Voila! Instant "constituent," even though this potential voter's precinct station is located in the Cayman Islands or Belize.
I'm referring again to those infamous K-Street Lobbying firms whose offices are located in the most expensive and strategically located parcels of land in Washington, DC. (I read where 2/3rds of all government contracts are rewarded to those eager beaver contractor wannabe companies who have offices located within the Washington, DC "Beltway."
Well, the Democrats have their Donkey; the Gop has it's Elephant, and K-Street has its:
K-Street Symbol
And we still have a government paralyzed by the Pirates of the Potomac who've mastered the navigational skills to sail through all those committees, sub-committees and sub-sub-and who knows, perhaps outsourced sub-committees. Butgood ideas keep going to the lockers below.
Want to cut spending without cutting out the hearts of the poor? Cut half of the committee structure out. Put Capitol Hill to work getting legislation passed instead of wasting time investigating the hell out of things and using these investigations as fig-leaf covers for junkets. And, for every pol who takes a company sponsored "fact finding trip" make sure his or her least flattering photo is posted in every Federal and respective state government building.
When the know-it-all Pirates of the Potomac tell you the money's not there, start looking for the smirk.
| 47 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
We need new people with new ideas, no earmarks, term limits and a few less "constituents" of the foreign persuasion.
Comment by Anonymous
Our national legislature is perhaps less "democratic" than the old Soviet Duma and Politburo, not to mention the Chinese Politburo in the way the same old gang keep hanging on and scaring off opposition due to the perpetual fundraising cycles. During his interview with Moyers last night, Hollings ticked off the various 10 day recesses that began around several key three-day shopping holidays, etc. Small wonder-- they had to go out raising funds out of state. Dumb. Heck, I can remember Susan Myrick (R-NC) campaigning up in MA back in 94, piggybacking on Dexter Yager's huge Amway networking machine. She, and her husband were under Yager, well, so were Ruth and I then, but it waned and we got out, with politics being one reason. Very top down my good friend, very top down.
While I agreed with her on abortion, the rest of what this woman stood for sent chills up and down my spine, and she was up in Worcester MA shilling for money to get elected to Congress from NC? What was that all about? Sure, we know, but this rhetorical question needs asking.
What a good dedicated Rep. signer of the Contract with America she was. Remember the term limits contained in that document. She's already doubled her promised limit, and getting away with it since she's got a huge war chest. Shameless example.
As far as "earmarks" are concerned, some things Congressmen bring home are very good and useful for their districts. The late Silvio Conte bagged as much money for the UMass/Amherst Polymer research center as he could and UM is one of the top centers, if not the THE tops in this field. But while Olver keeps the funding for the Conte Center for Polymer Research alive, he also got money for a bike trail and keeping an old cinema with a new set of artsy-fartsy coffee clubs, art studios, etc thrown in the mix. Those aren't just ear marks: they're the whole ear.
But Conte could be shameless when it came to knocking others for pork. One day on CSPAN no less back in the 80s he gave a speech in the well of the House and wore a pig nose mask and ears and imitated a pig in a trough. (I'll bet the price of Olver's movie theater that whatever t.o'd Conte had to be a real doozy for him to attempt that without getting his old poker buddy Tip O'Neill upset. (But the latter had more reason to be upset with a couple of odd members of his own delegation who got caught in some very compromising "situations." 'Nuff said!
Then there's always that paradigm of public servi ce, Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) hogwash attempt to get Lake Champlain desiginated as a "Great Lake" ("for research and tourist purposes," Ohhhhkaaaaayyyyy.)
That's why I like elections over term limits. They won't legislate themselves out of a good deal; nor will they stop to smell the b.s. they left behind while out raising funds and not getting things done in D.C. Let the people haul their sorry buns out. It'll happen soon enough. But the people gotta get off their butts and nominate SERIOUS candidates, not put up job jokes.