Dennis G. at Balloon Juice $3.47 billion spent. Did you get a pony?:
The Center for Responsive Politics has taken a look at lobbying expenses for 2009 and found that we have a new record. $3.47 billion was spent by 13,741 registered lobbyists to lobby the Congress in 2009. In 2008 $3.27 billion was spent. And this is only the spending for those folks who have to register under the extremely weak Federal lobbying disclosure laws. Billions more have been spent by PR firms, think tanks, front groups, shadow groups and other entities and individuals operating with carefully designed work-plans crafted to escape oversight and disclosure.
The recent Legislation enacted by the Bush/Roberts Court will flood the zone with even more money. This is another indication of just how deep in the shit our Democracy finds itself in these days.
It has been almost six years since the Abramoff scandal broke on the front page of the WaPost. The story was followed for a while, but now it is just old news. Except that it isn’t. The system of corruption that Jack Abramoff helped to build is as strong today as it ever was. All the scams that Jack used to run are still being run today. The only difference is that Washington is now filled with “Baby Jacks” running these cons. And this corruption is a bipartisan project—perhaps the only bipartisan project that functions inside the beltway.
The only bipartisan project that functions is a joint effort to hide and extend the influence of lobbyist money in Washington? We are quickly becoming the world’s largest Banana Republic. The truly sad part is that for every buck spent, many more comeback in the form of pork barrel projects, targeted tax relief and other shit that we don’t need and I personally don’t want to pay for.
OK, here’s the new plan, finish raising my daughter here because I can make a better living right now. About the time she gets to college age I’m off for retirement in the Philippines. Then I plan to renounce my US citizenship and tell Uncle Sam to take his tax forms and piss off. The Philippines has a definite culture of corruption with public officials. But at least you know you need to slip a little something to public servants to get things going. There’s no false veneer of honesty that hides a more pernicious form of deeper dishonesty and outright theft. We aren’t any better here, I’d argue we’re worse. We just lie about it to ourselves.
That’s the end of today’s bitter diatribe. I’ll probably feel better after a glass of wine and dinner with my little family.
That’s why we call her boogie…
