This sounds awfully familiar. During the campaign years this came up as an important issue that needed immediate attention. It’s a shame and embarrassment that the blatant conflicts continue today. Lobbyists should NOT play such an important role in legislation and the few congressional members that are trying to draw attention to the issue are not being heard! Where is the outrage!

Yeah, what I really loved about that article was the pseudo-outrage expressed by the upper benchers about their backstabbing lower bench brethren. Right. When the Dem leadership actually changes the way they make committee appointments or as you rightly suggest they prohibit committee membership on the basis of conflicts of interest (including family members), I’ll believe all their showy puffed up disdain. Until then, not so much.

The current rampantly corrupt system works to the advantage of the leadership of both parties. Neither will lift a finger to change it.

Corporatism ( Corruption) deep in the tissues and bones of Gov’t. The Gov’t is like a rotten apple full of Corp. worms isn’t it?

Excuse me, I think I’m gonna be sick…

Lobbyists money does not buy Senators votes in what world?

Once again, leadership deliberately builds the power of the Blue Dogs.

How exactly are committee positions assigned? Am I being paranoid or does it seem like Rahm had a hand in this debacle?

I like the NASCAR idea. Make them wear their sponsors on their jackets.

Ha! Brilliant. Oh, and there should be logos all over the floor of congress and in the committee rooms.

The Democratic party has become the Republican party minus the Christ-O-Fascist bent. Well, we are seeing the Christ-O-fascist bent show up in the HCR legislation.

Why do the Democratic party sycophants think Democratic sausage is better than Republican sausage? If you like sausage for love or lust then, great. Enjoy it. However, kneeling down in the name of party loyalty is not a good substitute for an ongoing consensual sex.

This party leadership is corrupt and no different than the opposition – they oppose you.

FYI,m Evan Bayh is up for election in 2010. I still haven’t heard of a definite primary challenger, but I’d sure like to hear about one.

I like it.

Per the Wikipedia:

Regulatory capture is a term used to refer to situations in which a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead acts in favor of the commercial or special interests that dominate in the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can act as an encouragement for large firms to produce negative externalities.

For public choice theorists, regulatory capture occurs because groups or individuals with a high-stakes interest in the outcome of policy or regulatory decisions can be expected to focus their resources and energies in attempting to gain the policy outcomes they prefer, while members of the public, each with only a tiny individual stake in the outcome, will ignore it altogether. Regulatory capture is when this imbalance of focused resources devoted to a particular policy outcome is successful at “capturing” influence with the staff or commission members of the regulatory agency, so that the preferred policy outcomes of the special interest are implemented.

Regulatory capture theory is a core focus of the branch of public choice referred to as the economics of regulation; economists in this specialty are critical of conceptualizations of governmental regulatory intervention as being motivated to protect public good. Often cited articles include Bernstein (1955), Huntington (1952), Laffont & Tirole (1991), and Levine & Forrence (1990). The theory of regulatory capture is associated with Nobel laureate economist George Stigler, one of its main developers.

The risk of regulatory capture suggests that regulatory agencies should be protected from outside influence as much as possible, or else not created at all. A captured regulatory agency that serves the interests of its invested patrons with the power of the government behind it is often worse than no regulation whatsoever.

great story, jane.
this is planned self-immolation.
leading the sheep to the slaughter and then selling out the entire country all at the same time.
what are teh dimocrats thinking?
so this is how they screwed barney. why isnt he squealing?

Fund raising? heh

From Wikipedia,

Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient’s conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.

Don’t think this could have gone so far if our election system was not so totally corrupted. This has received scant notice from most democrats.With the exception of Dennis Kucinich over the NH vote. There were some strange things going on there. With the electronic voting machines going for Hillary and hand counted Obama. States that used the electronic machines going for Hillary. Hand counted Obama.

Meanwhile the media was doing it’s snowjob. Chris Mathews reporting Hillary was the inevitable winner while showing her walking around diners. Obama drawing crowds in the thousands.

All the money poured into a republican system of counting votes that does not pass the smell test.

Not sure how many more examples we need before a majority of this country actually realizes how far from a true democracy we have fallen. The current system of our government putting giant corporations ahead of the country and it’s people behind the din of mass market media selling us celebrity baby stories and lame ass worship the rich and famous shows..the whole thing is disgusting. I see no direction forward until we can no longer afford cable tv, then maybe folks will get pissed. We’ve become so bloated with crap, so overwhelmed with distractions, we’re getting hung out to dry and we can’t even muster enough will to even care much less fight it.

Informative post, Jane. The indoctrination/corruption starts early, doesn’t it? Corporate dollars are like an infectious strain of drug-resistant bacteria that is spreading throughout government. And the ‘antibiotics’ that have been tried so far are insufficient to kill the infectiton. We need a new super-drug.

OT, I am sending a donation to Dennis Kucinich today via snail-mail. One of my promises for the new year is to avoid the use of the credit card, so the ‘check-in-the-mail’ approach is going to have to suffice.

Happy New Year to you, your ‘puppies’ and other loved ones!!

It’s hilarious that the first member of Congress to announce hearings about the Fannie/Freddie bailout is NOT on the Financial Services Committee, but on Oversight — Dennis Kucinich:

http://www.actblue.com/page/fanniefreddie?refcode=fdlside

Our government has reached byzantine, or ottoman empire levels of corruption. History suggests that once a certain level of dysfunction is reached in a political system, it cant be reversed.

expose and expel w/ expedience.

Corporatist Democrats are pigs.

If I’m getting the big picture right, these sellout Democrats want:

A) to allow regulation of our health care system to devolve to the states, where regulation of the private insurance companies will be weakest, and

B) to preempt state regulations of the financial services industry – which are often far stricker than are federal regulations – by making the regulations of the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency the maximum, rather than the minimum, of consumer protection.

So much for health care or financial reform.

Corporatist Democrats, indeed. But even in this sick and twisted system, who cares about the American citizens consumers?

Jane, thanks for pulling back the curtain and giving it to us straight, sickening as it is to see.

I dont know if “hilarious” is the word i would use. “predictable” or “disgraceful” or “disturbing”, maybe

Jane, there’s a typo in the second paragraph. For some reason there are superfluous quotes around the word ‘bribed’.

Jane,

I notice that we’re getting close to the 150-supporter mark in thanking Dennis.

Please consider raising it again!

This just goes to show that without campaign finance reform, there is really no hope for our federal government. I know that the pending USSC ruling might throw a wrench into this, but it might be interesting to draft an Amendment to the Constitution that essentially sets out a publicly financed campaign. As far as elections reforms are concerned I would like to see:

1. Universal voting machines and ballot types, with paper receipts
2. Moving election day to a Saturday.
3. A further crackdown on gerrymandering
4. Statehood for the District (or at least some kind of representation)

As far as actual campaigns:

1. Public financing for all federal level positions
2. Restrictions on third party ads, though I would settle for them having to be very close to accurate (as to prevent swift boat style crap)
3. Further restrictions of the revolving door of government to lobbyist. (perhaps 5 years out of government before one can lobby)

Finally I think we should pay Congress MORE, and keep decent benefits. Keeping two residences, including one in the district and going back home can be very expensive, and as a result we have more money in DC and more millionaires. I would hope that Congress could actually better represent what America looks like.

thank you for that post. this sad fact of current agency function cannot be repeated enough….

Gallows Humor maybe?

From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

But many acts of corruption are not unlawful. That paradigm of corruption, bribery, is a case in point. Prior to 1977 it was not unlawful for US companies to offer bribes to secure foreign contracts; indeed, elsewhere such bribery was not unlawful until much later.[10] So corruption is not necessarily unlawful. This is because corruption is not at bottom simply a matter of law; rather it is fundamentally a matter of morality.

AT&T is looking for someplace new to place their logo, as its coming off Tiger’s golf bag.

Any bets she got some hot investment tips from the lobbyists?

LOL!

Im glad im old. Im glad i got to see the glimpse of what might have been. even though the infection was always there. the rot was always trying to worm its way into the system. Once there were responsible adults in charge. eisenhauer, truman, roosevelt, to keep the infection isolated. whatever thier failings they had the big picture. now there are self promoting egotistical babies in charge and they’ve opened the door to the infection. so long “american dream” it was only ever a dream anyway. but it was a good dream.

So they put the congressmen most in need into the committees where the bribes are the largest. Sweet!

Another term to complement “regulatory capture”. “judicial capture”. The increasing turning of the judiciary to protectors of the business community from significant control by the public. From federal pre-emption rulings to removal of standing decisions, the judiciary is responding to decades of pressure, lobbying, junkets, and electoral assistance from the business sector.

Great information Jane!

I hate to say it, but most dems are on par or dummer than Bush.

The USA economy is in complete melt down mode, and our congress men and women are partying with the people who cause the melt down.

I have a feeling someone head is going to explode in the dem party if they find out about this post. I don’t think any of the Dems on the Financial Service Committee want this information in the public domain, since they are selling out the people they represent in broad day light.

i dont think you need to pay them more, you need to have a 90% tax on incomes above $2 million, to even out the top.

How about this: Either you work for the government, or you work as a lobbyist. Period.

Jane, this is great. Keep it up. The next time you are on TV, you should take a stack of logos and hold them up when you mention the names of those who are beholden.

I notice that Amy is pulling more (regular, I hope) guests from the FDL pages. I think she is really the main alternative venue, not even Rachel is as far removed as Amy. You all can really build this, and I say, THAT is a foundation that will not crumble.

Thanks to you and all those who are making this change we can believe in!!

Amen. You know we were told, and I agree, that healthcare costs will be a massive problem for individuals and governments in the near future, yet we get these half measures and pro-industry legislation. But in the greater economy at present, nothing, a stimulus bill that takes too long to take effect, nothing to help homeowners, and banks that eat government funds but dont lend.

Democrats might lose for reasons other than passing a turd of a healthcare bill, but total inaction on a sinking and fundamentally flawed economy.

It’s true, but I would like to see some sort of draft of an Amendment with some teeth. I think there might be enough good government types on the left and right that are sick of this shit that it could get passage.

great ideas!

I completely agree with you. People won’t rebel against any of this until people that used to be middle class are living in the street, scrounging through dumpsters for food and clothing. That day is coming. I don’t know when or how long that will take but that’s when the people will rise up. Maybe, in the end, that’s what we need.

self promoting egotistical babies in charge

Perfect characterization of the a$$holes who are ruining our country.

Niall Ferguson had an article in Newsweek earlier this month called “How Great Powers Fall: Steep Debt, Slow Growth, and High Spending Kill Empires – and America Could Be Next” (Dec 7).

He did a decent job of explaining the economic mess that’s being created, but he fails to attribute it to the true cause: the relationship between corporatist politicians and corporate executives who are failing to see the big picture and will ruin themselves more than anyone else as they drive this country into the ground in the name of short-term profits.

So bribes to get domestic contracts like forcing Americans to buy health insurance is legal just not moral. Fine lets call lobbying legal bribery. Just how many lobbyists have been accused of sleeping with politicians that guy in California, John McCain, and Dan Quayle. Sleeping with someone when money changes hands is still illegal right unless its called lobbying?

http://www.zimbio.com/America's+50+Most+Scandalous+Political+Scandals/articles/61/Playmate+Paula+Parkinson+Washington+Basically

Emptywheel has a fresh cross-post up: “Bill Supporters Still Can’t Say “Affordable””

This article shows how useless the MSM has become.

No MSM outlet has reported on this issue.

Information like this is what their veiwers and readers need.

I like this, too. But perhaps we could extend it even further. Not only on their jackets (as they speak on the floor of their respective chambers) but on the cars they drive–especially when going to/from constituents’ meetings, rallies, townhalls, etc. Let us know who they REALLY work for.

I want Bayh and his Wellpoint wife gone so badly that I am dying for someone to step up to primary him. I don’t live in his state, but I’ll donate, phone bank, do whatever I can to get his stupid and corrupt ass out of the Senate.

Somebody needs to go from one Reg. body to the next to try and see the rate of capture the Fed. suffers today. My guess is that its massive. This is really where Corps. have plugged into the System and taken control of the Gov’t in much the same way as a swarm of leeches. How would we reverse such an infestation?

Anyone stepping up to primary him out? I’ll join you in donating and doing what I can to get rid of that weasel and knocking that smirk of his face.

I don’t care where he goes, so long as he loses and is seen as having lost because he’s a sellout.

Christopher Cox SEC presided over thw Wall Street CDO bubble that broke the global financial by misleading investor a sold them magic paper. That included retirement and pension funds as well a state government funds.
I call for more oversight from Dennis Kuccinich’s new committee.

Ok, then what happens?

Fantastic idea, I couldn’t agree more.

They not only should be recused to avoid conflict of interest, but should be dismissed by a third party, a committee that oversees Congressional oversight of over reaching.

ahem… where’s the ‘change’? where’s the ‘we have to change the way washington operates?’

its pretty bad when the ‘president’ we elected – based upon change – is from the party that’s doing EVERYTHING they’ve blasted the repugs on over the how many years…

that’s not change – that’s merely more of the same single-party government we’ve ‘enjoyed’ for the past 30+ years…

Jane,

When are we ever going to get campaign finance reform? Perhaps Dennis could write up a new bill and we could shame those who do not support it. All of this bribery of congress has got to stop.

You know Washington is a weird city and many newly elected statesman and stateswomen go their with good intentions to help we the people and then are overcome with the “beltway fever”. The monumets and buildings in Washington have been laid out in geometric patterns and occultic symbols. If you goggle “DC Street Sorcery” and watch that video you will see the layout of the buildings and monuments. No wonder nothing good is getting done in Washington for we the people but wars, corruption, fraud, lies, bankruptcy and broken promises. Lets go back to Philly!

With a few exceptions (Kucinich, Waters, Lee et al), the Democrats in congress are as bad as the Repubs when it comes to special interests, or even worse these days obviously. As a lifetime progressive who never registered as a Democrat, I feel it’s time to take strong action by supporting alternative progressive candidates. So what if they cannot make it? The ones we have now in congress are of no consequence. Perhaps threatening to divide the party is a good thing for good causes across the board. You get paid by big biz, fine, let big biz organize and elect you then. I doubt Obama’s grass roots campaign cannot be done even better by people like us on this blog. We can organize and choose good leaders, not fakes like Obama and the Blue dogs (disclosure: I never fell for the hype and my vote (in CA) went in good conscience to Nader). And please don’t bring 2000, Gore lost because of the lack of will to fight in the courts and on the street, not because of the Nader vote (and our fellow citizens not learning how to use a voting card). He won CA handily.

The idea of moving our deposits from the banksters to local entities seems to be catching fire .This places money where it can be lent to us and local entrepreneurs as opposed to having our deposits underwrite the leveraging of derivatives that will destroy our economy and impoverish us with hyperinflation .Very seldom can we make meaningful change that shows us to be something other than powerless humps.

A simple common sense law that says their are not allowed to take money from anyone for any reason while in office would fix all of this.

A second law that said they are not allowed to run for office or re-election while holding office might also be good.

You see campaign funds are the excuse for all their greed, the lobbying, and them needing money. Take away the need, and you stop the greed.

Uh, lest we forget.

“WASHINGTON — When Rep. Barney Frank was looking to aid a Boston-based lender last fall, the Massachusetts Democrat urged Maxine Waters, a colleague on the House Financial Services Committee, to “stay out of it,” he says.

The reason: Ms. Waters, a longtime congresswoman from California, had close ties to the minority-owned institution, OneUnited Bank.

Ms. Waters and her husband have both held financial stakes in the bank. Until recently, her husband was a director. At the same time, Ms. Waters has publicly boosted OneUnited’s executives and criticized its government regulators during congressional hearings. Last fall, she helped secure the bank a meeting with Treasury officials.
[Rep. Maxine Waters] Getty Images

Rep. Maxine Waters, center, with Earvin “Magic” Johnson, left, and Ms. Waters’s husband, Sidney Williams, at the 2009 BET Honors Reception in Washington, D.C.

Her involvement isn’t new. Ms. Waters has detailed her financial ties in a series of federal disclosure forms and has been vocal in public in support of the bank. Those ties, however, have received little public attention. Nor is it well known how the influential lawmaker has over the years acted to support the bank and its executives.

Such potential conflicts of interest are more serious as the banking system’s crisis has led the government to take an increasingly active role in overseeing financial institutions, including OneUnited. The financial-services committee on which Ms. Waters sits oversees banking issues, and the lawmaker is a potential future chairman.

~~~EDITED FOR LENGTH HERE~~~

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123682571772404053.html

~~~ModNote: Please help keep FDL within Fair Use guidelines by limited quoted material to about 200 words. Thanks.~~~

Ok, sorry.

Absolutely, but they will just backdoor the money one way or another.

The answer is competitive districts (i.e. no gerrymandering), term limits, and your suggestion.

coming from the right, I can definitely get on board with either federal funding of elections, or 2 term term limits for all elected offices above mayor, and maybe 4 for mayors….and minimal federal or state pensions for elected officials…because the amount a senator could scam in the first 6 and then in the first 4 of the last 6 as a lame duck would at least keep things reasonable.

I would also like to see a complete ban on all lobbying firms. It should be if firms want to lobby the government, they should have to do it themselves, meaning a member of their board, who must have a primary function unrelated to lobbying, has to be the one coming to washington to do the lobbying.

I don’t like the influence peddling and the sense of entitlement that persists in Washington, or elected office starting at high school class president all the way up. It takes a special type of weasel to seek elected office, and they all turn to scum once they get there…..just like the student council at my high school who printed 3 times as many tickets for school dances than the fire code allowed and netted $2000 a dance for themselves…..until they got caught….but there also no repurcussions…