Posted on 05/27/2016 5:21:41 AM PDT by HomerBohn
(ANTIMEDIA) United States It was one of the scummiest meetings Ive ever been in, said Rep. Thomas Massie of a proposal from a lobbyist to help place him in the powerful, influential House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, among other things.
He pulled me and my chief of staff into a meeting, Massie told the Cincinnati Enquirer of the lobbyist he refused to identify, but who represents the medical device sector. He offered to raise the money that would be required to get me on Ways and Means. This is a lobbyist telling me he can get me on Ways and Means.
In essence, Massie explained, the lobbyist wanted to help him win the prominent position in return for future legislation benefiting the lobbyists interests. Though such mutual back scratching seems obvious when tracing the money trail, Massies comments show how directly the money-infused lobbying, well, racket literally shapes policy.
Perhaps tempting to other politicians, Massie rebuffed the offer but, for him, it was an epiphanic moment:
I left just reeling, thinking about the implications for how this place works when you realize that the lobbyists pick who goes on which committee.
As the Enquirer reported, Massies colleagues expressed shock over his account of the meeting, saying they hadnt encountered anything of its kind before.
Thats just crazy, asserted Steve LaTourette, a former Ohio congressman who now lobbies in Washington. LaTourette claims whether or not a lobbyist might have political pull is of no consequence in helping place specific politicians on any committee. He insists its impossible. Each party chooses members for steering committees, who then decide who will comprise House committees.
As the Enquirer explained, each partys panel also has lawmakers who represent each region of the country, along with committee chairmen and others. They vote on committee assignments, chairmanships, and subcommittee chairmanships in closed-door sessions.
Whether or not the unidentified politicians astonishment amounted to feigned denial could be widely left to interpretation, considering the blurred lines between money and politics and legislation. Other unidentified congresspeople pointed out that while lobbyists cant directly aid an individuals placement on a desirable committee, their influence behind the scenes is palpable.
Campaign Legal Center policy director Meredith McGehee told the Enquirer shed never heard of an explicit offer like Massies, but lobbyists do organize and direct money for their clients corporations, trade groups and nonprofit organizations so helping politicians secure powerful positions might be the most beneficial way to do so.
Theres an enormous amount of pressure on K Street-type lobbyists to deliver, and if you dont your clients get hurt, she explained.
While, perhaps, such a blatant proposal as was offered to Massie might be highly unusual, lobbyists with familiarity to more seasoned politicians can exert influence if a newer politician makes it onto a panel or into a position of power on a committee.
Every committee has a constituency, LaTourette continued, and if youre trying to be the chairman of Ways and Means, there are lots of businesses and corporations and hospitals who are really dependent on what sort of product the Ways and Means Committee produces.
Open Secrets describes the relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers as complicated. On one hand, lobbyists pursue relationships with lawmakers in order to shape legislation so that it benefits clients who would be affected by new laws and regulations. On the other hand, lobbyists are frequently targeted by lawmakers as sources of campaign money, which the lobbyists feel beholden to give to improve their clients prospects of success.
Voters and the general public view this so-called complicated relationship with a high degree of suspicion precisely because the offer Massie describes wouldnt seem to be a stretch. Such overt influence over legislation and policy particularly by behemoth corporations continues to embitter Americans against the legislative and political process.
I've been saying that for some time. Move them home and make them face the taxpayer while deciding how much to steal...
This is why lifer politicians who eventually lose their jobs become lobbyists.......
>Additionally, enforce all Influence Peddling laws to the hilt.
Thats exactly what lobbying by corporate interests is, and the laws regulating and restricting same should be honored.
>
If they are not ‘honored’ they are not LAW. They are tools to be used against ‘enemies’.
It is bad enough we have UN-equal under the Law today (exemptions for D.C. and their supporters), it’s quite another when there is also ‘selective enforcement’...makes a mockery of Rule of Law.
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