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Step-By-Step Guide to Buy a Senator (lemmy.whynotdrs.org)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.whynotdrs.org/post/399058

Donate the maximum amount legally allowed (as an individual).

Tell the Member that you would like to become a bundler.

(A bundler is a person or small group of people who pool or aggregate contributions "from the community" and then deliver them in one lump sum to a political campaign).

Once you have raised a sizeable amount, deliver the money to the Senator so they can use it wisely. In turn, ~~trade stock options based on insider information to the tune of millions~~, be super glad that you helped the democratic process!

1% vs the 99%

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I used to have this idea of shady lobbyists skulking around Washington with big bags of money, trying to entice wayward congresspeople and lure them to the dark side. Then a friend of mine did a short internship in the office of a congressman, and I found out it's actually very much the other way around.

You'd think a congressperson spends most of their time reading, writing, debating, and voting on the laws on which the country is run. That's their job description. That's what we're taught in school that they do. But what they actually spend most of their time doing is cold-calling people and soliciting donations. So if you define their job by what they spend the largest amount of time doing, your congressperson and your senators' job to beg for money so they can keep their job. There's a big call center just off the Capitol grounds, and as soon as the session at the Capitol ends they all walk over to the call center, plop down in their cubicle, and spend the rest of the day calling past and potential donors.

But a principled politician could just choose not to participate, right? Maybe, but even if you could self-fund your own campaigns, you still have to get out and earn for your party. Having the support of your party is contingent on hitting predetermined fundraising metrics based on the population, demographics, and economics of your constituency. If you don't hit those metrics you might suddenly find that it's tough to find support for your legislation. It's the same in either party.

It was one of the most disappointing things I ever learned about how our country works. The corruption isn't just baked into the system, it's all but mandatory. And this was like 25 years ago, before Citizens United. I can't imagine it has gotten any better since then.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Relevant

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Even if both were ilegal the democratic political system is still corruptible. Let's say you want to make a law that's going to help a lot of people, you still need others from the opposing party to vote for it, (even if there are more than 2 parties) so they also need you to vote in something for them. Even if there is no money in the middle, it is still a corrupt system. Is there a better one today? I don't think so. But still crap

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Believe it or not, you could have more than 2 parties to vote for.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago

The stated problem is actually more pronounced with a larger number of parties than 2. If the governing party is strong, but doesn't have majority, and the opposition is split, they usually need to trade favours with the opposition parties to get anything done.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Politicians shouldn't have to do any fundraising, or to be allowed to. They should be given a budget by the government.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That could be pretty easily abused, imagine, by straw men siphoning state money without any prospect of winning.

At least in Europe, there are campaign financial limits so things don't get too out of hand. Corruption, therefore, is done via other means.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Iirc here in Germany you get some funding based on the votes you got last election.

This reduces reliance on outside funding without enabling freeloaders, but sucks for first timers.