“ Yes, Hollywood does spend a lot of money on politics. But so does tech. The Motion Picture Association of American reported $1.3 million in lobbying expenditures through the first three quarters of 2011, and is now run by former Senator Chris Dodd. But Google spent $7.1 million over the same period, and has hired former House Democratic Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, among the 112 lobbyists registered to lobby for the company. Google’s PACs and employees have given three times the money as the MPAA.”
— Lee Drutman on SOPA and PIPA
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Posts tagged with congress
You're So Dodd to Me
Former Senator Chris Dodd (CT-D) speaking as a lobbyist on behalf of the MPAA:
Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.
Shameless.
But it gets worse. Dodd, August 2010:
Sen. Chris Dodd says he still doesn’t know what he’ll do come January 2011, when, for the first time in 36 years, he will no longer be a member of Congress. But he has ruled out one option.
“No lobbying, no lobbying,” Dodd said in a recent interview. That Dodd would forgo a trip through Washington’s “revolving door,” using his policy and political expertise—and a thick Rolodex—to launch a new career in the influence industry, may come as a surprise.
No lobbying indeed. Link via MG.
“ Barney Frank should absolutely be celebrated. Not as a great political talent who might have been or should have been, but as he actually was: a terrific Member of Congress.”
— Jonathan Bernstein
“ In short, if you want public policy to reflect popular will, don’t stock the legislature with amateurs.”
— John Sides on Rick Perry’s proposed congressional pay cut
$30 for an Audience
Campaign fund-raisers are not “public meetings.” I would hope that the press wouldn’t even refer to them as “town-hall-style meetings.” Excluding opposition voices is beyond cynical.
But charging a fee to voters — even supporters — reflects badly on the nature of representation and it turns the constituent relationship on its head (via KD).
“ I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting. … Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.”
— Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
Against Democratic Representation
David Wessel (or some guy as Gruber might say) summarizes a National Academy of Sciences lecture from Paul Romer:
Congress should tie its own hands more often, retaining power to investigate and vote proposals up or down but avoiding the detailed crafting of legislative provisions that influence the flow of money.
To Romer, good institutions are created and maintained by philosopher kings. See him here on charter cities. But I’d offer up the continual wrangling over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a case study in how semi-autonomous insulated from Congress institutions actually get built. A creation reality that Romer might find less than appealing.
Filed under normative economics (WSJ link via Met’s Fan #1).
Inside the Beltway
Greg Sargent:
Presidents have plenty of influence in Washington. So does the leadership of the House majority party. Senators, too, are important – each individual Senator can sway policy all by herself, and while majorities in that body can do some things, Senators in the minority party matter too.
After that…well, a lot of other people in and out of Washington have quite a lot of say over public policy. Bureaucrats, judges, and lobbyists all have their influence. Eventually, as you go down the chain of influence, you get way down to the level of cab drivers with their indispensable folk wisdom and headwaiters who legend has it give the best tables to the powerful. And just below them, just above intern coordinators at think tanks, that’s where you find Members of the House who belong to the minority party.
Still, I’m sure most of our problems today are Nancy Pelosi’s fault and related to her choice of suits or hair style.
“ We came here not to have long careers. We came here to do something. We don’t care about re-election.”
— Tom Reed (R-NY29) on the debt-ceiling (via Taegan Goddard)
