At what point can we effectively use the term aristocracy? This is become a hot topic these days. Even Greenspan wandered into the gap between rich and poor. Here is just one more disturbing article in a quickly growing number.
Road To Riches
The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750 while the amount that lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100 percent.
Why is this happening? Because Bush is selling our country to the highest bidder. This is so sickening. Guess what America, you vote doesn't matter. What matters is an oil executive waiving money around in strip clubs. Family values? How stupid can you be? Nothing but an empty selling point to Bushco. They would send your sons and daughters to die in the desert if they thought it'd be profitable. Is that family values? Wake the fuck up to what is happening.
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The lobbying boom has been caused by three factors, experts say: rapid growth in government, Republican control of both the White House and Congress, and wide acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of federal benefits.
rapid growth in government? Where are you small government conservatives? Damn liars. You'll keep voting for these jackasses and they will keep making money off of your stupidity. The more government and the more power they have, the more they can sell and the better price they'll get.
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Political historians don't see these as positive developments for democracy. "We've got a problem here," said Allan Cigler, a political scientist at the University of Kansas. "The growth of lobbying makes even worse than it is already the balance between those with resources and those without resources."
Like I said, America your vote no longer counts. Unless you slip 10G into the ballot box with you. People from the lower classes work hard for everything they get. Fighting a tireless uphill battle to live the American dream, just to have any hope of ever acheiving that dream sold by our government to your employer who owns a private jet. Welcome to the Republican party. The party will not hesitate to sell your ideals or your oppertunity to anyone for the right price.
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`A profit center'
"People in industry are willing to invest money because they see opportunities here," said Patrick J. Griffin, who was President Bill Clinton's top lobbyist and is now in private practice. "They see that they can win things, that there's something to be gained. Washington has become a profit center."
You want government out of business? huh, speak up true conservatives. Should the government fix policy to make some business successful and others not? Should government be an oppertunity to get an unfair advantage? What happened to the good old everyone has a shot mantra? You never really believed it did you? Of course not, you already belonged to the ruling class, you'd say anything to hold on to the unfair advantage.
Take the example of Hewlett-Packard Co. The California computer maker nearly doubled its budget for contract lobbyists to $734,000 last year and added the elite lobbying firm of Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC. Its goal was to pass Republican-backed legislation that would allow the company to bring back to the United States at a drastically lowered tax rate as much as $14.5 billion in profits from foreign subsidiaries.
Dear Jerome a Paris, this is what we talk about when we say we don't own our economy. The working man gets shit while Bush opens the floodgates of outsourcing and overseas profit to flow directly into our uppermoist class. So even though the economy looks good on paper, it is continualy worse to 98% of us that don't have a fistful of vasoline ready to shove up the Republicans' asses.
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At the same time, government activism has presented potential problems for business. "As government grows, unless you're right there to limit it, it can intrude in just about any industry," Livingston said. "There are agencies that love to do things and acquire new missions. People in industry better have good lobbyists or they're going to get rolled over."
Make sure your business paid their protection money. I.E. proper illegal campaign contributions. Since when does the "free market" need to be bought by the largest government in history? (crickets chirping) But hey, keep voting for these guys,
I'm sure they won't screw you over next time.
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Such fee inflation is widespread, even by newcomers. Venn Strategies LLC, a bipartisan lobbying firm that opened in 2001, has doubled its retainer for new clients. "When we first started, most of them came in at $7,500 a month or $10,000 a month," said Stephanie E. Silverman, a principal in the firm. "Now retainers are more in the $15,000- and $25,000-a-month range."
Even when trying to have absolute power of the economy, they still manage to drive prices up. Whats their goal? To have only 2% of the population be able to afford anything. They hate when poorer people can live with any level of comfort. Keep telling yourselves that the people working 10 hours a day 6 days a week are the the lazy ones. Hey, they must be right, they don't have money? Keep telling yourselves that conservatives, it will never make it true, but you just may bring your tiny little mind to believe it.