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%
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.
I think the most disappointing thing about it is how cheap they all are to buy. You'd expect them to be bribed in the millions, but it's always a couple of thousand here, a couple of thousand there.
Turns out the most unrealistic thing about Clay Davis from The Wire, is how much he took.
It's interesting that this shit is how Lyndon Johnson rose to prominence in the Democratic party. As a newly-minted Congressman in the 1940 election cycle, he acted as a conduit for Texas oil money, funneling it to various Congress and Senate races around the country and allowing the Democratic party to retain control of the House and Senate. This earned him the appreciation of Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and FDR himself.
It also possibly won WWII, given the isolationism of the GOP at the time.