Both Parties Agree: Selling Out Is Worth It

[leftcoastmountains]

The lobbying industry, despite a small decline in revenue, is still the fastest way to make big bucks in Washington.

Coming in at first and second were the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Realtors, followed by the American Medical Association, Boeing and General Electric. For many of the top 10, their big push on Capitol Hill last year was for the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, which greases the wheels with loans and credit lines for the overseas purchase of US goods and services.

The bank has been a scourge of right-wing members of Congress, who dislike anything that smacks of the foreign. They blocked the renewal of its charter when it ran out at the end of June. But lo and behold, the fix was in. The lobbyists went into hyperdrive, cash flowed and the bank’s charter renewal magically appeared in the highway bill. Abracadabra — money talks.

In Washington, it not only talks, it bellows like a bull. In fact, despite the slight decrease in spending, overall, the “top lobby firms are riding high,” according to the congressional newspaper The Hill, even as they “enter an election year where the ‘establishment’ is under attack.

http://billmoyers.com/story/both-parties-agree-selling-out-is-worth-it/#