Jack Abramoff says Washington is corrupt

this is my first thread so bear with me.

Ok, so i just finnished watching casino jack, not casino jack and the united states of money. I didnt realize there were difffernt till after i had bought it. I had read the casino jack and the united states of mone thread from earlier and got intrested about Jack Abramoff and washingtons lobbyists. So, i looked up Jack Abramoff and this is what i found.

Source: HERE

"Jack Abramoff; hell yes washington is corrupt, Its legalized bribery"

The impact of money on politics in the United States is a hotly debated topic these days as tens of millions of dollars flow freely into the presidential election as a result of the Citizen United decision handed down by the Supreme Court. The high court's ruling allows individuals and corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money to Super PACs that support individual candidates. (See: Super PACs: It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's — Well, It's complicated)
To date, many millionaires and billionaires have contributed to the candidate of their choice, and companies have done the same. Many Super PAC critics argue that this influx of money will tip the election results in the favor of whoever can raise the most money, essentially buying the election.

But that is not the only issue to be concerned about, says ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The American people should be concerned about what these donors may eventually ask for in return for their financial support, especially those who are registered lobbyists, or people whose job it is to persuade lawmakers to craft legislation to the benefit of their employers.

As a former Washington insider, Abramoff knows all too well the influence money can get you in D.C. He spent years building influence with many of our elected officials, bestowing them lavish gifts, dinners and campaign contributions. All that stopped in 2006 when he plead guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. He subsequently served 43 months in jail.

While Abramoff served his time and repented for his crimes, little has changed in Washington. The legalized bribery that got him into trouble still exists between K Street and our elected officials, which is why he is on a crusade against the very industry and dealings that got him into trouble.

Abramoff, who is also the author of the new book, Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption From America's Most Notorious Lobbyist, joined The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget to discuss the current corruption in Washington as it pertains to the multi-billion dollar a year lobbying industry and how to change it.

The problem is rampant when it comes to influencing legislation, he says. "In the same way that every $20 bill or $100 bill in America has coc aine on it at some level, there is some aspect of bribery and some aspect of corruption in every one of the [legislative] dealings just because of the pervasive nature of this system."

From 2008 to 2011, special interest groups spent nearly $3.5 billion a year to peddle influence, according to OpenSecrets.org. The top spenders from 1998 to 2011 include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spending a total of $805 million, the American Medical Association spending $265 million and General Electric (GE), which spent $293 million.

What is it that these companies and organizations are buying? They are buying access to make sure they are in the game, Abramoff says.

"The are putting a good defense on the field to make sure nothing happens to them… . They are also on offense [as] a lot of companies use the government to smash their opponents," he says. "If you cannot talk to the person making the decision, you are going to lose."

In the accompanying video, Abramoff explains how lobbying really works. And yes, as it turns out, it is all completely legal.

"You can be completely contemptible, frankly, within the system and be completely legal and that is part of the problem of Washington," he says. "Basically what it comes down to is making a relationship with a senator, Congressman or his staff and then availing oneself of the relationship and going into your friend and seeing if that friend would reasonably agree to the thing you are asking for. And that, by the way, is all fine, except for the money part."

As Abramoff tells Henry, he is not outright against lobbying because he does believe people have the right to petition the government. However, he feels money should be taken out of the game and that these four rules should be instituted.

1. Institute term limits for members of Congress so it is less likely they can be influenced by special interests.

2. Shut the revolving door between public service and the influence industry, which he explains is much more than just lobbying.

3. Ban all financial contributions from anyone who does business in Washington including meals, fundraisers or campaign contributions.

4. Every law that they make needs to be applied to them.

Abramoff is confident that these rules would completely change the way Washington works, but the most important thing is taking money out of the special interest game. In doing so, "hopefully [Congress] members would have to go out and raise money among people who actually think they are good members of the legislature," he says. "They wouldn't be selling their vote, even thought they don't call it selling their vote to the highest bidder."

Read more: www.businessinsider.com... -is-corrupt-2012-2#ixzz1nGotCQxs[/www.businessinsider.com...

Now this is coming from a guy who deffiently knows his stuff. He is one of the best examples of how corrupt a person in washington can be. i cant even believe he got such little jail time for what he did. Hopfully all lobbyists arent as corrupt as him. He was a very powerfull influencer on congress. I do agree with the rules he mentions, like i said, he knows his stuff. However i kinda just realized how large of an issue this might be (lobbyists, and what they can become) so i havent really had time to look into it before posting this article.

like i said i dont know a whole lot about this source, which would be buisness insider (dot) com. i just found it intresting, and that Jack had gotten a chance to speak out. i personally would like to see the money taken out of politics, but i havent really looked into this topic yet. But the film showed me that politicians that condem lobbyists seem to be hypocrites. if any one has seen this film, "casino jack" you'd know what i mean.

i'd ask for you opinions but idk how much longer i'll be on. so go ahead and reply and i'll get to you when you when i can.

Wait...are you serious?

Washington is corrupt? Our government lies, steals, and buy each other out? Holy crap

he should know, he corrupted it. and if you watch casino jack, he is probably guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

as far as i'm concerned, if you are guilty of corruption, or are corrupted and hold high office, you are guilty of treason to the constitution, and to the people you swore an oath to serve.

reply to post by reaxi0n


haha aw come on man give me a break, i found it intresting and solidified my views on our corruption further more. ha and like i said im new to this, i only got out of public education a year ago. what do you expect from a noob right?

reply to post by randomname


Yes i'd have to agree with that. Especially if your breaking oath and law for personal gain. They should deffiently put down a lot more restrictions on lobbyists

reply to post by sladewilson


Haha just messin around my man

I haven't seen casino jack but I have seen casino jack and the united states of money. When I saw that back when it came out it really opened my eyes to a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes.

No worries though...we've all been victims of the system at some point. What's important is that you're learning

Originally posted by randomname
he should know, he corrupted it. and if you watch casino jack, he is probably guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

as far as i'm concerned, if you are guilty of corruption, or are corrupted and hold high office, you are guilty of treason to the constitution, and to the people you swore an oath to serve.

It was corrupt long before Jack came along... He just got caught.

Oh man your title invites comments like mine

Well one of the things I was going to say would probably get me a warning so Ill just say no duh

Of course I'll go on record here and say it was corrupt since I was born and from what I hear from others has been since way before.

Pot,
Kettle.....

'Nuff said?

Originally posted by Tholidor
Pot,
Kettle.....

'Nuff said?

Actually, not really. Jack was a lobbyist. Lobbyists are not really corrupt as they are working for special interest who employ them for a said purpose. (To corrupt politicians)

It's their job to corrupt politicians, but doesn't mean the politicians have to be corrupted.

There were a couple that fought Jack and his Saipan sweat shop owners years ago, however, whether they did it because they weren't corrupt, or because they were on opposite party lines... Not sure...

reply to post by sladewilson


This is suppose to be shocking news? LOL Now add Chicago, New York, Miami and the rest of the politicians in the US. It isn't in question that they are corrupt to the very core. The question is what and if there is going to be anything done about it. It has reached such mass proportions the entire infrastructure of the US is imploding.

Noooooooooooo....really? Washington?

It breaks my heart

Below link talks briefly about political corruption though its not accurate by any means (atleast the color charts).

POLITICAL_CORRUPTION

Originally posted by boncho

Originally posted by Tholidor
Pot,
Kettle.....

'Nuff said?

There were a couple that fought Jack and his Saipan sweat shop owners years ago, however, whether they did it because they weren't corrupt, or because they were on opposite party lines... Not sure...

What opposite party lines? Hell many of them switch parties (atleast ideologically through approvals and disapprovals of bills) all the time.

More so probably the 'Price Wasn't Right'