1115.org

Since the beginning of George W. Bush’s second term and the accompanying enlargement of his party’s majorities in the House and Senate, it has become more and more important for Democratic leaders Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to keep their fellow members in line on as many votes as possible and peel off as many Republican votes as they can. Leading a minority party while running an opposition to a reckless administration is an important and incredibly difficult task, made harder by some Democrats’ reflexive compromising and shoddy dealmaking. Often times pressure from the leadership isn’t enough to enforce party discipline; calls, faxes, and emails from constituents are the only ways to make defection look like a losing proposition.

Living in the California 12th offers little opportunity to pressure anyone. Congressman Tom Lantos and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are not perfect, but on most important issues they stand up for their party. But when major bills and confirmation hearings are working their way through committee onto the floor, it is often members from other districts and states that hold the crucial swing votes.

Except that Congressional offices won’t take calls from out of state or out of district, nor count faxes or emails in their tabulations. Some might say this is fair as each member is responsible for representing his or her own constituents. But in reality they represent and speak for each American on legislation and oversight that affects more than just their home state or district. For instance, when Colorado Senator Wayne Allard shot his mouth off about defaulting on the Social Security trust fund, I was forced to depend on Denver resident Anne to send my letter to Allard, (and relay his pathetic response) even though his suggestion jeopardized about 17 years worth of my own Social Security taxes. The same is true for many other situations, from the toxic bankruptcy bill to confirming ill-considered nominees such as Alberto Gonzales, John Bolton and Condoleezza Rice. These important decisions are made in everyone’s name, and my options shouldn’t be limited to calling my three members of Congress who already agree with my perspective anyway.

The helpless feeling that comes from limited input is somewhat alleviated by writing about these issues here and running action alerts when there is a chance to influence a decision (but judging from the 0.5% reader response rate on our 2008 Presidential poll, that might not be worth what I previously thought.)

But then The Washington Post ran this story last week taking a look at a subject we spend some time on here, K Street culture and it’s affect on politics and beyond:

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. Only a few other businesses have enjoyed greater prosperity in an otherwise fitful economy.
[…]
In the 1990s, lobbying was largely reactive. Corporations had to fend off proposals that would have restricted them or cost them money. But with pro-business officials running the executive and legislative branches, companies are also hiring well-placed lobbyists to go on the offensive and find ways to profit from the many tax breaks, loosened regulations and other government goodies that increasingly are available.

And so on.

There wouldn’t be 17,000 new lobbyists or a 100 percent increase in fees if lobbying wasn’t paying even bigger dividends for the businesses availing themselves of lobbying services. But to get the tax breaks, deregulation, and government contracts, who are all these lobbyists talking to? There are still only 535 members of Congress, plus staff that hasn’t seen any great expansion.

So while I couldn’t have my voice counted by an intern in Joe Lieberman’s office when there was a cloture vote on the bankruptcy bill, a corporation based in my district, say Genentech, can call their lobbyists and have a meeting set up with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chairman Mike Enzi in a matter of days.

So Genentech pays a ton of taxes; maybe they deserve more access. But what of corporations that not only don’t pay taxes, but get huge tax rebates despite being extremely profitable:

Uncle Sam sent Texaco a $67.7 million tax refund check in 1998. Though it declared $182 million in profits, the giant oil company paid no corporate income tax.

PepsiCo got $302 million from Washington. It, too, paid no corporate tax that year on $1.6 billion in profits.

Despite freeloading off of the government, Texaco, Pepsi, and thousands of other companies can buy access and legislation through lobbying and campaign contributions in ways ordinary citizens and small business could never even dream of.

One of the most famous rallying cries of the revolutionary era was “no taxation without representation.” In modern times, that could be amended to “no representation without lobbyists.” The net result of K Street culture is less influence for ordinary Americans and more spoils for those who can afford to pay. And with the rampant corruption tied to some of the most powerful influence peddlers, it’s even more repulsive. But the real irony is watching supposed free-market absolutists slant the playing field to the point that only they can compete. “All in the game,” right?