Congressman Explains Why The Corruption In Washington Is Much Worse Than You Think

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

What would you say if I told you that committee chairs were for sale in Congress?  And what would you say if I told you that many members of Congress spend far more time on the telephone raising money than on the jobs that the people of their states actually elected them to do?  There is a reason why so many Americans absolutely hate Congress.  At this moment, Congress has an approval rating of just 15 percent, and approval ratings for Congress have been at extremely low levels for a very long time.  We all know that Congress has become completely corrupt, that it is completely unresponsive to the American people and that it has become all about the money. 

Many have asked why I would want to become part of such a corrupt institution, and I respond by saying that it is time to take our government back.

*  *  *

U.S. Representative Ken Buck was elected to Congress in 2014, and he recently authored a book that is shaking Washington to the core.  The following is what USA Today had to say about it…

And the second-term Republican is unlikely to make many more with Tuesday’s publication of his tell-all book, Drain the Swamp: How Washington is Worse Than You Think, co-authored with Bill Blankschaen.

In it, Buck says lawmakers are mostly “fat and happy alligators who feel pretty darn comfortable in the swamp.” He casts Republican leaders as “playground bullies” who go to great lengths, including yanking subcommittee chairmanships and canceling lawmakers’ overseas trips, to punish dissenters. And he decries a “pay-to-play” system in which plum committee assignments and leadership slots are tied to lawmakers’ fundraising skills instead of their policy expertise.

One of the things that Buck has revealed that upset me the most is the fact that committee chairs are essentially for sale in Washington.  Here is a brief excerpt from Buck’s book

Here’s how it works for Republicans. If you want to serve on a committee, you have to raise money for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The amount varies depending on the committee and role. For example, to serve on a B or C level committee, a GOP House freshman member must raise $220,000 every two years … Veteran members on A committees must raise more than twice that amount  $450,000...

If you become the chair of a B committee – congratulations – you’re now expected to raise $875,000 a year for the NRCC. Chairing an A committee means you must raise $1.2 million.

In order to raise such large amounts of money, members of Congress are expected to spend approximately four hours a day on the telephone raising money.  This is something that I wrote an extended article about last week.

I have already pledged that I am not going to participate in that system and that I am not going to make those calls.

I believe that members of Congress should be spending their time in Washington doing what they were elected to do, and if you want to see this current system dismantled I hope that you will stand with us.

Because the Washington money machine is not behind me, we are funding our campaign entirely through grassroots donations

If we do not stand up to the corruption in Washington, it will just continue to get worse and worse and worse.

That is why we need to send fighters to D.C., and I am being very bold about the fact that I am not going there to play nice.  I am going there to turn over the tables and to turn the current corrupt system upside down, and party leadership is not going to like that at all.

According to the Hill, those that do not play along with the current corrupt system often pay a very high penalty...

And what if you, as a Member of Congress, decide not to play along? For starters, you won’t be able to use the NRCC call suites that are conveniently located two blocks from the House office buildings, and the leadership will put out the word to the K Street lobbying community that they are not to donate or raise funds for you if they wish to stay in the leadership’s good graces. If you’re particularly rebellious, you’ll be stripped of your committee assignments, and maybe even be challenged in a primary by a leadership-backed candidate.

If they try to do those things to me, I still will not back down.

After all, I am not going there to be a career politician.

Instead, I am going there to be part of a national movement to take Congress back for the American people.

In his new book, Ken Buck spoke very eloquently about the need to drain the swamp…

Our founders’ default position was to keep power as far from Washington as possible. We can no longer afford to ignore their wisdom.

A crippling national debt exists because Washington has too much power. Corruption in the federal government is a direct result of so many people getting comfortable in the stagnant political backwaters beside the Potomac.

The concentration of power in D.C. attracts the worst and tempts the best, making it extremely difficult for men and women of character to arise and lead our nation to a healthier place.

The best way to drain the swamp in Washington is to remove the incentive for abuse. Swamps exist when water congregates in one place and becomes stagnant over time.

Draining the swamp means draining Washington of power. Washington can’t abuse power it does not have.

If you want to help us drain the swamp, now is the time to act.

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If you believe that it is time to take our government back, send someone to Washington that is committed to doing exactly that.  I am asking for your financial support, and if you live in Idaho’s first congressional district I am respectfully asking for your vote on May 15th.

Michael Snyder is a pro-Trump candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District.  If you would like to help him win on May 15th, you can donate online, by Paypal or by sending a check made out to “Michael Snyder for Congress” to P.O. Box 1136 – Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.  To learn more, please visit MichaelSnyderForCongress.com.

Comments

Endgame Napoleon Luc X. Ifer Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:54 Permalink

According to that linked interview on my other post, the long-time Swamp staffers have as many potentially corrupting lobbying opportunities as the Swampians. They are the congressional gatekeepers, after all, and since they know the way the Swamp works better than the newly elected members, in a term-limited situation, you would be, in effect, electing key staffers instead of new members who can’t get much done without their staff’s help in navigating the Swamp water. That is why the lobbying ban is more important—a lobbying ban that applies to the staff as well. After serving in Congress or as a congressional staff member, they have tons of other job and business opportunities. They don’t need the flow of corrupting money from lobbyists as an additional perk.

In reply to by Luc X. Ifer

Endgame Napoleon macholatte Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:45 Permalink

I watched this C-SPAN interview with Buck. It is one of the best interviews I have heard, detailing the way Santa-bag lobbyists court the newly elected Swampians, telling all about the dialing-for-dollars pyramid sales scheme, whereby committee chairs are handed out.

Watching congressional hearings over the years, I always assumed the committee chairs were chosen for expertise in the subject, like a senator or a congressman with a long banking career selected to chair the banking committee, etc.

They are chosen on the basis of how many successful cold calls, or how closed deals with deep-pocketed campaign donors gained from warm leads, they made to enrich their parties’ campaign coffers. 

Calling all SCHOLARS, ATHLETES and ROCK STARS for our straight-commission sales job!!!!!!!! Closers will make six figures —————— !!!! SIX FIGURES !!!!  ————— Licenses preferred but not required. Apply here @ US Congressional Swamp.com.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?426341-1/after-words-ken-buck

 

In reply to by macholatte

two hoots Arnold Mon, 03/12/2018 - 10:39 Permalink

We cannot elect our way out of this.

 

Will take 2/3 of the states to pass a constitutional amendment to remove Article 1 in its entirety.  Washington will not do it.

The framers included this in the constitution for the very reason we are facing today, a real option.  It is just as important as any other part of our constitution, just not well understood or know.  It is probable that President Trump is the rare, not so political, chance we have of correcting this disparaging course we are on with such an action.

Of course we need an immediate replacement which should include no political parties in government.  Only a couple of reps from each state and mostly ran by software which lobbyist can't influence.   Software change would take a public vote once approved by the same.  If robots can replace workers they can surely replace simple Congressmen.

In reply to by Arnold

MATA HAIRY two hoots Mon, 03/12/2018 - 10:43 Permalink

yes, an article 5 convention of the state legislatures might do it... problem is that the states are now infested with migrant invaders and their offspring...so no chance at the ballot box at state level...only chance we have now is hurting the establishment's revenue sources a(aka the economy) bad enough that they are forced to allow us white homelands for the dispossessed appalachian-americans

In reply to by two hoots

MATA HAIRY MATA HAIRY Mon, 03/12/2018 - 10:45 Permalink

one other possible source of hope is that the establishment manages to manipulate trump into declaring war on north korea, and our affirmative action military will then get its ass handed to them by NK...and maybe NK will even have a nuke for DC, which might rid us of the parasites forever...or even better if the establishment makes the mistake of attacking russia, which I doubt they will..they aint that stupid...arrogant but not that stupid...russia would definitely take care of DC for us...funny how far down the road we have come...I bet there are a lot of americans who secretly wish some other nation would become strong enough to take down DC for us and rid us of our masters

In reply to by MATA HAIRY

MATA HAIRY BullyBearish Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:07 Permalink

a lot more to it than just the fed....first off, you are like a pig who thinks he could fly if only he had wings...you DO NOT have wings...so therefore you cannot fly....how on earth did you get the idea that we can make ANY significant changes?

It's NOT a democracy!

The only thing we can do now is 1) hurt the establishment pocketbook--their revenue, the economy, the GDP, etc, bad enough to make them give us white homelands, or 2) hope that the establishment gets cocky and attacks north korea or even better, russia, at which point the affirmative military will be exposed, and hopefully DC will get a nuke up its tailpipe, courtesy of russia or north korea...heck, I bet north korea could even wreak havoc in NYC with a few infiltrators (coming up from mexico, red dawn style) who could poison the water supply using chemicals they obtain right in nyc...

In reply to by BullyBearish

crossroaddemon MATA HAIRY Mon, 03/12/2018 - 10:57 Permalink

Don't make the mistake of assuming we'd be better off. In our present situation, the most likely result of a long-term breakdown in central authority would be rule by warlords. I live in a small town of about 800, with some friendly rivalry happening between us and a slightly larger town about fifteen miles away. I imagine if it came down to competition for resources the rivalry would become much less friendly, and personally I'll take our present benign authoritarianism over being caught in a shooting war between the Emperor of XXXXX and the King of XXXXXX over who has the biggest dick.

In reply to by MATA HAIRY

MATA HAIRY MATA HAIRY Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:29 Permalink

nukes would not even be required...if the american oligarchy attacks North Korea, Russia (or maybe even Iran), those nations have the resources to infiltrate the big american cities like NYC and then wreak havoc using poisons in the water supply or subways or bombs on freeway overpasses...many other ways to damage the economy enough so that the establishment pulls out of that nation (russia, north korea, iran).

In reply to by MATA HAIRY

FreeMoney DuneCreature Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:34 Permalink

And there lies the problem.  Half of the population is below average intelligence.  The bread and circuses are working exactly as intended.

Even though there is only a 15% approval of Congress as a whole, they have a 90%+ re-election rate. 

The known devil is assumed to be better than the unknown devil.

It will have to crash before it can be fixed.

In reply to by DuneCreature

Freddie Cognitive Dissonance Mon, 03/12/2018 - 10:44 Permalink

Exactly.  The USA is totally corrupt.  If you speak up - you will be silenced.  People talking about phony PArkland and David Hogg were shut down on the internet.

Nothing is done about the global Clinton multi billion dollar money laundering scam involving everyone including Clintons, Obama, Bushes, Mueller, Comey, Soros, everyone who worked for Obama including the last 4 or 5 heads of CIA and FBI.

Think Trump will do anything where Soros is in the middle of it and Ivanka and Jared are pals with Soros and the Clintons?

In reply to by Cognitive Dissonance

MoralsAreEssential Freddie Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:08 Permalink

"Nothing is being done"  YET.  The end of March the financial system will be reset; Trump KNOWS that Kushner is a Mossad agent who targeted Ivanka after she was profiled.  Kushner lost his admission to the President'c Intelligence Briefing and Cohn quit because of that.  9,000 sealed indictments of Elite pedos, traitors and white collar criminals will also be processed SOON.  The protocols for Military Tribunals have been revised to process high level criminals.  The Human trafficking EO was signed last month or so.

In reply to by Freddie

Dickweed Wang Cognitive Dissonance Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:12 Permalink

At the worst....well, you can figure that out on your own.

 

Here's what I figure - people that get too close to the power base in DC and don't play the game end up having heart attacks, die in plane crashes or auto accidents, have accidents with nail guns or are involved in murder suicides.  Some get off easier like Cynthia McKinney where they just lose their seat in CONgress to some establishment backed hack.

In reply to by Cognitive Dissonance

Freddie farflungstar Mon, 03/12/2018 - 10:37 Permalink

Any time anyone in Congress tries to do the right thing they are:

1. Murdered on airplanes often the zio's.

2. Their child is killed.

3. They are heart attacked.  Sen. Frank Church

4. Arrested and jailed.  James Trafficante.

5. Killed some other way.

Most recent Clinton death is the FBI agent in Maryland who killed his wife then killed himself.

Plus the endless falseflags like Las Vegas, Parkland, Sandy Hoax, Orlando and the list goes on and on.

In reply to by farflungstar