5 Crazy Facts About Lobbyists - Follow the Money #11

Summary

This video script delves into the influence of lobbyists in modern politics, outlining five ways they impact political decisions. It reveals how lobbyists help politicians raise funds, write laws, and secure lucrative post-political jobs through the 'revolving door'. The script also discusses the effectiveness of lobbying, with companies seeing a 22,000% return on investment. It concludes by advocating for reforms to limit the corrupting influence of lobbyists, suggesting that while lobbying itself is not inherently evil, the current system allows for undue influence through money and favors.

Takeaways

• 💵 Lobbyists raise funds for politicians, often indirectly influencing their decisions through legal means.
• 📜 Lobbyists are sometimes involved in writing laws, as seen with Citigroup's influence on the 2014 budget deal.
• 🔄 The 'revolving door' phenomenon allows lobbyists to offer lucrative post-political careers to politicians, potentially swaying their actions while in office.
• 💼 The promise of high-paying jobs post-retirement can make politicians more amenable to lobbyists' requests.
• 🤝 Lobbying is a massive industry, with an estimated $7 billion annual impact, and much of it goes undisclosed due to loopholes.
• 💼 Many politicians transition into lobbying roles without officially registering, further complicating the transparency of lobbying activities.
• 💰 Companies can see a significant return on investment from lobbying, with studies suggesting a 22,000% return in tax savings.
• 🚫 Banning lobbying outright isn't the solution; instead, reforms should focus on how lobbying is conducted and the influence it wields.
• 🛠️ Proposed reforms aim to ban lobbyists from coordinating fundraisers, close the revolving door, and regulate 'shadow lobbying' to increase transparency.
• 🌐 There's a growing momentum for lobbying reform at various levels of government, indicating a potential for change in the future.

Q & A

What is the primary role of lobbyists in modern politics?

Lobbyists primarily act as advocates, influencing politicians and legislation on behalf of their clients, often businesses or interest groups.

How do lobbyists help politicians raise funds for their campaigns?

Lobbyists can legally organize fundraisers for politicians, effectively bringing in significant amounts of money for re-election campaigns without directly violating campaign finance laws.

What is an example of how lobbyists can influence legislation?

In the 2014 budget deal, 70 of the 85 lines that put taxpayers on the hook for risky bank trades were copied from model legislation drafted by Citigroup lobbyists, effectively allowing Citigroup to write its own rules.

What is the 'revolving door' in the context of lobbying and politics?

The 'revolving door' refers to the practice where lobbyists offer lucrative jobs to politicians and their staff once they leave office, creating a conflict of interest and potentially influencing their decisions while in office.

How prevalent is the revolving door phenomenon among retiring legislators?

The revolving door has become quite common, with half of all retiring senators and one-third of retiring House members becoming lobbyists, a significant increase from less than 5% in the 1970s.

What is the financial incentive for companies to engage in lobbying?

Companies can see a return on investment of 22,000 percent, where for every dollar spent on lobbying, they get $220 back in tax savings.

Why is it difficult to completely ban lobbying activities?

Lobbying is protected by the First Amendment as a form of free speech, allowing individuals and groups to advocate their positions to elected officials.

What are some proposed reforms to address the issues with lobbying?

Proposed reforms include banning lobbyists from coordinating fundraisers, closing the revolving door, and regulating 'shadow lobbying' to increase transparency and reduce the influence of money in politics.

How can the public get involved in efforts to reform lobbying practices?

The public can get involved by supporting initiatives and legislation aimed at lobbying reform, and by engaging with organizations that advocate for transparency and accountability in politics.

What is the role of lobbying firms like Akin Gump in the political landscape?

Lobbying firms like Akin Gump, which employ former members of Congress and represent major corporations and foreign governments, play a significant role in fundraising for political candidates and influencing policy.

Outlines

00:00

💵 Lobbyists' Influence on Politics and Lawmaking

This paragraph delves into the role of lobbyists in modern politics, focusing on their influence through financial contributions and the writing of legislation. Lobbyists are portrayed as a significant force in politics, capable of 'buying' government favor through legal means. The narrative explains how lobbyists help politicians raise funds for campaigns, which can indirectly lead to political decisions favoring the lobbyists' clients. It also reveals how lobbyists sometimes literally write laws, as evidenced by the 2014 budget deal where Citigroup lobbyists' model legislation was incorporated verbatim. The paragraph highlights the 'revolving door' phenomenon, where former politicians become lobbyists, and the potential for 'shadow lobbying' due to loopholes in federal law.

05:01

🚪 Addressing the Lobbying Issue: Reforms and Public Engagement

The second paragraph discusses the broader implications of lobbying and potential solutions to mitigate its negative effects on democracy. It introduces the concept of banning certain lobbying practices, emphasizing that lobbying itself is not inherently wrong but rather the misuse of money and influence. The paragraph suggests reforms such as prohibiting lobbyists from coordinating fundraisers, closing the 'revolving door' between political offices and lobbying firms, and addressing 'shadow lobbying.' It also mentions that these reforms are gaining traction at various government levels. The speaker encourages viewers to engage with the issue, offering a link for further information and ways to contribute to the cause. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to subscribe to their YouTube channel and to reach out with questions or concerns about the topics discussed.

Keywords

💡Lobbyists

Lobbyists are individuals or groups who attempt to influence decisions made by government officials in favor of certain interests. In the video, they are portrayed as a significant force in modern politics, often criticized for their perceived corrupting influence. The script describes how lobbyists can legally facilitate large campaign contributions, effectively buying influence over politicians.

💡Campaign Contributions

Campaign contributions refer to the financial support given to political candidates or parties to fund their campaigns. The video explains how lobbyists help politicians raise these funds, which can lead to a dependency on the interests that provide the money, thereby influencing political decisions.

💡Revolving Door

The 'revolving door' is a term used to describe the practice where individuals move between roles as legislators and lobbyists. The video highlights how this practice can lead to conflicts of interest, with former politicians using their connections to benefit their new lobbying clients.

💡Derivatives Trading

Derivatives trading involves the buying and selling of financial contracts whose value is derived from underlying assets. The video cites an example where lobbyists for Citigroup were allegedly involved in drafting legislation that put taxpayers at risk for losses from risky derivatives trades.

💡Shadow Lobbying

Shadow lobbying refers to the practice of influencing legislation and policy without officially registering as a lobbyist. The video mentions that due to loopholes in the law, many individuals engage in lobbying activities without the transparency that official registration requires.

💡Toxic Chemicals

The term 'toxic chemicals' is used in the video to discuss how lobbyists for the chemical industry may have influenced legislation related to chemical regulations. This example illustrates how lobbying can impact public health and safety by shaping laws in favor of industry interests.

💡First Amendment

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the freedom of speech, which includes the right to lobby. The video argues that while lobbying itself is not inherently wrong, the abuses of the practice, such as using money and gifts to influence politicians, should be regulated.

💡Fundraising

Fundraising is the process of collecting voluntary contributions of money or other resources. In the context of the video, lobbyists are shown to organize fundraisers for politicians, which can be a way to indirectly offer financial support and influence in a legally gray area.

💡Tax Savings

Tax savings refer to the reduction in tax liabilities that companies or individuals can achieve. The video discusses how lobbying can lead to significant tax savings for companies, providing a high return on investment for their lobbying efforts.

💡Transparency

Transparency in the video refers to the openness and clarity with which lobbying activities are conducted and reported. The script argues for increased transparency to counter the negative effects of lobbying on democracy and to ensure that politicians are held accountable for their actions.

💡Regulatory Capture

Regulatory capture is a concept where a regulatory agency, instead of acting in the public interest, advances the commercial or political concerns of the industry it is supposed to be regulating. The video implies this can occur when lobbyists write laws that benefit their clients at the expense of the public good.

Highlights

Lobbyists are often seen as villains in modern politics.

Politicians need to raise large amounts of money to run for office, and lobbyists can help with that.

Lobbyists can legally organize fundraisers that indirectly support politicians' campaigns.

Lobbyists may write laws for politicians, as seen in the 2014 budget deal where Citigroup lobbyists drafted legislation.

The 'revolving door' phenomenon allows lobbyists to offer politicians lucrative post-retirement jobs.

Lobbyists can effectively own politicians by offering them high-paying jobs after their term ends.

The revolving door has become so common that half of retiring senators and 1/3 of House members become lobbyists.

Lobbyists can take jobs that are effectively lobbying without registering as lobbyists due to legal loopholes.

Lobbying is a $7 billion industry, with only half of the lobbyists required to follow existing rules.

Lobbying is extremely effective, with companies getting a 22,000% return on investment for every dollar spent on lobbying.

Top lobbying firms raise money for both Republicans and Democrats, showing lobbying's bipartisan influence.

Lobbying itself is not inherently evil, but the methods used by lobbyists to influence politicians are.

Reforms have been proposed to ban lobbyists from coordinating fundraisers and close the revolving door.

Momentum for lobbying reform is growing at the federal level and in cities and states across the country.

The video encourages viewers to help fix lobbying issues and provides a link for further information.

The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to subscribe and engage with the content.

Transcripts

lobbying lobbyists lobbyists lobbyists

who lobbyists you've probably heard of

them before they're kind of a go-to

villain in modern politics but what

exactly are lobbyists and more

importantly are they really buying our

government out from under us yeah yeah

they really are and here's five ways

they're doing it number one so if you're

a politician you have to raise an

obnoxious amount of money just to run

for office and one of the easiest ways

to raise that kind of cash is by turning

to lobbyists all right so here's how it

works let's say you are a big bank now

you want to get a senator on the banking

committee to vote your way on an

upcoming bill so the easiest thing you

could do would be to just like you know

bribe him I mean you could give $100,000

directly to his reelection campaign and

nice and clean

but unfortunately for you that is super

illegal I think I hope yep still super

illegal so instead you're gonna hire

yourself a lobbying firm to serve as the

middleman for what would in any sane

universe basically just be a bribe your

lobbyists can legally organize a swanky

fundraiser that brings in $100,000 for

the Senators re-election campaign and at

that fundraiser your lobbyists can just

happen to have a friendly chat with the

Senators staff about your feelings on

banking policy at the end of the day the

senator is still up $100,000 he still

knows exactly where that hundred

thousand dollars came from and he knows

which ways to vote if he wants the money

to keep on flowing but this time

nobody's broken any laws pretty sweet

scam right this is a hugely common

practice and it helps explain the next

item on our list number two so in many

cases lobbyists actually write our laws

literally for example let's take a look

at the 2014 on the bus budget deal now

Congress used this deal to secretly put

taxpayers back on the hook to bail out

banks that engage in risky derivatives

trading yes derivatives you might

remember them from such things as

causing the 2008 financial crisis nearly

destroying the economy of the United

States and

causing Western civilization to fold in

on itself so yeah that that happened now

70 of the 85 lines that put taxpayers

back on the hook for these derivatives

trades were cut and pasted word-for-word

from model legislation that was drafted

by citigroup lobbyists Citigroup quite

literally wrote its own rules and this

isn't just a problem with the big banks

like just last week we reported on how

lobbyists for the chemical industry may

have authored an entire portion of a

bill that shuts down efforts to crack

down on toxic chemicals this kind of

behavior happens every single day number

three so lobbyists routinely offer

members of Congress and their staffers

lucrative jobs at their firms or their

clients companies once they leave office

this practice is often called the

revolving door and it works like this

when we would become friendly with an

office and they were important to us I

would say or my staff would say to him

or her at some point you know when

you're done working on the hill we'd

very much like you to consider coming to

work for us now the moment I said that

to them that was it we owned them and

what does that mean every request from

our office every request of our clients

everything that we want they're gonna do

yeah just let that let that sink right

in this practice has become crazily

common in the 1970s less than 5% of

retiring legislators went on to become

lobbyists now half of all retiring

senators and 1/3 of retiring House

members do and it's hard to

overemphasize how tempting a revolving

door gig can be congressmen who go on to

become lobbyists get on average a 1452

percent raise fourteen hundred percent I

mean can you imagine what that kind of

raise would do for you at say your job

number four so thanks to loopholes and

how federal law defines what a lobbyist

actually is many elected officials go on

to take what are effectively

revolving-door lobbying jobs without

ever having to officially register as

lobbyists now researchers estimate that

there's actually twice as much lobbying

as what's publicly disclosed that makes

lobbying a seven billion dollar a year

industry and it means

that only half of the people who are

being paid to influence our elected

officials are required to follow what

few rules there actually are number five

so possibly the most upsetting part of

all of this is how ridiculously

effective lobbying is one study found

that for every dollar a company spends

on lobbying it gets 220 dollars back in

tax savings I mean that's crazy that is

a 22,000 percent return on investment

and it works really well for both sides

of the aisle which is why top lobbying

firms raise big money for both

Republicans and Democrats usually at the

same time like right this second there

is a lobbying firm in DC called akin

gump its roster is full of former

members of Congress and its clients

include massive companies like the

Chamber of Commerce Monsanto Boeing and

foreign governments like the United Arab

Emirates and Japan and akin gump

lobbyists are as we speak holding

fundraisers for presidential candidates

like Hillary Clinton Jeb Bush Marco

Rubio and John Kasich they all work

together

so all this begs is a pretty obvious

question why don't we just ban lobbying

altogether well constitutionally we can

and we really shouldn't lobbying itself

is an inherently evil like the act of

lobbying is just advocating a position

to an elected official and that's not

the problem it's protected by the First

Amendment for a good reason people need

to be able to make a case to their

elected representatives even if they

can't be there in person the problem is

that lobbyists are routinely using money

favors gifts and lucrative job offers to

do the convincing for them put more

simply you can Lobby and you can donate

money to a politician but you should not

be allowed to do both at the same time

it's like handing the referee 50 bucks

before the game starts and $50,000 right

after the game luckily this is something

that we can actually fix with a single

law reforms to ban lobbyists from

coordinating fundraisers closed the

revolving door and and shadow lobbying

have already been proposed at the

federal level and they're currently

picking up serious momentum in cities

and states around the country from

Tallahassee Florida to Seattle

Washington we've got a bunch of ideas

for how to keep that

mentum going and we would love your help

to do it so if you want to help us fix

lobbying and you know the entire country

check out this link right here at the

bottom of the screen and we'll show you

how all righty that is it for this week

thank you so much for watching follow

the money and please please please do

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all right I'm on sore foot represent us

and I will see you next time thanks for

watching