Alternate Current: What can a lobbyist do for you?
Now that corporations have been given the rights of citizens according to the recent Supreme Court decision, including the right of free speech, it”s fair to ask how will this affect the people? Prior to that ruling there were more than eight registered lobbyists for each member of Congress, giving the corporations much more access to their representatives on the hill than you or I. Now that all limits on corporations, both foreign and domestic, have been eliminated the voice of the individual will be that much harder to hear.
A recent example of how lobbyists effect our daily lives can be seen clearly in the ongoing scandal regarding Toyota. Headlines tell us that during the past 10 years there have been thousands of complaints that Toyotas have accelerated suddenly, becoming uncontrollable and causing over 50 documented deaths in America. The 911 audio tape of a Lexus SUV going out of control while being driven by a California Highway patrolman, trained to drive at high speeds and to deal with emergencies, is heartbreaking to listen to. The accident that resulted from this defect killed him and his family.
It has been documented that Toyota, famous for high quality, had an interesting response to the complaints. They hired Christopher Tinto, vice president of regulatory affairs in Toyota”s Washington office, and Christopher Santucci, who works for Tinto. They helped persuade the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to end probes including those of 2002-2003 Toyota Camrys and Solaras, court documents show. Both men joined Toyota directly from NHTSA, Tinto in 1994 and Santucci in 2003. E-mails show that they were proud of the fact that they had saved Toyota about $100 million by their actions influencing NHTSA to limit the recalls.
I recently heard a discussion on a Sunday morning political show about how members of Congress could be so oblivious to the needs of the people who had put them in office. The response was both telling and humorous in a very dark way. Of course they knew who put them in office and without fail their interests were being well-represented! The people who put them in office were of course the lobbyists who deliver millions in cash, so vital to the re-election of the legislators; you would have to be na?ve to think that their interests didn”t get top priority! The average Senator needs to raise over $3,300 every day, including weekends and holidays, during their six-year term to get re-elected; much more if from a large state where media buys are more expensive.
The last year has given us another clear indication of how this money becomes influence over members of Congress and even public opinion. The health care industry has invested well to protect itself from meaningful regulation that might interfere with their profits from citizens” pain and suffering. The purchase of senators from small states, where less money makes a bigger difference, made all the difference in our chances for real reform. To name just two, Sen. Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), reaped millions in donations and represented their lobbyists well, killing the public option in concert with their Republican employees. Simultaneously, thousands of commercials hit the airwaves, paid for by sham organizations funded by big pharma, insurance companies and others in the industry. They spread lies about “death panels” and “government takeovers” (hard to do without a public option by the way) which resulted in an erosion of public support. Mission accomplished!
Now that all limits on campaign contributions are history, the avalanche of cash will dwarf what has come before it. One argument is that the limits are off for unions as well, but the sad fact is that like the middle class, unions have been systematically gutted by the trickle-down economics of the recent past. In 1964 over 29 percent of all Americans were union members, today it is less than 12 percent and falling fast. We are witness to the rise of the international corporations and the fall of the citizens” interests, a classic definition of fascism.
Lowell Grant is a weekly columnist for the Record-Bee. E-mail him at c21vintage@aol.com.
