WORDS.
"If you are trying to understand why Washington works so badly for the rest of the country, the book says that it works extremely well for its most important citizens: the lobbyists. The permanent government of the United States is no longer defined by party or a branch but by a profession comfortably encamped around the federal coffers. The result is that Washington has become the wealthiest city in the nation, and its relative position has actually improved over the past five years, during the worst recession in 75 years. The country might be struggling, but K Street is not.
...Consider just one factor (and there are many): the role of money, which has expanded dramatically over the past four decades. Harvard’s Lawrence Lessig has pointed out that members of Congress spend three of every five workdays raising money. They also vote with extreme attention to their donors’ interests. Lessig cites studies that demonstrate that donors get a big bang for their campaign bucks — sometimes with returns on their “investment” that would make a venture capital firm proud. A company would be crazy not to make such investments.
...Taking money out of politics is a mammoth challenge. Perhaps the best that one could hope for would be to limit instead what Congress can sell. In other words, enact a thorough reform of the tax code, ridding it of the thousands of special exemptions, credits and deductions that are institutionalized, legalized corruption."
THE WASHINGTON POST: The root of Washington’s ills
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