Inspiring facts about government

Though no official study has taken place, scienticians and fungineers estimate that any action taken by the US Congress will have a one in a thousand chance of benefiting the basic gruel eating American underclass more than it benefits a corporation or lobbying group. In fact, a wizened panel of Nobel laureates, Buddhist scholars, and ex-diplomats once mused that most legislation wouldn't pass unless it included "a hardcore buttfuckin' of the American people." Their words, not mine.

The point is we know this and realize our job as citizens is to adopt a siege mentality that eventually morphs into Stockholm Syndrome as we keep re-elected 95% of the same people and hoping that they do something different if we ask them in a stern tone. So I don't know why we needed OpenSecrets to rub our noses in it how little our voices are heard over the din of cash registers.

As the Center for Responsive Politics reported last week, federal lobbying soared to record levels last year, as lawmakers clocked long hours and worked at a pace to be, in the opinion of one congressional scholar, the most productive Congress in decades.

This translates to about $1.3 million spent on lobbying for every hour that Congress was in session in 2009, the Center for Responsive Politics has found.

Lawmakers in both chambers met for a total of 2,668 hours, according congressional records. The U.S. Senate was open for business on 191 days, while the U.S. House convened on 159 days.

Federal lobbying records show clients spent $3.47 billion on lobbying Congress, the White House and other federal agencies.

CHA-FUCKING-CHING!! $1.3 million per hour. That doesn't even get into the money they spend in donations, fundraisers, ads, and PAC's. It's just going to get better too, now that the Supreme Court says that corporations have unfettered spending rights in elections.

The most money was spent by the health, finance, and energy sectors. Just coincidentally the three major areas that were going to be addressed in this Congress. And in yet another coincidence, not only have none of them passed, but all three have been severely weakened and are rife with industry concessions and sweetheart deals in the unlikely event they do pass. I wonder how that happened.

You just keep telling yourself that your one vote, one voice thing matters. It's cute.