American politicians should be indicted for running a criminal enterprise

They did it to the mob. They ran them practically out of NYC with indictments on the RICO statute of running a criminal enterprise.

Why isn’t the criminal government were getting not also a criminal enterprise? Why isn’t it exposed to the RICO statute?

Is a government some kind of divine group? I'll answer that, HELL NO!

The congress and president are both being bribed constantly by financial oligarchies, just look at the record of the massive lobbyist paying for favors. Is that not extortion?

Bill Clinton left the white house broke and now is a multi millionaire

Look at the record of the cabinet members of various administrations, where right after they leave government they ALL get lucrative employment with Wall street firms, think tanks, and corporations who had just been lobbying them( while they were in government) right before they retired from government.

THIS IS A SCAM...A LEGAL SCAM!
If this is not a criminal enterprise them the mafia isn’t either.

Look At the record, these politicians get paid millions of dollars working for these corporation RIGHT AFTER THEY LEAVE GOVERNMENT.

There not that damn smart!

No they get paid for their influence peddling.

Case in point number one:

Rahm Emanuel

Continued...

After serving as an advisor to Bill Clinton, in 1998 Emanuel resigned from his position in the Clinton administration and joined the investment banking firm Wasserstein Perella, where he worked for 2 1/2 years.[47] Although he did not have an MBA degree or prior banking experience, he became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office in 1999, and according to Congressional disclosures, made $16.2 million in his two-and-a-half-years as a banker.[47][48] At Wasserstein Perella, he worked on eight deals, including the acquisition by Commonwealth Edison of Peco Energy and the purchase by GTCR Golder Rauner of the SecurityLink home security unit from SBC Communications.[47]

en.wikipedia.org...

This guy made 16 million dollars in two years for a Wall Street
firm after he left the Clinton administration

You’re telling me he earned that money?

Case in point number two:

Former senator, governor, and secretary of agriculture Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) joined the board of Deere & Co., the tractor and farm equipment manufacturer, on Jan. 8, only five days after leaving the Senate (and a spot on the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry)

www.washingtonpost.com...

So this guy leaves government and not more than a week he gets a huge paying job with a company he as a government servant use to watch over!

More than 45 percent of senators who have left office since 1992 have served on the board of a publicly traded firm; in comparison, only 20 percent of former senators have worked as registered lobbyists. While lobbying regulations require former senators to wait two years before registering as a lobbyist, there is no such restriction on joining a board.

Of former officeholders who accepted a board position, 60 percent of senators and governors joined within the same year that they left office. At the end of the previous Congress, departing Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) all joined boards within a year of leaving office.

www.washingtonpost.com...

These are just two instances of this massive influence peddling in the American political scene, there are numerous more, in fact this is the rule rather than the exception.

It is so bad that the US congress is known as the millionaires club.

continued...

It never used to be this way, at least not nearly as bad.
Here is good article worth reading that lays it all out on what changed.

www.theatlantic.com...

How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy

Things are quite different today. The evolution of business lobbying from a sparse reactive force into a ubiquitous and increasingly proactive one is among the most important transformations in American politics over the last 40 years. Probing the history of this transformation reveals that there is no “normal” level of business lobbying in American democracy. Rather, business lobbying has built itself up over time, and the self-reinforcing quality of corporate lobbying has increasingly come to overwhelm every other potentially countervailing force. It has also fundamentally changed how corporations interact with government—rather than trying to keep government out of its business (as they did for a long time), companies are now increasingly bringing government in as a partner, looking to see what the country can do for them.

Even the 2010 elections, with its promises to "take our country back," produced a freshman class of senators with a median net worth of close to $4 million. The median net worth of freshman House members is more than half a million dollars, according the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based, non-partisan research group that tracks the effect of money on elections and public policy.

www.cbsnews.com...

And it is clear the American political culture is the biggest criminal enterprise in the world.

Once in office, members of Congress enjoy access to connections and information they can use to increase their wealth, in ways that are unparalleled in the private sector. And once politicians leave office, their connections allow them to profit even further.

www.cbsnews.com...

And nothing is being done about it. People just talk and complain and these swindlers still get away year after year with a blatant criminal bribery scheme unlike anything in the world.

Our government, rather than serving the interests of all Americans. has been turned into a money making machine for politicians and their corporate cronies.

Ever since it was taken over by corporations 40 years ago, this is what corporate lobbyists have brought us:
NAFTA
GATT
China Trade
TPP
Bank Bailouts
Obamacare

www.opensecrets.org...

REVOLVING DOOR

Here are your politicians and lobbyists

35 out of 40 Goldman Sachs lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
53 out of 61 Citigroup Inc lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
58 out of 69 JPMorgan Chase & Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
20 out of 25 Morgan Stanley lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs


85 out of 114 General Electric lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
36 out of 48 Koch Industries lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
116 out of 141 Comcast Corp lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
76 out of 103 Wal-Mart Stores lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
22 out of 30 Monsanto Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs



69 out of 109 Lockheed Martin lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
40 out of 51 Honeywell International lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
51 out of 67 Raytheon Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
96 out of 133 General Dynamics lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
32 out of 49 Northrop Grumman lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
83 out of 115 Boeing Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs

Now who can we indict first?


How can this problem be dealt with?


How can a group of organized criminals( the US senate, congress and president) pass laws to cease their criminal enterprise?

There NOT going to do that! So the first thing to do is try to awaken the sleeping populace running around heralding these criminals as if they were good people.

a reply to: Willtell

I agree that government is a scam, it always has been.

I don't hear anyone saying that it should be neutered though.

I only ever seem to hear that some new political strain will somehow overcome this inherent flaw.

Are you recommending to vote libertarian?

That’s all we can do right now to stop this crime amongst us.

The people don’t even realize their life is being run by criminals on the par with the mafia and international drug dealers.

They lie, steal, and get caught and yet a great portion of the American people still think many of these crooked politicians are heroes.

How wealthy is Congress?

The average estimated personal wealth of congressional members far exceeds the average American's wealth, according to Dave Levinthal, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics. "We're talking orders of magnitude," he said -- people with assets in the high six figures in the House and even higher in the Senate.

The Center regularly goes through the time-consuming process of reviewing congressional financial disclosure reports -- which are only filed on paper -- and publishing the information in a reader-friendly online format. Their work has shown that, besides a slight dip between 2007 and 2008, Congress' personal wealth has continued to rise.

www.cbsnews.com...

"Most Americans are being represented by people who, any way you cut it, are in the elite of the financial elite," Levinthal said.

And as congress persons these people are literally BRIBED by lobbyists to vote favorable to their financial interests and NOTHING is ever done about it. Consequently this illegal system of extortion goes on and on and people think it's normal!

originally posted by: Willtell
They did it to the mob. They ran them practically out of NYC with indictments on the RICO statute of running a criminal enterprise.

Why isn’t the criminal government were getting not also a criminal enterprise? Why isn’t it exposed to the RICO statute?

Is a government some kind of divine group? I'll answer that, HELL NO!

The congress and president are both being bribed constantly by financial oligarchies, just look at the record of the massive lobbyist paying for favors. Is that not extortion?

Bill Clinton left the white house broke and now is a multi millionaire

Look at the record of the cabinet members of various administrations, where right after they leave government they ALL get lucrative employment with Wall street firms, think tanks, and corporations who had just been lobbying them( while they were in government) right before they retired from government.

THIS IS A SCAM...A LEGAL SCAM!
If this is not a criminal enterprise them the mafia isn’t either.

Look At the record, these politicians get paid millions of dollars working for these corporation RIGHT AFTER THEY LEAVE GOVERNMENT.

There not that damn smart!

No they get paid for their influence peddling.

Case in point number one:

Rahm Emanuel

Continued...

And especially GWB, Cheney and the cabinet, who not only lied about intelligence and misrepresented the threat Iraq posed to the US and implied Iraqi involvement in 9/11, but these people earned hundreds of Billions through their
business holdings in weapons, security, oil and telecommunication. There actions created a demand for business they put into place prior to unleashing their policies, war and surveillance on America.

Bill Clinton’s $80 Million Payday, or Why Politicians Don’t Care That Much About Reelection


People are deceived to think democrats are the good guys.

In theory of course they are better than the naked greed of the GOP but the fact is that BIll Clinton, the old country boy has filled his beak with legal bribery unlike anyone in recent history as well this man is responsible for the fleecing of the poorest Americans.

“There was a kind of inflection point during the five-year period between 1997 and 2003 — the late Clinton and/or early Bush administration — when all the rules just went away. You went from a period, a regime, where people did have at least some concern about going to jail, to a point where everything is legal, and derivatives couldn’t be regulated at all and nobody went to jail for anything. And looking back I would say that this period definitely started under Clinton. You absolutely cannot blame this on George W. Bush.” – Charles Ferguson of Inside Job

Yes indeed Bill Clinton is responsible for your broke as hell 401 k and the future financial rape that will occur soon.

On December 21, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a bill called the Commodities Futures Modernization Act. This law ensured that derivatives could not be regulated, setting the stage for the financial crisis. Just two months later, on February 5, 2001, Clinton received $125,000 from Morgan Stanley, in the form of a payment for a speech Clinton gave for the company in New York City. A few weeks later, Credit Suisse also hired Clinton for a speech, at a $125,000 speaking fee, also in New York. It turns out, Bill Clinton could make a lot of money, for not very much work.

Today, Clinton is worth something on the order of $80 million (probably much more, but we don’t really know), and these speeches have become a lucrative and consistent revenue stream for his family. Clinton spends his time offering policy advice, writing books, stumping for political candidates, and running a global foundation. He’s now a vegan. He makes money from books. But the speaking fee money stream keeps coming in, year after year, in larger and larger amounts.

Its not about getting elected all the time as I said. Its about access:

Most activists and political operatives are under a delusion about American politics, which goes as follows. Politicians will do *anything* to get reelected, and they will pander, beg, borrow, lie, cheat and steal, just to stay in office. It’s all about their job.This is 100% wrong. The dirty secret of American politics is that, for most politicians, getting elected is just not that important. What matters is post-election employment

Yes indeed, as this implies, when they get out of office they can become a complete whore.

Legal and sustained extortion and influence peddling is the road to financial nirvana. Bill Clinton, this greedy vegan is the prime example of a bought and paid for whore who is an example to the youthful whores coming up in politics today. So the future is bleak.

Corruption used to be more overt. Lyndon Johnson made money while in office, by illicitly garnering lucrative FCC licenses. It was the first neoliberal President, Jimmy Carter, who began the post-career payoff trend in the Democratic Party. In 1978, Archer Daniels Midland CEO Dwayne Andreas convinced Carter to back ethanol subsidies. After Carter lost to Reagan, he faced financial problems, as his peanut warehouse had been mismanaged and was going bankrupt. AMD stepped in, overpaying for the property. But Carter wasn’t nearly as skilled as Clinton, because he didn’t stay in the club.

www.nakedcapitalism.com...

People we need a new awakening in this country.

A new movement between the tea party and Occupy Wall Street

Who is only interested in cleaning up the criminal enterprise that exists in modern politics?


Totally making it illegal for a past politician to even work for any of these greedy corporations.


Limits on what a president can make after he leaves office


The separation of the justice department from the politics of the country


Limits on what congress people can make after they leave office


Total l elimination of ALL lobbyists…Lobbying congress or a president should be a crime


The return of the Glass Steagall act where the separation of investment and loan banking is put back into law.

Banks are not allowed to gamble with your savings again

a reply to: Willtell

Your post made me wonder what our recently defeated democratic senator from Ar. is doing after his defeat by Tom Cotton. The information I found does not imply any nefarious activities on his part but his current occupation does seem to fit well here.

He took a position with a Washington DC legal and lobbying firm, Venable LLP, where he is a member of Venable's Legislative and Government Affairs and Regulatory practices. What??? Legislative and Government Affairs and Regulatory practices??????


The Honorable Mark L. Pryor
Partner
[email protected] V-Card

Former U.S. Senator Mark Pryor is a member of Venable's Legislative and Government Affairs and Regulatory practices. From 2003 to 2015, Senator Pryor represented Arkansas in the United States Senate with a strong commitment to issues directly affecting his constituents including communications, Internet, privacy, cybersecurity, aviation, automotive, consumer protection and agriculture. Senator Pryor is uniquely positioned to counsel clients on a wide variety of top issues at the intersection of law, policy and business.

www.venable.com...

originally posted by: jacobe001

Our government, rather than serving the interests of all Americans. has been turned into a money making machine for politicians and their corporate cronies.

Ever since it was taken over by corporations 40 years ago, this is what corporate lobbyists have brought us:
NAFTA
GATT
China Trade
TPP
Bank Bailouts
Obamacare

www.opensecrets.org...

REVOLVING DOOR

Here are your politicians and lobbyists

35 out of 40 Goldman Sachs lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
53 out of 61 Citigroup Inc lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
58 out of 69 JPMorgan Chase & Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
20 out of 25 Morgan Stanley lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs


85 out of 114 General Electric lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
36 out of 48 Koch Industries lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
116 out of 141 Comcast Corp lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
76 out of 103 Wal-Mart Stores lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
22 out of 30 Monsanto Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs



69 out of 109 Lockheed Martin lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
40 out of 51 Honeywell International lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
51 out of 67 Raytheon Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
96 out of 133 General Dynamics lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
32 out of 49 Northrop Grumman lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs
83 out of 115 Boeing Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs

Why would you expect lobbyists not to have worked in the government. Rule one of a lobbyists is you have to know people. I'm surprised the number isn't higher actually.

Each state needs to make lobbying illegal . get every1 in office out. go back to paper ballots. police and military that are good (believe in upholding the constitution) need to help the citizens of U.S.A. get our country from these corporations. I believe there is only so much that the good people of this country will take. how long will we put up with this. our water ,food, jobs are the worst ever. I AM SOOOO TIRED OF JUST WATCHING!!! I am a 52 yr old women and i want a decent country for my grandchildren. Clean water and food. A country whos elected officials care about its people. I cant even get the REAL info about what our country is REALLY doing unless i watch news from obscure sites on the internet. WHY ARE WE NOT DISASIMBALING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS in USA??? Are we waitn for Fukishima here??? WHY ARE WE BRINGING MEN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES WHO HATE WOMEN??? LAW OFFICIALS AND MILITARY PERSONAL PLEASE HEAR YOUR COUNTRIES CRIES FOR CHANGE!!! Im ready to make it happen. make ur move gentleman im a GRANDMA THATS READY TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS!!!!! THERE DOESNT NEED TO BE RACE WARS HERE WE ALL NEED TO FOCUS ON GETTING THESE PUNK POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE!!! any ideas ????

originally posted by: dragonridr


Why would you expect lobbyists not to have worked in the government. Rule one of a lobbyists is you have to know people. I'm surprised the number isn't higher actually.

The number is much higher, that was just a small sample.
The problem is the conflict of interests involved and the subsequent examples of that corruption stretch from here to the moon.

a reply to: carmilly123

Each state needs to make lobbying illegal .

Good idea.
Oh wait. There's that pesky 1st amendment. You know. The one that allowed civil rights lobbying in the 60s.

a reply to: Phage

1st amendment? did i use the wrong word? Im talkn about money given to politicians from anyone for use to use for campaigns. I may b ignorant but why does the candidate with most money backing make president?? why do the candidates get to pick the journalist the want to ask question??

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: carmilly123

Each state needs to make lobbying illegal .

Good idea.
Oh wait. There's that pesky 1st amendment. You know. The one that allowed civil rights lobbying in the 60s.

It does not mention anything about money trading hands.
What we have today is legalized bribery.
They can do like the civil rights did and hit the pavement with a picket sign.
It will be a fine day when I see a wall street banker walking down the street with a picket sign instead of shoveling money into politicians coffers.

a reply to: carmilly123

1st amendment? did i use the wrong word?

You tell me. You said "lobbying."

I may b ignorant but why does the candidate with most money backing make president??

Do they? Did Obama have more backing than Romney? Well, actually he did, by a bit. If you don't count superpacs. I don't know why people fall for campaign advertising, though. 1st amendment.

why do the candidates get to pick the journalist the want to ask question??

Why not? If they just pick the friendly reporters, it's pretty obvious what's going on. 1st amendment.

But none of that has anything to do with lobbying, which also falls under the 1st amendment.