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Princeton and Northwestern Universities concluded that the U.S. government represents not the interests of the majority of citizens but those of the rich and powerful. "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens" analyzed extensive data, comparing nearly 1,800 U.S. policies enacted between 1981 and 2002 with the expressed preferences of average and affluent Americans as well as special interest groups. The resulting data empirically verifies that U.S. policies are determined by the economic elite. "The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence...
I don't know the complete answer to that but I have heard:
- There was a case where a Congressional office issued a press release in MS word and forgot to strip the metadata. The press release was authored by lobbyists, in this case the American-Israel Public Affairs Council aka "the Israel Lobby" but I'm sure that they are not the only lobby. Lobbyists write a lot of the bills as well.
- Congressional staffers sometimes write bills on behalf of lobbyists, but no Congressmen actually writes any bill anymore.
- Someone who worked in a Congressional office told me that the Patriot Act was written by the DOJ. Some of these other bills are written by the agencies that will have the powers granted to them by the bill - NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST WHAT SO EVER, lol.
- People who work for the POTUS write bills that the POTUS then passes to his supporters in Congress to introduce. These might include people at the executive branch agencies who report up the tree to the POTUS, but you also have agencies that are pretty much rogue and have no oversight such as the FBI, NSA, CIA who may not be working at the behest of the POTUS at all.
The press release was authored by lobbyists, in this case the American-Israel Public Affairs Council aka "the Israel Lobby" but I'm sure that they are not the only lobby. Lobbyists write a lot of the bills as well.
patrick.net
An Antidote to Corporate Media
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