Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Sure they do. You also need connected lobbists who understand how things work (which costs money), but the kickbacks ultimately are clearly worth it or they wouldn’t do it. American democracy is bought and sold to the highest bidder — the high end lobbists usually even write the bills that get voted on [1]!

Look how little Koch brothers pay to discredit most scientists and majorly influence the direction of this country:

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?cycle=2018&id=D0...

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2013/11/11/24397...




Your post suffers from major cognitive dissonance. The economy “is bought and sold to the highest bidder”—but the bids are so low! Total lobbying expenditures is under $3 billion per year, equivalent to just 48 minutes of annual US corporate profits. If lobbying results in such high returns, why do the Koch brothers have to spend so little money to get results? It’s not like there aren’t folks with money in the other side of those issues: certainly, plenty of folks who can spend a few million here and there.

Think about it: Top lobbying firms pull in under $50 million a year in revenue. If they were really controlling access to billions in government pork and favors, shouldn’t they be able to charge a lot more?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: