The Protection Game

In case you haven't figured it out yet, Congress has taken a page from the Mafia playbook. For years, one of the main sources of income for the Mafia has been the protection racket. They come in to a business and offer to provide protection from unforseen accidents like a burglary or fire. If the business owner refuses, he has a burglary or fire. The Mafia comes back and asks whether the business owner is ready to do business. This process repeats until the business owner capitulates.

The way this works in Congress is a senator or representative proposes a bill which will be detrimental to certain people. Sure enough, lobbyists come running with briefcases full of cash to persuade the sponsor to withdraw his legislation or to persuade others to vote and campaign against it. This is the point of this exercise. The sponsor never intended for the proposal to become law. He merely wanted to scare those who would be harmed by it into coughing up protection money. Judging from the amount of money raised by this tactic, it seems to work pretty well.

The opposite of this is to find a controversial cause that people are passionate about. You then propose amendments to unrelated legislation which these people will support. Again, those favoring your proposal will come running with briefcases full of cash to support their champion. Opponents of your proposal will also come running to persuade you to drop your proposal. They will also bring plenty of money to enhance their argument. Your fellow legislators might also offer you influential appointments if you will see the logic of their arguments.

Our government has now devolved into nothing more than a legalized protection racket. The point is not to serve the electorate. The point is to generate money and the power to generate more money. The only time the electorate gets any attention is when the legislator tells them his actions were driven by his concern for them. In reality, the last thing a legislator cares about is the voters. Unless they bring cash, of course.

Do you know who has bought your legislator? Do you care? You should.