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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsReal or fake? Either way forthcoming book from Congressman "X" is already roiling D.C.
Get ready to shatter all your idealistic illusions about how government works.
A forthcoming book called The Confessions of Congressman X, purportedly written by a sitting (and rumored to be Democratic) congressman, promises to be an anonymous revelation of everything terrible you've always suspected about America's representatives in Washington. Choice quotes about Congress include:
"Most of my colleagues are dishonest career politicians who revel in the power and special-interest money that's lavished upon them."
"My main job is to keep my job, to get reelected. It takes precedence over everything."
"Fundraising is so time consuming I seldom read any bills I vote on. Like many of my colleagues, I don't know how the legislation will be implemented, or what it'll cost."
But voters aren't spared his poison pen, either:
"The average man on the street actually thinks he influences how I vote. Unless it's a hot-button issue, his thoughts are generally meaningless. I'll politely listen, but I follow the money."
<snip>
http://theweek.com/speedreads/623969/anonymous-congressman-just-published-shocking-book-confirming-worst-fears-about-congress
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KPN
(15,645 posts)
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)
HuskyOffset
(888 posts)
Kablooie
(18,634 posts)certainot
(9,090 posts)at a cheap $1000/hr x 15hrs/day x 1200 stations, rw talk radio is worth 4.68 BIL$/ year or 390MIL$ /month FREE for coordinated global warming denial, pro republican wall st think tank propaganda, free market deregulation bullshit, swiftboating, and the hate and fear used to get people to vote republican.
this is why trump beat the PAC money against him
in a system still pretending to be a democracy a politician has to be able to point to a constituency, real or created, to enable their actions. that's a big part of what that money does - create and mobilize/control made to order constituencies - often called the tea party or dittoheads or the republican base - same thing - for any occasion - to cheer a war, beat down the public option, or scream at officials trying to sort out republican election theft.
it is useless for the left/ dems to get hyped up about money in politics and getting out while ignoring the main reason dems haven't been able to get money out of politics!
money is free speech! and corporations are people! that's what that $390 MIL/MONTH has been selling for 25 years!
until that is fixed the bernies and warrens and wellstones will be exceptions rather than the norm, and they won't get shit done even if they win.
and nearly half of those limbaugh stations would go broke if they couldn't piggyback these 90 major universities - while we complain about money in politics!
Akicita
(1,196 posts)to overthrow the establishment who are in the pockets of the one percent. That's what the RW did and it worked despite all the hundreds of millions of one percenter establishment money spent to stop them. Unfortunately for them, and possibly us, they nominated a nut like Trump. Who knows what he'll do if elected.
On our side we have come close to overthrowing the one percenter establishment candidate as well. We did it not by denying any free speech but by uniting behind a movement and a candidate who puts the people before the oligarchs.
The RW has shown that ideas can beat money. The establishment has been blindsided and are in a panic.
Same on our side except our ideas are sane and it looks like the establishment might be able to hold on and run out the clock. I think we started rallying behind Bernie a little too late.
But we've been shown the path forward and now we know that ideas can beat money if we unite. We need to fight just as hard for candidates at all levels of government and put the power back in the hands of the people.
Our hearts should be warmed because now we know we can do it, despite all the money spent to stop us.
silvershadow
(10,336 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)What people need is a high-quality book explaining how Congress actually functions, including during the current mess we have allowed it to sink into. The mess is not the entirety, nor are some "breathtakingly ignorant" legislators, though pretending so might help a book sell well.
Check out this one: Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving by Adler and Wilkerson, $17 used on Amazon. (And it's only 259 pages...not a behemoth.)
That Congress can and does function even in its dreadfully dysfunctional current form says something quite wonderful about our democracy, that it is much stronger and more functional than our current whiny, dispirited imaginings realize.
Some reviews and description:
"Adler and Wilkerson provide an insightful analysis in Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving that offers a more complex view of Congress than the one-dimensional critique we typically get from the press. They discuss institutional practices and processes that drive congressional problem solving and why members of Congress continue to perpetuate them. Although this appears to be the most partisan and dysfunctional Congress in memory, Adler and Wilkerson demonstrate that Democrats and Republicans in Congress are capable of cooperating when they need to." - Representative Henry A. Waxman, 30th Congressional District of California
"Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving is the first serious rethinking of the role and operation of Congress in twenty years or more. It has the potential of encouraging congressional scholars to rethink many of the 'givens' in the field, and will be widely cited and adopted in courses. Additionally, it will be warmly regarded by public policy scholars and by practitioners and any who care about the operation of Congress." - Bryan Jones, J. J. "Jake" Pickle Regents Chair in Congressional Studies, University of Texas at Austin
"This book is the culmination of an enormous effort by the authors, stretching over many years, to collect relevant data on the law-making process and to use the data to address important theoretical issues. The results are impressive. Every congressional researcher will want to read and understand the arguments and evidence the authors marshal, and students will benefit greatly from having this book assigned in class." - David W. Rohde, Ernestine Friedl Professor of Political Science, Duke University
"In the end, I hope and expect that Adler and Wilkerson's challenging study will be widely read. A book that forces us to think hard about how we approach the study of Congress does not come along very often." Paul J. Quirk, Congress and the Presidency
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)I while back, DU JoePhilly wrote a post, something to the effect of:
Convince the people that Democrats equal Republicans ...
Convince the people that government doesn't work ...
Convince the people that democracy is dead ...
The oligarchy is established.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)wish you hadn't. Scarily poignant.
Joe Philly's name reminded me of another line, which I managed to turn up on googling, "DU's Combustible Hair Club is now in session." That was from an unfortunate thread some time ago, but it is so apt so terribly often. 
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Joe Philly has posted so many Spit Coffee On The Keyboard posts.
My all time favorite was in a thread about the constant DU prognostications that President Obama secretly wants(ed) to cut Social Security. JP pain-stalking detailed all the things that President Obama had done, and then wrote: "{something to the effect of} he did all of that to lull us into a false sense of security, all so that, 'BAM Grandma's off the cliff!!!'."
I love that guy! 
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Laughing feels goood! 
AgerolanAmerican
(1,000 posts)this looks like it will confirm my view rather than shatter anything
billhicks76
(5,082 posts)Hillary may have some soft social views but she's as corrupt and war mongering as any Republican. Not something I want my kids to aspire to.
villager
(26,001 posts)...who crave instant gratification."
KPN
(15,645 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)It's an except from the book.
KPN
(15,645 posts)Response to cali (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
disillusioned73
(2,872 posts)
shocked I tell you!!! I hope there is a lot more in detail specifics if they expect it to become a "best seller"..
Who in their right mind doesn't already know this??
OwlinAZ
(410 posts)Yet we keep voting for Congressmen and Presidential candidates exactly as described in the book.
The follow up should be a book about the corrupt media.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)…..is dead.
We need a rebirth.
Skwmom
(12,685 posts)AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Only the stupid and self interested donate money in politics.
20score
(4,769 posts)With Bernie Sanders being a notable exception. That's why he has gained so much support, even with corporate money, the media and the entire Democratic power structure working against him.
It's one of those times when it's good versus evil, in the most obvious sense.
Jitter65
(3,089 posts)His way in will be the money he makes AFTER the convention and after he resumes private life. Books, TV appearances, speeches...yes even on Wall Street.
20score
(4,769 posts)contradicted by over a lifetime of evidence to the contrary, should make any thinking person cringe.
The fact that you say it will such confidence, assures me that you won't be bothered in the least.
Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)
Response to Ferd Berfel (Reply #10)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)before he made this statement.
Raster
(20,998 posts)...because this Commander and Chief did not toe the line. The Princes of Petroleum and the Lords of Money deemed him a one-term POTUS and *actively* worked to supplant his Presidential authority... that is, until they could get their puppet-man into position... What A Surprise!
Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)with Clinton and Bernie?
Raster
(20,998 posts)...even gets his foot in the door.
KPN
(15,645 posts)"Poor Jimmy, a man ahead of his time
In a country always looking backwards ...'
KansDem
(28,498 posts)"... his thoughts are generally meaningless."
I've felt this was the case for a couple of decades now. I laugh whenever I receive an email about participating in my senator(s) "online town hall" or asking for my opinion on a current matter. I think, "Yeah, sure...like you care!"
Hell, one of my senators lives in Virginia! How can he live in Virginia and represent Kansas? Then I remember: Koch headquarters is located in Wichita.
Oh, yeah...I forgot...
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Used to do Town Halls via Phone that our Congressman would hold. Submitted questions a few times,what a laugh. His P.R. aide would preselect the persons the persons and questions days in advance. After a few of these so called Town Meetings,did a bit of checking as to their motive,in most cases,the answered caller was a relative,former or State Aide,or Lawyer Friend. The Duufus was a Dino anyway,and he refused to meet with our County Democratic Club. Always sent his Field Operations Duufus,and a excuse he had a last minute meeting on some Bill that Mr. Obama wanted,and he was their to make sure it had a Conservative Democrats View. In other words,the Blue Dogs were about to kill it.
St Aug girl
(29 posts)W's presidency when flooding a Congressman's office with phone calls started having zero effect on how he voted.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)
TBF
(32,058 posts)you will know it's absolutely true. And the carnage spills on both sides of the aisle.
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)He's on the take just like most Congresscritters and too busy arranging to be bribed to be an informed representative of his district. He'll do this as long as we let him.
We really need to take away his power. We need to stop assuming that our individual Congressman is any better than the one in the next district, even though they may be of different parties.
Mob rule? I think a mob can rule better than self-appointed oligarchs.
villager
(26,001 posts)So it's been quite awhile since "healthy" applied, as an adjective.
mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)With his union local visiting his reps. They had lunch in the House cafeteria and noticed they paid no tax on their bill. My son brought this up with his rep's aide, who was shocked, I tell ya, and promised to " check that out."
I have no more hope.
Response to mountain grammy (Reply #17)
Ruby the Liberal This message was self-deleted by its author.
1939
(1,683 posts)The federal government is exempt from any DC government levies or taxes on their DC operations, in turn, the feds provide a lump sum of money every year to support the operations of DC. It is sort of a kabuki dance.
zeemike
(18,998 posts)There was a Eddie Murphy movie called The Distinguished Gentleman that told the same thing back in 92...about a small time crook who accidentally got elected to congress.
Showed how things work.
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)Would have put the kids in the wife's civics classes light years ahead as to reality. 
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Not all entertainments have to be for the kids.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)But where she taught (now retired, thank god!) they still showed "I'm just a BILL" or whatever that animated tool is called. I think kids can handle something grittier these days. Wouldn't hurt if we turned out more skeptics instead of sheeple.
Moostache
(9,895 posts)Still makes me chuckle that they got the same voice actor (or a damn good impersonator) as the "I'm Just a Bill" original...
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)Thing is, it would take just one irate, holy roller parent hearing that her little darling had been exposed to profanity by an uncaring faculty member to bring the lawyers swarming with lawsuits in tow. One year, my wife was teaching Literature to 10th graders. She used the word "pshaw" and there were gasps from the roomful of students. They were certain they'd heard "piss off". And even tho she assured them she hadn't said that - the next day she was called to the office to explain. Seems that two of her darlings had gone home and told their parents about that horrible utterance they'd been subjected to. The parents called the school to complain.
No, you can stand on campus and hear the works of four-letter words and maybe even learn some new ones, but the faculties have to play by different rules.
CRH
(1,553 posts)a book supposedly written by a congressional insider while cloaked in anonymity. Without a name, the book could be written by anyone, and the information impossible to vet. Hell, it might as well be written by Trump!
Javaman
(62,530 posts)if they cared less about raising money and being reelected maybe, just maybe, not only would they actually do their jobs, but average people would run for office because it's a good thing to do, and not on a mission to line their pockets.
as it stands the average person doesn't stand a chance, thus we have no voice.
the moneyed interests control all.
FighttheFuture
(1,313 posts)The bureaucracy will still be running things and new congress critters will just shuffle in and out with no hope of any good ones getting in, learning the system and effecting what change they can over the years.
What you need is money out of politics and heavy restrictions of cross over between private and public sectors.
Also, federal funding of elections.
JI7
(89,249 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)
What we end up with, particularly in the Assembly, is a bunch of n00bs who are termed out as soon as they start learning how to do their jobs. (Most senators were termed-out assemblymembers.) So control ends up in the hands of career staffers -- and lobbyists.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Democat
(11,617 posts)Nothing about these quotes sounds like an insider.
Beartracks
(12,809 posts)
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)
Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)If such a book were written by a real, sitting congressman, it would gleefully be published by a real publishing house, who would pay the Congressman a hefty advance -- and not Mill City Press, a vanity press that charges authors $1,000+ to get their books into print and puts out such titles as the Sir Coffin Graves (really!) fantasy/horror series; a comprehensive history of Missouri marching bands; and the "unauthorized nonfiction narrative" classic, Gene Simmons: A Rock 'N Roll Journey in the Shadow of the Holocaust.
Unless it's Louis Gohmert. Mills City might be the best he could do.
cali
(114,904 posts)Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)HOPNOSH
(37 posts)Nothing more nothing less. An opinion.
ProfessorGAC
(65,013 posts)That's wholly illogical.
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,835 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)I'd almost guarantee it.
OwlinAZ
(410 posts)whatever his/her donors desire
brewens
(13,582 posts)but it goes something like this.
They pretty much all want the money. So the House whips go around and see who's planning on voting for or against. All those that really face no opposition being reelected will usually be voting yes. Then they kind of divvy up the no votes. As long as it's in the bag and a rep needs to be able to tell the folks back home he or she voted against it, they get to vote no. So we end up with our Congressthing telling us they voted no, when they wanted the raise and knew they were getting it all along.
surrealAmerican
(11,360 posts)... regardless of whether this is an actual congressional Representative, or a fictional re-creation of one.
I hope it's a real one. "Truthiness" should not be needed for such an exposé.
RATM435
(392 posts)
MADem
(135,425 posts)I can think of a few former congressmen who have time on their hands. I'll bet they're pissed that they didn't think of this!!!
I doubt it's a Senator who wrote this. It's probably a member of the House, so that means there are 193 suspects, assuming this person IS a Democrat.
I found another article on the same topic: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3586858/Screw-generation-Anonymous-congressman-writes-tell-slams-nation-naive-self-absorbed-sheep-admits-never-reads-bills-votes-on.html
'Screw the next generation' and 'Harry Reid's a pompous a**': Democratic congressman writes Anonymous tell-all book slamming 'nation of naive, self-absorbed sheep' as he admits he never reads bills he votes on
'My main job is to keep my job, to get reelected. It takes precedence over everything,' an anonymous member of Congress writes in a new book
'Voters are incredibly ignorant and know little about our form of government and how it works,' he writes
'It's far easier than you think to manipulate a nation of naive, self-absorbed sheep who crave instant gratification'
The author is a Democrat in Congress who laid out his complaints to a long-time friend and former Capitol Hill staffer who edited them into a book
'The Confessions of Congressman X' will be released May 24 by a small Minnesota-based 'vanity press' publisher
The 84-page exposé is due in bookstores in two weeks, and Washington is abuzz with speculation about who may be behind it.
The book, a copy of which DailyMail.com has seen, discloses that the congressman is a Democrat – but not much else.
The anonymous spleen-venter has had a lot to say about his constituents, however.
Robert Atkinson, a former chief of staff and press secretary for two congressional Democrats, took notes on a series of informal talks with him – whoever he is – and is now publishing them with his permission.
'Voters claim they want substance and detailed position papers, but what they really crave are cutesy cat videos, celebrity gossip, top 10 lists, reality TV shows, tabloid tripe, and the next f***ing Twitter message,' the congressman gripes in the book.
'I worry about our country's future when critical issues take a backseat to the inane utterings of illiterate athletes and celebrity twits.'
Much of what's in the book will come as little surprise to Americans who are cynical about the political process.
'Fundraising is so time-consuming I seldom read any bills I vote on,' the anonymous legislator admits. 'I don't even know how they'll be implemented or what they'll cost.'
'My staff gives me a last-minute briefing before I go to the floor and tells me whether to vote yea or nay. How bad is that?'
And on controversial bills, he says, 'I sometimes vote "yes" on a motion and "no" on an amendment so I can claim I'm on either side of an issue.'
'It's the old shell game: if you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em.'
This won't go over well here:
The GOP have their crazy wingnuts, and we have our loony leftists. Screw them both. What we need are more common-sense lawmakers. Folks who see both sides of an issue. Who are open to accommodating each other's priorities. Today, both sides assume their views are the only logical ones.'
'I'm concerned my party has an activist far-left wing intolerant of center-leftists. Like the Republican Tea Party, these ideologues are much too rigid and extreme in their beliefs. And they're equally unappealing to mainstream Americans.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3586858/Screw-generation-Anonymous-congressman-writes-tell-slams-nation-naive-self-absorbed-sheep-admits-never-reads-bills-votes-on.html#ixzz48TNESq7w
So much for that whole "Speak truth to power" bullshit. If you want to get something done,
on the right CHIEF OF STAFF, not the principal. Of course, this really isn't news, either.
PufPuf23
(8,774 posts)Hope he names names in DC and the hop toads drool all over themselves.
CanonRay
(14,101 posts)and I am not shocked a bit.
bkkyosemite
(5,792 posts)are what keeps him safe!!!
Call an exterminator.
valerief
(53,235 posts)kadaholo
(304 posts)...maybe this will do it!
"Most of my colleagues are dishonest career politicians who revel in the power and special-interest money that's lavished upon them."
"The average man on the street actually thinks he influences how I vote. Unless it's a hot-button issue, his thoughts are generally meaningless. I'll politely listen, but I follow the money."“All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law.”
– Theodore Roosevelt 1905
“Members of the legislature, people who have run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed."
– Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"Each time a lobbyist or special interest makes a political contribution to a public servant, a debt is created. Lobbyists are very adept at collecting these debts. Unfortunately, the true debtor on these obligations is the American people."
— Jack Abramoff (one who should certainly know!)
"Washington is like a strip club. You’ve got people tossing dollars, and people doing the dance."
— Mike Huckabee
Reminds me of some of our candidates running for the US Presidency in 2016... It's time for the "dance" to end...!!!
cloudbase
(5,513 posts)
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Last edited Thu May 12, 2016, 08:17 PM - Edit history (1)
but not to put his or her name by it...
Yeah, call out the fucking beltway all you want, but at the end of the day, you still want to play in the treehouse with all the other kiddies and stay on the gravy train as long as it's rolling...
We both know this author is making the transition to K Street once his/her term is over, since god forbid he/she get a *real* job afterwards...
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)The point is to stay close to power and resources. Fuck everything else.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)themselves is political suicide.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)if this person is mad enough to complain, but not mad enough to actually DO something about it...
Philly-Union-Man
(79 posts)This just a big "duh" for those of us who were with OWS and support Sanders now.
1939
(1,683 posts)the founders knew what they were doing when they had the state legislatures select the senators. Maybe direct election as dictated by constitutional amendment was the wrong way to go. The horse trading in the legislatures to agree on a senatorial appointment might have produced centrists.
Term limits would work if we had "staff limits". A congressman would only get a legislative assistant and and handful of GS-4s to handle the mail. The legislative assistant MUST be a resident of his district and not a DC insider.
spanone
(135,831 posts)
TryLogic
(1,723 posts)FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)Cheap ass hack writer looking to cash in yet again with a bunch of cheap one liners about a thoroughly corrupt process many people already know about
Oh and Fuck You Congressman X
and the rest of your fucked up buddies
bottomofthehill
(8,329 posts)Sounds more like an article than a book
Todays_Illusion
(1,209 posts)There is so much wrong with this election year. The polls, the vote counting/registration problems. Unbelievable candidate from the most powerful political party, the peculiar campaign of the DNC, and so much more please add what you think. Disagreement welcome
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Alkene
(752 posts)it will be harsh language in uppercase- with a very small circulation.
I'm not holding my breath.
D.C. roiling?
Ha!
Just another SOP manual.
The_Commonist
(2,518 posts)...was telling John Oliver a few weeks ago:
bullsnarfle
(254 posts)to find that gambling is going on in here!"
Response to cali (Original post)
Odin2005 This message was self-deleted by its author.
NoMoreRepugs
(9,422 posts)nonsensical meme that both parties are the same and the left is just as bad as the loony Reich...
at least that's my take after only one cup of coffee
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)Shamelessly, cynical congressional opportunist who's only in it for the money aims to cash in by throwing shit anonymously at his cynical, fellow opportunists and the stupid sheep who elect assholes like him or her, and I'm supposed to buy his book to learn what I already know. Does that sound about right, or am I missing something?
Akicita
(1,196 posts)Look at all the money Hillary takes in. I'm convinced that when Hillary was in the Senate she didn't have a single thought about her own political advancement. She spent every single waking moment fighting for the every day Americans that made up her constituency. That's how she was so successful in not only getting a post office renamed, but also renaming a highway and a national historic site.
20score
(4,769 posts)Don't forget, she told Wall Street to, "Knock it off..."
You don't fight the system with that much intrepid intensity if money is a factor.
