I just heard Kerry say that lobbyists "wrote" the medicare bill. True?

[RandomKoolzip]

Is that true? I hadn't heard that the Lobbyists for the health care industry were that intimately involved with writing legislation. What happened? I'm clueless about this.

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. Don't lobbyists write most of them?

;)

[Gman]

2. You're kidding, right?

In these days of the GOP dominance, lobbyists write everthing except maybe bills that rename a post office or other federal building. Unless, of course, someone stands to make a buck off these renaming, then the lobbyists write the legislation.

[RandomKoolzip]

3. I wasn't aware that lobbyists actually "wrote" the bills.

I'm as cynical as the next guy, and as aware as anyone that lobbyist weild far too much power, but it's always been my impression that the language in the bill is up to the legislators themselves. I mean, if that's true, why bother with the charade of going through the House? Just let the president just let the lobbyists rewrite the constitution?

Shit, I've been so naive....

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. People like the illusion that someone represents their interests

There is another thread that gets into illusions and politics here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=988604

[tom_paine]

6. Yeah, Lobbyists have been wriitng Bushevik bills since at least 1994

http://www.olympus.net/community/quafco/news0996.htm

It has to be 20 times worse now.

Unquestionably.

[revcarol]

4. You are SURPRISED?

After the energy folks wrote the energy bill?

I bet if you examined the notes of the lobbyists from the pharmaceutical and HMO industries, you would even find the same sections and phrasing.

[Cheesehead]

7. Don't forget the "think tankers"

What the lobbyists don't write, the think tankers do.

[Shananigans]

8. They write them all!

I remember the first time I ever shadowed a lobbyist...he went into a Senator's office, asked him to sponsor a bill and the Senator asked him what the bill said...so the lobbyist pulls it out already written! They sat down, made a few small changes and whooola!
Done!

It's amazing! It is kind of scary, but in all reality, where would they get the staff to write all their own bills? It takes hours...days...the big ones even weeks!

[onecitizen]

9. Of course it's true.........

you don't doubt it do you? The lobbyists write all the bills for the GOP.

[Hamlette]

13. they write all the bills for both parties

in state government too. If we want an amendment to our law (welfare and unemployment) we write it, find a sponsor, send it to legislative research (they tweek it, cross reference it) and it goes up for vote.

It's honestly better this way. The people in our state legislature are not informed enough to write techincal stuff.

[imhotep]

10. Why didn't Kerry show up to vote against it then?

He needs to shut his fucking trap.

[Monte Carlo]

11. Because he had already led a filibuster attempt against it...

... that didn't get enough votes, so why be there formalizing a loss when there's campaigning to be done?

[maxanne]

14. because it's his job

to be there to vote? Because symbolicly it was the right thing to do, and by not doing so he lost a great deal of support.

If he had any leadership skills, he could have turned some of the Dems who voted for it - like Feinstein - who is on his steering committee for cryin out loud.

[jpgray]

12. He led the only effort against the bill that would make any difference

I'm not Kerry-pumper, but some people show a profound ignorance of how Congress actually works, or else they just want to take a crap on somebody.

[onecitizen]

15. Amen........

Lieberman didn't vote either! Swine that they are.

[PVnRT]

16. Lobbyists pretty much write most bills

It's a sad fact of life, but there is. Kerry is dead-on right about this - lobbyists for pharm companies pretty much wrote all of it.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

17. The beauty of this administration is

not only do lobyists work to write the bills - lobyists are put in charge of departments of government. Have a former energy CEO become VP and write the legislature. Put a former mining/oil/cattle industry lobbyist as the secretary of the interior etc (http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0109-07.htm). It's brilliant!

[RandomKoolzip]

18. Not only that, but...

The corporations will hire their OWN (paid-off) regulators, thank you very much!

The new algebra of monopoly: Laissez-faire=capatalism+"rugged individuality"=corporate fascism