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The "vast majority" overstates it big time, but @DanRiffle is speaking truth to power & the truth hurts. 1 reason why drug companies, Wall Street & corporations have such a stranglehold over Congress is because it's far too easy for top staff & MOC to get jobs on K Street. 1/11
I’ve worked on the Hill since ’97 and I have seen far too many staffers of both parties who have gone on to lobby for:
- Bank of America
- Goldman Sachs
- Pfizer
- PhRMA
- Disney
- Google
This is a big reason Congress rigs the rules for the rich & powerful. 2/11
- Bank of America
- Goldman Sachs
- Pfizer
- PhRMA
- Disney
This is a big reason Congress rigs the rules for the rich & powerful. 2/11
I remember bumping into a former Hill staffer several years ago who became a lobbyist for Goldman Sachs. He told me his job was “to teach Lloyd Blankfein how to speak progressive.” He was obviously not very good at that particular job. 3/11
This isn’t anecdotal. 40% of senior staff & 30% of the lawmakers who wrote Dodd-Frank have gone on to work for or on behalf of the financial industry. Nearly 340 former Hill staff work for pharmaceutical companies or their lobbying outfits. 4/11 washingtonpost.com/business/econo…
Anyone who nods when Sen. Durbin says “The banks are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place,” or when Sen. Sanders says “Congress doesn’t regulate Wall Street; Wall Street regulates Congress,” shouldn’t be shocked by what Dan is saying. 5/11
I’ll never forget attending a meeting of staffers during the ’08 financial crisis. I suggested writing a letter calling for the resignation of every big bank CEO who got bailed out. The response: We can’t do that. The CEO of Wells Fargo is our friend. 6/11
Many of us are also disgusted that former “democratic” White House aides are working for insurance & drug companies & lobbying against #MedicareForAll. How do you expect to guarantee healthcare as a right, if you feel obliged not to offend them? 7/11 theslot.jezebel.com/these-are-the-…
An unwritten rule in many Hill offices is to rarely, if ever, attack specific companies or billionaires by name. Saying drug prices are high is ok, but naming the companies responsible or favoring policies to bring prices down is bad. They could be your future employer. 8/11
The overwhelming majority of Americans want us to increase taxes on the rich and powerful & take on the greed of Wall Street, big oil, big pharma & big outsourcers - to do that we’ve got to get big money out of politics. Yep. Every Wall Street lobbyist is a policy failure. 9/11
And, no, taking money from big banks does not make you a better regulator. At best, it makes you an accomplice to a rigged system that makes the rich richer and everyone else poorer. 10/11 politico.com/magazine/story…
Having said all of that I could not be prouder of our staff and the many other bright and dedicated staffers in the House and the Senate who do amazing work against the odds. Being a Hill staffer can be an enormously stressful and thankless job. Carry on. 11/11
