Tuesday, November 22, 2011

How legalized bribery controls government decisions - Great 6 min. video

 How legalized bribery controls government decisions - Great 6 min. video
Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff (who spent time in prison after
pleading guilty to corrupting public officials) exposed how the
U.S. government is legally corrupted.
 
Call it 'How To Buy a Congressman 101'...
 
 

Jack Abramoff, the notorious former lobbyist
 at the center of Washington's biggest 
corruption scandal in decades, spent more 
than three years in prison for his crimes.
 
Now a free man, he reveals how he was able 
to influence politicians and their staffers through
 generous gifts and job offers. He tells Lesley 
Stahl the reforms instituted in the wake of his 
scandal have had little effect.
 

Jack Abramoff: The lobbyist's playbook
Original 60 Minutes 15 min. video & transcript
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57319075/jack-abramoff-the-lobbyists-playbook/
 
 
Our system is flawed and needs to be fixed.
The reforms don't work because the people who 
make the reforms are the ones who benefit from
the corruption.
 
The most important reform would be to prohibit members 
of Congress and their staff from ever being lobbyists.
 
The "best way" to get a congressional office to do his 
bidding - he says - was to offer a staffer a job that could 
triple his salary.
 
Abramoff: When we would become friendly with an office 
and they were important to us, and the chief of staff was
 a competent person, I would say or my staff would say 
to him or her at some point, "You know, when you're done 
working on the Hill, we'd very much like you to consider 
coming to work for us." Now the moment I said that to 
them or any of our staff said that to 'em, that was it. We 
owned them. And what does that mean? Every request
 from our office, every request of our clients, everything that 
we want, they're gonna do. And not only that, they're gonna
 think of things we can't think of to do.
 

Action:
Finally, here's a way to end the ridiculous idea that 
corporations are people. For the first time ever, an 
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would end 
corporate personhood (and overturn Citizens United) 
has just been introduced in Congress.
 

Show your support by signing petition at:
http://j.mp/OurRights

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