Richard Pryor, Moms Mabley and Redd Foxx all should have been politicians. None of them told a better joke than federal election officials did when they passed legislation that is supposed to protect American consumers against beast bankers, credit card companies and other financial predators!
Out of ten so-called “protections,” bank lobbyists found eight loopholes in the legislation before the bill went before Congress for final votes! During the last federal election, we heard a lot of campaign talk about how lobbyists would not be allowed to maintain their status quo.
Well, they’ve gotten better. Or, should I say, worse!
If the people want strong representation in Washington, D.C., perhaps they should elect lobbyists, because the elected public servants don’t vote for what is best, they vote for whatever their largest campaign contributors decide.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad with lobbyists. I used to be one before the blacks I helped get into the business went to my clients and told them lies such as, “Lucius had a heart attack,” or “Lucius hates white people,” in order to steal my business.
I don’t blame lobbyists, because lobbyists can’t vote on legislation. Lobbyists don’t turn their backs on the people who voted for them, and lobbyists have never broken one campaign promise.
Change, change, change is not a song by Aretha Franklin. Change is something that people you vote for care little or nothing about.
Let’s see: What can be done to change the grip lobbyists have on elected officials?
How about these ideas? First, legislators should be made to read every bill that comes before them. This would likely eliminate 2,000-page bills and stop politicians from saying, “I didn’t know that was in the bill. I didn’t know the legislation was bad for my constituents.”
Second, perhaps there should be a limit on the number of times registered and paid lobbyists can lobby elected officials on a single piece of legislation. This would eliminate companies like banks from hiring 100 people to request meetings or flood offices of public servants with duplicitous ramblings about terrible laws and amendments.
Third, how about requiring legislators to document for public record everyone to whom they speak about legislation?
This would show voters all of the people with whom public servants spend time. Do they spend more time discussing issues with their constituents, or with their political masters?
As I’ve said many times, be careful when a candidate for political office says he or she is for “change,” because most of the time he or she is lying.
Smart black people don’t want to change their elected officials; they want to change the way politicians do business!
Lucius Gantt is a political consultant based in Tallahassee. He is also the founder of All World Consultants and author of the book, Beast Too: Dead Man Writing. Contact him at www.allworldconsultants.net or call 850-222-3475. You can also find him on Facebook.
Info@AllWorldConsultants.net
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