Thomas Massie just explained a lobbying tactic so brazen it should be illegal. It’s not. And that’s the problem.
The US is deeply corrupt. The US congress is a legalised bribery machine. Lobbyists own congress with a smile and a cheque.
Thomas Massie recently revealed a lobbying tactic that sounds like it should be illegal, but isn’t. In fact, it’s business as usual in Washington.
“A lobbyist can’t buy me food, but I can go to lunch, pick up the tab, and the lobbyist can write me a $5,000 check to my campaign, and then my campaign can pay for the food.”
This isn’t some slip of the tongue. It’s the unspoken truth behind how power works in D.C. The law technically bans personal gifts, but campaign donations? Those are free-flowing. A lobbyist doesn’t need to sneak bribes, they just hand over campaign checks and let the politician’s fund foot the lunch bill.
And it doesn’t stop there.
“The lobbyists, when they give you money… they are giving you money from employees of that corporation who have pooled their money into a club or a group…”
In other words, corporations nudge their employees, often under pressure, to donate to political action committees (PACs). Those PACs funnel the money to politicians who then legislate in favor of those corporate interests.
It’s not a bribe. It’s a transaction. And it’s perfectly legal.
This isn’t a broken system. It’s a system built to serve the powerful, with just enough transparency to stay technically clean, but morally bankrupt.
At this point, pretending to be surprised feels naïve. Congress has become a showroom of polished corruption, a den of well-dressed liars and thieves doing business over lunch, all paid for by “campaign contributions.”
The American public deserves better. Just look at the orchestrated backlash against DOGE and Elon Musk. But until this system changes, don’t expect much more than smiles, handshakes, and quiet obedience to the highest bidder.
@GGTvStreams
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