04-08-2021, 10:47 AM
(04-08-2021, 10:21 AM)hollodero Wrote: What does 50/50 mean? As in I'm a sugar lobbyist (or whatever group) and don't get my policy wishes in 50% of cases?
This for me is hard to take as an argument that influence of money in politics is not that big of a deal. I find it hard to determine how such a split would play out if there's no money involved. Might be be 80/20 or 100/0.
I mean, if it weren't a thing, why would all the interests groups and lobbyists even still spend that much money. They'd realize it's futile after some decades if it really were futile.
What I mean by 50/50 is that when policy decisions were studied, the side with lobbyists spending more money won about 50% of the time, meaning that money spent did not really affect policy outcomes. The reason for this is that throughout the research on money in Congress, it was seen that money doesn't ever really sway opinions. Groups spend money on the officials they are already in agreement with. It doesn't move the needle.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
