Matt Gaetz Under Investigation

[Belsnickel]

(04-08-2021, 10:59 AM)Au165 Wrote: Do you have this research? I'd like to study methodology because I have a hard time believing the money would keep getting spent if they were not receiving favorable results that they otherwise didn't think they could get. In reality, I think lobbying results in getting pork added to legislation that people wouldn't otherwise worry about doing. You can agree on basic things and give money to people who agree with you, but when a special provision ends up in a bill with hundreds of pages to give a tax break to let's say cross-fit studios (hyperbolic example here) do we think the person who added that would have done so otherwise if they weren't paid? Do we think they would be that worried about a very specific carve-out to make sure it got in? I don't at all.

Generally speaking, if a gun lobbyist gives money to pro-gun members that makes sense. It is when you see very specific legislation that gets hidden in bills that has links back to donors you get a feeling it goes beyond common beliefs.

I do have the research, but it is a book. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo6683614.html

Here is a good high level summary of some of the findings, though:


The main thing the research has all pointed to is that money buys access. The more money you spend the more likely you are to get a meeting with the Chief of Staff or the elected official, themselves. I'm fortunate that while this isn't my area of expertise, I work alongside someone for whom this is. He was a grad assistant for this book and has written several himself since then. The allies are more about these revolving door lobbyist types, FWIW, as well as being allied with the gatekeepers like high-ranking officials, i.e. Speaker and Majority Leader.