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How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

washingtonpost.com

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Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#51

Post by alien_at_work »

stevenwoo wrote: post #6
Top19 wrote: post #2

The amount of corruption I’ve heard against US Senators is staggering. I had no idea stuff like this was done except maybe in some cartoon version of the 1870’s Gilded Age. Good example, Max Baucus shorted various financial companies for petty/risky wins as he was helping construct the 2008 bailout. He then later became the ambassador to China :( > Financial markets were experiencing the greatest volatility on record…

Congress specifically excluded themselves from insider trading laws. It's outrageous but that makes it pretty much a free for all for US congress folks to do insider trading. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-insiders-above-the-law...

I've often wondered about starting a fund where I simply follow any trades certain congress members are making. That's not insider info at that point, right? I guess this strategy can't work for some reason (or others would be exploiting it) but what is the reason? Time delay?

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#52

Post by _bfhp »

ainiriand wrote: post #44

What a piece of corrupt shit, pardon my french. I have a strong belief that US senators are, in its vast majority, completely innocent and this does a lot of harm to the 'clean' ones.

Barbara Lee was the only representative in Congress to vote against the 2001 AUMF

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#54

Post by learc83 »

propman wrote: post #8

Foreign influence in congress may not be the biggest threat to Democracy, but it is one of my biggest pet peeves. A country has vastly greater resources that any other individual, business or entitity. A foreign country's intentions are also potentially far more nefarious than a company lobbying to make more profit in a capatilistic system or an individual wanting government policies to be shaped more according to hi…

>This kind of reminds me how in one of the Wikileak emails, Clinton removed a country from a list of human rights violators for a mere donation.

This is just flat out wrong. There was a rumor going around that a donation got Algeria taken off of a list of state sponsors of terror.

The problem is that it was never on that list in the first place.

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#55

Post by RepressedEmu »

glenstein wrote: post #17
telltruth wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it looks like US Congress is dirt cheap. Just few thousand dollars to pass laws that would have massive impact! Top countries spend billions on military and trying to revive their economies. With a tiny fraction of that budget you can buy lots of US politicians legally and easily generate desired effect. The beauty of this whole thing is that everything is legal. Rich folks even made sure you can have unlimited…

I think it only looks dirt cheap if you're looking exclusively at campaign contributions. But the real influence of lobbying comes from managing entire networks of influence surrounding a person. A politician will suddenly know people who can help them manage their money, set their best friend up with investors so they can start their new business, help get their kid into the best school, help them find a lucrative c…

I guess thats like the difference between money and power. Money can make things happen but true power is about getting things that can't be bought.

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#56

Post by tw04 »

colanderman wrote: post #49
perseusprime11 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. This is how we are setup. U.S foriegn policy is important for trade, immigration, war, sanctions, etc. There is no other way to get your story through without lobbying.

Isn't that the purpose of diplomats? "The main functions of diplomats are: representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state; initiation and facilitation of strategic agreements; treaties and conventions; promotion of information; trade and commerce; technology" [1] Why are we permitting lobbyists to usurp this role? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomat

>Why are we permitting lobbyists to usurp this role?

Why do we allow lobbying to exist at all? Because politicians make the laws, and lobbyists enrich them. If someone said "hey, would you like to have other people give you free gifts every day, or would you like to make that illegal?" - what is your response going to be?

Lobbying will literally be the downfall of our democracy. Here's hoping other countries learn from that brutal mistake.

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#57

Post by verylongaccount »

Feniks wrote: post #32

The US has decided that its politicians are for auction. I don't see why its a problem if the bidding is from China instead of Comcast? Besides foreign governments have been lobbying in Washington for decades. There is a whole industry about it.

What particularly strikes me about this story is the highly selective concern. What about all the lobbying done by Israel and Saudi Arabia?

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#58

Post by candiodari »

What I thought was really funny was how the Clinton foundation lost pretty much all it's foreign funding in a matter of weeks after Hillary lost the election.

Who knew that even Australia, both the premier privately AND the government bribed the US president ?

I wonder what they pay for ...

http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/au...

Ukranian billionaires: (who, by the way definitely did not earn his wealth. In a way, this guy got it from Putin, or at least certainly approved by Putin)

http://prn.fm/clinton-foundations-deep-financial-ties-to-ukr...

Norway's government:

https://www.thelocal.no/20160704/norways-funding-of-clinton-...

Irish "businessman" (who got his wealth from government monopolies, I might add)

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/denis-o-brien-and-d...

Googling around you find many others, like the beheader-in-chief, the king of Saudi Arabia. Chinese politicians. More Russian oligarchs. Etc.

And here is what they paid for:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/emails-foundation-resource...

And VERY well paid jobs for the extended family:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/8561/7-things-you-need-know-a...

An example of thier projects an extremely expensive "public" library garden, which comes with a "private residence" and a mini-golf course. The Clintons stay there "on an off", according to the NY Post. (needless to say, most of it was financed, not even by the Clinton foundation itself but by local government)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hrCZbMUYzE

https://nypost.com/2016/10/02/bill-clintons-executive-suite-...

No worries, the Bushes have something similar, and Obama is constructing his version.

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#59

Post by [deleted] »

alien_at_work wrote: post #51
stevenwoo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congress specifically excluded themselves from insider trading laws. It's outrageous but that makes it pretty much a free for all for US congress folks to do insider trading. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-insiders-above-the-law...

I've often wondered about starting a fund where I simply follow any trades certain congress members are making. That's not insider info at that point, right? I guess this strategy can't work for some reason (or others would be exploiting it) but what is the reason? Time delay?

[deleted]

Re: How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding

#60

Post by Raidion »

alien_at_work wrote: post #51
stevenwoo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congress specifically excluded themselves from insider trading laws. It's outrageous but that makes it pretty much a free for all for US congress folks to do insider trading. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-insiders-above-the-law...

I've often wondered about starting a fund where I simply follow any trades certain congress members are making. That's not insider info at that point, right? I guess this strategy can't work for some reason (or others would be exploiting it) but what is the reason? Time delay?

I don't think the trades of congress are public record. You simply aren't able to get that information. And if you are able to get that info, and the rest of the public doesn't have it, then that's inside trading.
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