SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings • Hacker News Board

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#61

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Dec 17, 2011, 8:23 AM UTC

electromagnetic wrote: post #29

gospelwut wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They horde money for campaign (ads). The notion that they are doing a Scrooge McDuck in taxpayer money is generally false. I'm not putting the onus on the taxpayer, but attack ads and the like are extremely effective and... expensive. Their number one goal is to get (re)elected and money=>ads is the most effective way to do it. Standing on principle and making articulated arguments just polarizes.

This is why in parliamentary systems the MPs get a wage and get campaign funding (IIRC respective to their previous campaign share, IE the incumbent gets the most). What I don't get there is that they still get payoffs, but we're talking a private jet flight versus $2 million in cash.

[deleted]

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#62

Post by lcapaldo » Sat, Dec 17, 2011, 2:28 PM UTC

zero_intp wrote: post #54

Newgy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one way to ensure that all Congressmen are millionaires is to take away their pay. Honestly, the salary is already too small, they have to maintain a second residence in DC, which is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. In all seriousness, $174,000 is not enough money to support a family in a middle class lifestyle in DC. A townhouse in a safe neighborhood is $5,000/month, most of the pub…

This is complete FUD. My wife and I make ~100k, and live inside the beltway, quite comfortably, within a 30 minute drive to Capitol Hill. Fairfax and Montgomery County have some of the highest rated public schools in the nation.

Do you also maintain a home in the state that you actually represent? This might be FUD (I don't know) but saying that you do fine with less money isn't indicative of anything if you aren't doing the same thing.

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#63

Post by etcet » Sun, Dec 18, 2011, 9:28 PM UTC

joelhaus wrote: post #50

darrenkopp wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's awesome, now we just need to figure out who the companies were. Thanks for that link.

There is another mechanism used to incentivize support for ill-conceived policies: promises of cushy, high-pay lobbying jobs for officials and members of their staff. I imagine this would only be uncovered ex-post facto. Here's a nauseating example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tauzin#Career_as_a_lobbyi...

Look at the MPAA and it's current CEO, Chris Dodd, who voted for the DMCA in 1998.

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#64

Post by gospelwut » Mon, Dec 19, 2011, 6:28 PM UTC

darrenkopp wrote: post #32

gospelwut wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They horde money for campaign (ads). The notion that they are doing a Scrooge McDuck in taxpayer money is generally false. I'm not putting the onus on the taxpayer, but attack ads and the like are extremely effective and... expensive. Their number one goal is to get (re)elected and money=>ads is the most effective way to do it. Standing on principle and making articulated arguments just polarizes.

I get what you are saying, but Congress has had a salary longer than attack ads.

You're right. But, my point is there is no amount of money we can reasonably pay them that will come close to the money they require to get re-elected, which is more important to them than anything else.