That’s a self-defeating assertion. If legal campaign donations were so high return, more companies would make them, driving up the price. You’re presupposing the existence of this enormous arbitrage opportunity that nobody is talking advantage of, because...?
Shit, I can swing “tens of thousands.” Can you tell me how to get “millions” in pork? Shouldn’t YC companies just blow the $120,000 they get in campaign contributions?
Sure they do. You also need connected lobbists who understand how things work (which costs money), but the kickbacks ultimately are clearly worth it or they wouldn’t do it. American democracy is bought and sold to the highest bidder — the high end lobbists usually even write the bills that get voted on [1]!
Look how little Koch brothers pay to discredit most scientists and majorly influence the direction of this country:
Your post suffers from major cognitive dissonance. The economy “is bought and sold to the highest bidder”—but the bids are so low! Total lobbying expenditures is under $3 billion per year, equivalent to just 48 minutes of annual US corporate profits. If lobbying results in such high returns, why do the Koch brothers have to spend so little money to get results? It’s not like there aren’t folks with money in the other side of those issues: certainly, plenty of folks who can spend a few million here and there.
Think about it: Top lobbying firms pull in under $50 million a year in revenue. If they were really controlling access to billions in government pork and favors, shouldn’t they be able to charge a lot more?
Not opinion — go look on any database of campaign contributions and see the dollar amounts from biggies like Google, Exxon, Koch brothers, Disney, Coca-Cola, etc.
So you’re saying that it would’ve taken just $800,001 to block that copyright extension? Because whoever challenged it in the Supreme Court likely spent more than that in just legal fees doing so.
Shit, I can swing “tens of thousands.” Can you tell me how to get “millions” in pork? Shouldn’t YC companies just blow the $120,000 they get in campaign contributions?