Good things happen on Capitol Hill daily. Here we see a Capitol Police Officer help ducklings cross Independence Avenue SW near the Capitol.
Watch here if the above video is not playing.
But, there also are some not good things. The New York Times conducted exit interviews with some legislators: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-DE), Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI), Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD)
They decried the flood of special interest money, the need to raise money to earn a committee chairmanship in the House, the disincentives that primaries create to cross-party bargaining, and the cost of living in DC with congressional salaries frozen. They also cited the lack of trust among legislators who mostly do not live in Washington, DC and instead fly in and out of town every week.
Notably, those interviewed did not describe Congres as “corrupt,” which is an accusation that many members of the public have made since time in memoriam. And the legislators also reported they felt they had achieved good things, such as banning surprise medical billing and increasing insurance coverage of cancer screening.
Watch them here—it is worth your time, especially the Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) clip on fixing Congress.
Speaking of badness, there is this snippet from a larger sordid tale written by Brody Mullins and Luke Mullins: “The Many Reinventions of a Legendary Washington Influence Peddler,” Politico, May 5, 2024.
“Over the course of the 1990s and 2000s, as the public was growing increasingly disdainful of the practice of lobbying, members of Congress became more wary of taking official actions that could be viewed as favors to special interests. As a result, the traditional approach to influence peddling — where lobbyists secured favors from Senators over stiff drinks in smoke-filled rooms — grew less effective.Increasingly, sharp lobbyists recognized that the most effective way to bring a lawmaker around to their position was through his or her constituents. They began spending less time trying to persuade members of Congress and more time targeting the people who sent them to Washington in the first place. They did this through public relations campaigns, grassroots efforts and other strategies designed to whip up support or opposition to a particular issue in a lawmaker’s home district.”
The authors go on to note that this grassroots lobbying does not get reported in the official lobbying databases.
Note: This is an excerpt from Mullins’ and Mullins’ new book, The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government (Simon & Schuster).
Thanks for reading!