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Washington on $10 Million A Day: How Lobbyists Plunder the Nation

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Yes, it truly is the age of retail politics. And Ken Silverstein's new expose, Washington on $10 Million a Day, shows the high price that must be paid to the lobbyists of K Street to get troubled corporations and Third World dictators out their various jams. Silvertein introduces us to the likes of Tommy Hale Boggs, the brother of ABC news diva Cokie Roberts, who charges $500 an hour to help oil companies boot Indians off potential drilling sites, bail out the interest of big banks, vouch for the character of butchers like Baby Doc Duvalier and tirelessly tread on his intimate relationship with President Bill. Then there's the noxious Edward von Kloberg, the man who fell for a Spy Magazine spoof when he indicated he would be willing to represent the interests of a German neo-Nazi group. Among van Kloberg's other clients: Saddam Hussein and Romanian thug Nicolae Ceausescu. With this new book, Silverstein goes right to the corrupt heart of the Beltway, where forgiveness for almost any crime against humanity is for sale at the right price. Silverstein is one of the nation's finest investigative reporters and this book proves he is also one of the funniest. Jeffrey St. Clair

Ken Silverstein is the co-editor of the newsletter Counterpunch and one of the best investigative journalists in the US. In this book he exposes some of the ways in which corporate money and lobbying corrupt our political process and make sure that public policy serves corporate interests, not our own. A pair of examples will illustrate. In one particularly telling account, Silverstein reveals how Philip Morris connived to set up a phony public interest group called Contributions Watch, the purpose of which was to smear trial lawyers as "the most powerful special interest group" in the country. In another section, he describes various types of "astroturf" lobbying activities, where corporations create phony "grassroots" groups to provide cover for their interests.

Much of the book is based on reporting Silverstein did for Counterpunch. Given Silverstein's talents, one wonders why he is working for a small-circulation newsletter. Surely our major newspapers have need for investigative journalists of his talents. But then one remembers that the big papers are themselves corporate owned, and unlikely to want to shed too much light on the misdeeds of large corporations or the excesses of unrestrained monopoly capitalism.

The one flaw I can find with the book is the absence of any detailed notes on Silverstein's sources.

Probably like a lot of readers I put this book down after reading the last page and sighed with a feeling of hopelessness, wondering if there was nothing the average citizen could do other than commit to running for office to make a difference. Silverstein takes the reader through page after page of lobbyist activity that is brutally intense, and after page 100 of the endless assault on conventional perception of law, it might make the reader a bit dizzy. I found it exhausting to read.

There are two drawbacks to this book; one (kind of) major and another minor thing. The major thing is that Silverstein's experiment as a fake lobbyist only lasts the first few pages. I was eager to read about how he infiltrated the network and found the dirtiest of the bunch, and I was hoping this book would be the ultimate reveal of their ugly practices. However, his brave adventure as a poseur director of a public action committee is brief. I suppose it would be difficult to hold up that act for long. The rest of the book is filled with in depth research on lobbyist activity, much of it lacking thorough citation that could back up some of the claims. The validity of the information would be more clear with direct citation, and I wonder about some of the guilt-by-association claims. The minor beef with the book is that Silverstein doesn't have a whole lot to offer on how to better keep K St. in line, even though the last chapter is titled like he will tell us how to do just that. This is a minor beef because nobody has a really good solution for that, so we can't expect Silverstein to save us by himself.

And just as a caveat, these examples are given to reinforce the argument that lobbying is bad. There are likely many lobbyists who are in the profession because they genuinely want to do something good. In many cases, the act of lobbying for a good cause is likely a good cause in itself. Sometimes the only way to fight the machine is to become a part of it. I'm sure many people can relate to that.

However, what Silverstein does exceptionally well in this book is explain - in great detail and through many examples - how lobbying works, who a lobbyist is, and how they came to be in the profession. The book was written in the 1990s so some of the examples are out of date, however it is really interesting to see how some of the hot topics of the last decade are again relevant in these days. The lobbyist machine is alive and well. So, if you've read the book or you are going to read it, ask yourself this (as I have): what can we do about this? How does this affect my government? What can I do as a citizen? I can't answer these questions for you: it's up to you.

I humbly suggest that anyone who likes the work presented in "Washington on $10 Million a Day" also peruse the political newsletter "Counterpunch". I am not affiliated with any of the above mentioned entities just an interested reader eager to spread the truth about our sham democracy. For those of you who have not read this title and would like to investigate the sordid inner workings of our nation's capital; purchase this book. You will not find the commercialized, sanitized B.S. so pervasive in mainstream media. Educate yourself about the dissolute triad, comprised mainly of lobbyists, corporations and P.R. firms which in aggregate are known as the "4th" branch of government. I also suggest reading "Derailing Democracy" by Dave McGowan. Thank you.

This book was delivered within 3 days of ordering it, and it was priced really cheap.