blackstone code

Chapter 828 Talking about business in the Capitol

From a certain point of view, the middle and lower classes of people who should be protected by the state have instead become the last "bottom line" on certain issues.

The capitalists' infiltration of the top levels of the federal government is shocking. A thought, a word, can drive whether a bill can be passed. Maybe they do not have "power" in their hands, but capital is far above power.

On the contrary, capitalists and politicians need to consider the image of themselves in the eyes of the people, and sometimes they have to restrain their scary faces.

People who were supposed to be protected turned out to be the last line of defense to protect this country. Sometimes... life, society, the world, it's so fucking funny!

Lynch was approached by members of the Duncan family lobby the day after he had dinner with Congressman Langdon.

They will lobby every MP as much as possible, which is the key to their success.

When many political lobbying groups are lobbying, they will only choose to lobby key people, such as the leader of a small group, or some people who can be won over. There will be no lobbying.

In fact, the main reason is that the budget is limited. There are hundreds of members of the Congress, and each person is given [-] to [-] yuan. This is a few million.

Sometimes it is not easy for those who promote the proposal to earn the money back. They cannot do it recklessly at a loss, they can only do it strategically.

Lobbying requires not only one mouth to speak, but also tangible benefits. If lobbying can be completed by relying on mouth, politicians and capitalists have long been replaced by lawyers.

As soon as Senator Langdon came to his office, someone came to visit him. He asked his secretary to invite him into his office.

Members of Congress have offices in the Capitol, and they always have some work of their own, such as being a member of a committee, which requires them to have an office where people can find him during working hours.

At present, Congressman Langdon has joined the Federal Environmental Committee. The role of this committee is to protect the environment, a committee that can be large or small.

On a larger scale, as long as the factory is open, it is tantamount to polluting the nature, and this matter is under their control.

To put it mildly, as long as the environment is not made so poor that even the most tenacious plants cannot grow, then it is not serious.

So there will always be people who want to use the energy of the committee to do something. If they want to do something, they must first ask the members to speak.

It is obviously the easiest way to go to the parliament building to visit these members.

In order to avoid being harassed all the time, the secretaries selected by the congressmen are very discerning, and they know who to let in and who not to let in.

"Hello Senator Langdon, I'm..." The person who came in was in his forties and looked very energetic. He was dressed in a decent suit and carried a briefcase in his hand. He looked very experienced.

If he was a government employee, Langdon would believe it, but he lacked some of the laziness of a government employee.

While Senator Langdon was looking at his business card, the middle-aged man in his forties smiled and said about his identity, "Today, on behalf of the Duncan family, I'm here to talk to you about our proposal."

Arrogant!

Yes, Senator Langdon put down the business card in his hand, and a wave of arrogance swept over his face, making his hair a little messy.

He's seen lobby groups.

Last year, an old city in the north planned to clear tens of thousands of acres of natural forest due to urban development needs. The local government must not be able to decide such a big matter. After reporting layer by layer, the state government will report to Congress for the final ruling.

Before the vote, the local lobby group appeared, and they used a lot of data and evidence to explain the necessity of deforestation and building cities for local economic development.

It wasn't until the end that they expressed the hope that Congressman Langdon could think about this issue for the urgent need of local economic development and the people who were anxiously waiting for jobs, and then presented some local specialties—— Mind.

Sometimes it is really difficult to use the crime of duty to look at the behavior of members of parliament. They can cover up their crimes for crimes and criminals without any scruples, and they can also receive various "benefits" without any scruples and don't care about investigations Bureau's gaze.

In the end, Senator Langdon reluctantly agreed to the other party's request and voted in favor of the matter, seeing that the people at the bottom of society really had a lot of aspirations.

And he spent a little money to become a shareholder of a small company that was obviously irregular. This small company was suddenly acquired by a big company. Senator Langdon sold his shares, so he made a huge profit.

If you want to say that he is not breaking the law, in fact everyone knows that what he did was really breaking the law. At least there is enough evidence to prove that he agreed to the proposal because he received money. There is a difference between the two things. Associated, motivated, he should be guilty.

But if you really want to say that he broke the law, first of all, he does not have a clear concept of position. He is only a member of the Environmental Committee. His job is to raise his hand or not to raise his hand, and he is not a key person.

Based on the fact that 18 people voted, one person for or against has no effect on the overall situation, and has no effect on promoting the development of the incident, and it is not a pure duty crime.

In addition, he just took a stake in a small company and was immediately acquired by a premium of hundreds or thousands of times. This is because he has a good vision and cannot prove that this matter is an extension of other events.

So he collected the money and nothing happened, as all congressmen do.

But no matter how "extremely" everyone does, they actually stay within a certain range. It's like those who publish photos of themselves that they can't afford clothes in magazines and newspapers to ask for help from well-intentioned people, but they never think that they are responding. girls.

They can do it, but they will never admit it.

All lobby groups will not admit that they have influenced other people's decisions. Their job is to provide more information so that people have more choices.

All congressmen will not admit that they are tool people who use money to do things. Their choice of this or that decision is entirely their own subjective judgment.

This gentleman from the Duncan family is different. He doesn't hide his purpose of coming here at all. He has an aura of "you must be convinced by me" when he speaks. This feeling is actually very uncomfortable.

Senator Langdon looked at him, and the middle-aged man in his forties smiled slightly, as if he didn't care about the mood of a member of Congress at all.

"Have you read our proposal?" The gentleman pulled out a chair when Senator Langdon didn't invite him to sit down, and sat across from him with his legs crossed.

He put his briefcase on the table, opened the locks on both ends with two clicks, and took out a stack of documents.

Senator Langdon was very unhappy in his heart, and he couldn't bear to be offended by someone he had never even heard of.

People are like this, if Mr. Geruno treats him like this at this moment, or if it is more vicious or humiliating, he will feel that it is nothing.

But he couldn't help being offended by a little character with little reputation.

However, I couldn't help but endure it, because this guy represented the Duncan family, the most terrifying family known to the Federation, none of them.

He nodded unhappily, "I've already seen it..."

The middle-aged man sitting opposite him nodded in satisfaction, "Then do you have any incomprehension in some of the problem descriptions in this proposal, or do you think there are some places that are still unclear, I can help you Explanation."

The middle-aged man looked up at Senator Langdon with a confident smile on his face.

If it's a senator, it's a former senator, a former governor, or even a former president who goes to them.

The place to discuss this matter with them will not be in the Capitol, it should be in a certain golf course, in a certain opera house, on a certain cruise ship, or on a certain private beach, private island or other places.

What is in front of me is just one member of the House of Representatives. From the perspective of the Conservative Party or the Progressive Party, changing a House of Representatives only requires one election or a small accident, and some people can be screened out by adjusting the Congressional strategy.

Of course, there is a prerequisite for this, that is, there are enough interests to support them to do so.

Speaker Langdon shook his head, "I have nothing unclear."

The middle-aged man looked at him twice more, and the smile on his face looked a little... distasteful.

He picked up another business card, put it on the table and pushed it over:
"Member Langdon, when I came here, I noticed that you are a member of the Environmental Committee, right?" He fiddled with the nameplate on Langdon's desk, under his name, the words "Member of the Environmental Committee" were impressively written.

Senator Langdon nodded, and he said, "It just so happens that we have a company that is a little confused when it comes to the federal environmental policy. Maybe you can help us..."

Senator Langdon didn't even say yes or no, and the middle-aged man started reminding him that there were merits in pushing the proposal.

There is no doubt that this is a consulting service, and there will be a lot of money.

Look, this income is completely legal, avoids all problems, and at the same time does not require him to do anything - there is nothing in common between consulting on environmental pollution and promoting the "Foreign Security Act", he can take it calmly Pay taxes on that money, and spend it by direct check when you need it.

People don't associate these two things together, except themselves.

According to each person's different identity background, they have formulated corresponding lobbying strategies.

Seeing that Senator Langdon seemed to be hesitant, the middle-aged man said kindly, "You know, Mr. Geruno is very concerned about changes in the natural environment. We plan to set up a foundation..."

Langdon didn't hesitate any more. He put away the business card on the table, "I've read the proposal, and it's very reasonable. If Congress votes on this proposal, I will definitely approve it!"

The middle-aged man didn't need to say anything else. He stood up and stretched out his hand, and shook hands with Representative Langdon. "Enjoy your cooperation!"

(End of this chapter)