Right, so before we start properly, I just want to issue a little disclaimer.
This video might be misinterpreted as being anti-US or anti-business but it's not, the
reason that chosen to focus on the US is because the figures are much more readily available,
which is actually a good thing and something that the rest of us could learn from.
Nor is it anti-business, but in a democracy, it's supposed to be the people who are in
control and it no longer is.
And that is why democracy is dying.
So let's begin.
Yeah, you still have a vote.
You may or may not use it but your vote is in theory, at least, worth the same as everybody
else's.
But it's not.
There are many reasons why and this video will explain one of them.
First of all we've got to ask who's really in control of influencing government policy?
Is it the electorate who vote them in?
Once in every election cycle that might be true.
That's when you vote your politicians into power.
That's when you give them the green light for another few years in control.
That's when you are promised change and that's when you're promised a new way of doing things.
But it's once the elections over and your politicians are sitting comfortably in the
corridors of power that the dream fades into a distant memory.
But in reality you never had any influence.
Looking at the 2012 US Presidential campaign, the total spend by each of the major parties,
candidates and associated groups was more than one billion dollars each.
There's a link in the video description for a full run down on which sectors donated the
most money and to whom.
The same thing goes on on a smaller scale, per candidate anyway, for Congressional elections.
But it's once candidates are in their seat of power that the real pressure is applied
by the big corporations who funded the candidates.
Now, lobbying is the attempt to influence decisions made by governments and regulators.
It's done by a variety of sectors, including charities and special interest groups.
But, all other sectors pale into insignificance when compared to private sector lobbyists.
In the US in 2013 three point two one billion dollars were spent on lobbying congress, according
to the opensecrets.org database.
To put it into perspective, there are 12,279 lobbyists actively employed to influence decision
making.
There are currently only 535 members of congress.
And when you look at which companies are spending the most on lobbying, you start to see how
they influence government policies.
We're going to put a load of links in the video description if you want to look at any
of these further.
In the US there's various communications companies like Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, and the umbrella
lobbying groups the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and the National Association of
Broadcasters.
Each one of those spends between in the region of 14 to 20 million dollars a year on buying
influence.
And when you look at the influence communications companies had over the abandonment of net
neutrality, you might wonder if business interests are being put before what is best for you
and I, Internet freedom and the freedom of information.
Next up, you've got energy companies like Exxon Mobil and General Electric, who spend
in the region of 13.5 million dollars each.
Interestingly there are no companies representing green energy in the top twenty spenders.
And just like net neutrality with the communications companies, you can see the influence of the
energy lobby as well.
Obama has been denied the opportunity to cut eliminate four billion dollars worth of tax
breaks to oil companies.
Then what about Fracking policy?
Pipelines?
Offshore drilling?
In 2013 energy companies spent more than 140 million dollars on lobbying, which is a huge
amount of influence they're buying.
I'm sure it won't surprise you at all to know that defence companies have a strong presence.
Northrup Grumman spend upwards of 20 million and Boeing and Lockheed Martin hover around
the 15 million dollar mark.
Could that be part of the reason why the US military budget for 2014 stands at a whopping
$632 billion dollars and is second only to social security spending?
Going into all of the top twenty would take forever, but there are medical and drugs companies
and then there are people like the Grocery Manufacturers Association - which represents
just about every major food company you could possibly think of.
And then you've got the US Chamber of Commerce, which is top of the pile.
Now the US Chamber of Commerce is a federation that represents businesses in front of Congress.
They cover everything from food and agriculture to the environment and energy, to financial
regulation and taxes and immigration, health care, labour and intellectual property, federal
contracting and on and on and on.
Every single tentacle of big business is represented.
Each one buying its way into influence.
And the point isn't that lobbying is inherently bad and nor are we being anti-business.
The point is that we, you, the electorate, don't have a bunch of highly paid representatives
fighting for our rights in the corridors of power.
We don't have somebody to wine and dine politicians, we don't have somebody to have a little secretive
word in their ears.
And in that sense the system is fundamentally weighted in favour of big business and against
little you and that is why it's not a democracy.
Now at this point I want to introduce you to an absolutely brilliant film about how
the economy works.
It's called Four Horsemen and it's over there.
Now, next week we've got Renegade Economist, who made the film, coming on the channel,
so if you haven't subbed already, do that and you won't miss out.
But before we go, one more thing about lobbying.
The people who hold so much sway behind closed doors in Washington are also currently flexing
their muscles in the drafting of the TPP and T-TIP.
Those are two multinational agreements, one between the US and Pacific Nations and one
between the US and European Union.
They will seek to normalise trading laws between the partner states.
George Monbiot has described T-Tip as a monstrous assault on democracy, and points out a clause
on investor state dispute settlements.
The intention of the clause would be to protect foreign investors from governmental discrimination
by allowing the corporations to sue governments if local legislation doesn't suit their interests.
And what alarmed him most is that lobbyists have claimed that they are co-writing this
legislation, while the public is shut out, with barely a sniff of what's going on behind
closed doors.
Everything is linked up in the video description as well as some of our relevant videos.
Over there is our own playlist on the manufacture of Consent and our interviews with Glyn Moody
about the TPP.
Take a look at those for us would you?