• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Store
  • ION Awards
  • Podcasts
  • Full Measure
    • Full Measure Cover Stories
  • Donate
  • Bestseller "Slanted"

Sharyl Attkisson

Untouchable Subjects. Fearless, Nonpartisan Reporting.

  • US
  • World
  • Business
  • Health
    • Vaccine, Medical links
    • Omicron Lab Origin
    • Covid-19 Origins
    • Covid-19 Natural Immunity
    • Covid-19 Vaccine Concerns Summary
    • Covid-19 Vaccine: 80 Common Adverse Events
  • The Censored
  • Special Investigations
    • Attkisson v. DOJ
    • Media Mistakes, Biden Era
    • Media Mistakes on Trump
    • Other investigations
      • Benghazi
      • "Collusion v. Trump" TL
      • Election 2020
      • Fake News
      • Fast & Furious
      • Obamacare
      • Obama Surveillance TL
      • Other investigations
      • Ukraine 'Sabotage' of Trump TL

Congressional party leaders 'Live like kings and govern like bullies'

Dated: October 16, 2021 by Sharyl Attkisson 9 Comments

      

It's as good a time as any to take at an extraordinary interview I aired on my TV program Full Measure.

The interview was with Congressman Ken Buck, a Republican from Colorado and the story first ran in 2017.

Buck blew the lid off the secretive, extra-Constitutional system of fundraising and governing that party leaders in Congress have implemented.

It endures compliance, keeps members of both parties beholden to big money donors and interests, and shuts out dissenters.

Watch the video at this link:

https://fullmeasure.news/news/cover-story/bucking-the-system

Transcript follows:

Today we begin with an extraordinary interview with a sitting member of Congress. It will make you mad but it's something you should hear. Republican Ken Buck is speaking out of school about the shocking, transactional nature of Washington politics. About party elites he says, "live like kings and govern like bullies." And he's lifting the curtain on why he says nothing gets done in Congress, describing collusion between Democrats and Republicans to fleece taxpayers on behalf of special interests.

Rep. Ken Buck: The game here is not to take a tough vote. Nobody wants to take a tough vote, Democrats and Republicans, thereโ€™s a quiet conspiracy going on that โ€˜If you donโ€™t make me take a tough vote I wonโ€™t make you take a tough vote.โ€™

A โ€œtough vote,โ€ says Congressman Ken Buck, means anything that cuts spending or programs that benefit political and corporate interests.

Rep. Buck: And the result is that the ability to cut federal programs or to reduce spending in other ways, or to get our tax structure under control- simplify the tax structure is very, very difficult. And that results in higher spending.

He says itโ€™s why Congress consistently spends wildly more money than it receives from taxpayers: six hundred billion dollars last year alone. Why the federal debt has been allowed to balloon to record levels: the U.S. owes about $20 trillion dollars it doesnโ€™t have on hand. 

Sharyl Attkisson: Is there an element of that Democrats and Republicans may appear to disagree with things in public and yet privately agree because sometimes they cater to the same interests?

Rep. Buck: Sure, I think Democrats and Republicans disagree on some social issues and make a big deal out of that, and disagree on some other major issues. But for the most part, thereโ€™s agreement behind-the-scenes not to make waves and to get things done quietly. Not good things, but things that involve spending more money. If I scratch your back youโ€™ll scratch my back.

Sharyl Attkisson: Is what you describe what some Americans might call โ€˜the establishmentโ€™?

Rep. Buck: Absolutely. The โ€˜establishmentโ€™ are the Republican leadership and the Democrat leadership getting along and pretending not to. But clearly getting along.

A former federal prosecutor, Buck has been in Congress less than three years.

He says his education from Washington D.C.โ€™s school of hard knocks began right after his election during his orientation trip to the Capitol.

Rep. Buck: And thatโ€™s when a lot of the rules were explained to us about the dues to the NRCC other requirements.

He was stunned, he says, to find the NRCC-- the National Republican Congressional Committee-- just like its counterpart for Democrats, requires hefty party dues, especially if members hope to aspire to meaningful positions.

Rep. Paul Ryan: Talk about a record $30.1 million right here in this room. Give yourself a big round of applause.

Rep. Buck: Itโ€™s mildly offensive to think that to serve on a committee in Congress you need to pay a private political organization dues, and thatโ€™s what they were asking for.

Sharyl Attkisson: Did you have any idea before you were elected that that was the case?

Rep. Buck: I did not know that there were mandatory dues here, no.

Sharyl Attkisson: How did they tell you?

Rep. Buck: Ah, well itโ€™s not a big secret. They have a big chart in the National Republican Congressional Committee offices, and you can see everybodyโ€™s name and the dues that they owe and how much theyโ€™ve paid.

Sharyl Attkisson: What was going through your mind when you started to hear this news?

Rep. Buck: Well, as Freshmen we have to raise $200,000 and thatโ€™s a lot of money. You know I just finished campaigning and raising money, and now I had to go back to donors and ask them for money again.

Buck reveals the unwritten rules and outlines the allegations in his book: โ€œDrain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption is Worse than You Think.โ€

Rep. He says to meet fundraising quotas, members of Congress spend hour upon hour of public work time asking for money from the very interests theyโ€™re supposed to oversee, ending up beholden to them instead of the public at large.

Sharyl: For people who really have no idea how things work up here, can you tell us how the special interests and corporate interests, for example, actually influence members? How does that happen?

Rep. Buck: It starts with committee assignments. If youโ€™re on the transportation and infrastructure committee, the transportation bill will come before your committee and all over town there will be receptions and the members on the transportation committee will be invited to those receptions, expected to attend those receptions and receive donations as a result of that. They know the easy money, the low-hanging fruit, is gonna be at receptions that are given right before a major piece of legislation goes to committee. Everything is called โ€˜across the streetโ€™ because at the Capitol behind me, you canโ€™t accept money there. You canโ€™t give money there, but once you walk across the street then the bags open up.

Sharyl Attkisson: Restaurants around here?

Rep. Buck: Restaurants, the Republicans, the Capitol Hill Club has a lot of different receptions and dinners.

Industries paying for those receptions and dinners include tobacco, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, TV broadcasting, beer and wine, defense and Hollywood. Democrats have their own fundraising hangout nearby: The National Democratic Club.

Rep. Buck: Iโ€™ve attended receptions where Iโ€™ve had 10, 12 corporations represented and they have made their case to me on why they need me to vote a certain way on a piece of legislation. And I know that if I accommodate them, I will have a reception later on where they will support me.

Sharyl Attkisson: Youโ€™re describing an entire system where almost every consideration that ought to be for constituents is instead about special interests and corporate interests and donations.

Rep. Buck: It surprised me when I got here and Iโ€™ve been involved in politics since I was a teenager, and getting to this place is really shocking. To see the influence that money has in politics.

Early on, Buck challenged GOP leadership on a vote he felt would give President Obama too much power on trade issues. Republican leaders retaliated by trying to oust him as president of his freshman class. But he went on a public offensive and survived. He says heโ€™s watched colleagues get punished for doing what they think is right instead of what party bosses demand; booted from committee positions and even denied dining room privileges.

Rep. Buck: The incentive structure right now is to vote for more money. You never vote for less money, because someoneโ€™s gonna get mad if you vote for less money. And so as long as the American public doesnโ€™t stand up and demand that members of Congress are accountable, Congress will continue acting the way it does.

Sharyl Attkisson: Do you think a lot of people come to Washington really hoping it will be different and planning to work for their constituents and just find out it canโ€™t be done?

Buck: I absolutely think most members come here with the best intentions. And I think within a year or two they realize that there is no hope of changing this place. And a lot of them leave fairly early on. Others become disillusioned and some others just settle into the swamp and enjoy it.

Sharyl Attkisson: Iโ€™ve not heard another sitting member of Congress talk about these things. What happens to you now because of this?

Buck: You know I didnโ€™t come here with any friends, Sharyl, and Iโ€™m not leaving with any friends and Iโ€™m okay with that. I didnโ€™t come here to make friends. And so, if Iโ€™m gone in a couple of years, I did what I came here to do and thatโ€™s hopefully make Americans aware that this place is broken.

Buck says solutions include requiring a balanced budget meaning Congress wouldn't be able to spend more money than it has and they'd be forced to make the tough choices they now avoid and term limits to restrict the number of years people can serve in Congress.


      
[the_ad id="17661"]

About Sharyl Attkisson

Emmy-Award Winning Investigative Journalist, New York Times Best Selling Author, Host of Sinclair's Full Measure

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gordon REID SAUNDERS says

    October 16, 2021 at 11:00 am

    My first inclination/reaction is is that this conundrum is bigger than me and you. But that reaction indicates that we don't have a choice. And maybe that is the genus or motivation for another article I read that somewhere that Democracy is on the way out as a type of government. So we all need to take a moment and think about this.
    Our Savior God did not create this world for us to sit by and watch it go down the drain. The other aspect that we all need to reflect on is that there are no political solutions. The elephant in the solution room is not political but rather is spiritual. I believe that He will help those who want to pursue a solution with Him..

    Reply
    • Kay says

      October 16, 2021 at 11:42 am

      I agree with you. Our primary recourse is prayer, but God expects us to act in ways that promote righteousness. Think of the parable of the talents.

      Reply
  2. Bill Andrews says

    October 16, 2021 at 11:10 am

    The way you put this Article and If what you say is True ? Sounds like a organized Cult against the Main street People instead of for them ? ( The Washington special Interest Brothel of Money and Sin ? ) .. "And we Got a Honest Supreme Court People in all this Behavior, not Challenging this ??? Turns out the Lady Holding the scales of Justice is peeping over Blind Fold of Justice, While special interest is Shoving Millions winking, in the back of Her Panties ? (( The Washington Naughty Files ? )) leaning the scale of justice on there side here Sharyl ??? Vladimir Putin and China manipulates there Money and special interest with the same like intentions, To live like Kings, while sticking to there people ? If I was Running Washington I'd put a 35% Tax on Lobbying Money ? ( The World's Governments needs to Re-Distribute the Worlds Wealth to the Main street people. " Right ? No Country can afford all the Damage from All these Wars, Bad people caused since 9-11 and All the Economic damage around the World from Covid -19 , especially all the poorer Main street people around the World and U.S.A.

    Reply
  3. Susan says

    October 16, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    This article did not make me mad....down-hearted and sad is more like it. In other words, it's a hopeless situation and even if President Trump is re-elected we are SCREWED.

    Reply
  4. Ruth says

    October 17, 2021 at 9:17 am

    This really shows what Trump was up against. It was worse than we knew. It is past time for "good men" to do "something". We just need somr kind of leadership to show us what to do. Either that or the whole shebang is twisted beyond repair and probably ,always was.

    Reply
  5. John Hahn says

    October 17, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    Facebook won't allow me to share it because "or

    Warning
    Your message couldn't be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive."

    Facebook has become "The Ministry of Truth" right out of 1984

    Reply
  6. John Hahn says

    October 17, 2021 at 3:44 pm

    and now I am in Facebutt jail for attempting to post that.

    Reply
  7. John Hahn says

    October 17, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    and a friend of mine liked it right after I posted it and he was put in Facebutt jail!

    Reply
  8. M says

    October 26, 2021 at 1:46 am

    Draining the swamp would involve a revolution in which the people form a NEW congress and system of judgement that makes special interests and lobbying illegal. The police are already defecting from the government. They would too join the revolution along with the experienced and very abused servicemen and woman who fought for the freedoms and equalities we are supposed to respect here in America. The โ€œelitesโ€โ€ฆ. Would just beโ€ฆ. IGNORED. Let it be them that Starves to death, not the working American people.

    These elites are so privileged that they donโ€™t know how to drive down a country back road and surviveโ€ฆ. We the people do. THEY SHOULD BE SCARED. The people are pissed and they are washing their hands of politicians.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Coming Soon

The Bad Shirts: High-Quality, Wearable Humor

The Sharyl Attkisson Store

Buy Great, Original Products & Support Independent Journalism

Subscribe

Get the Latest Stories Straight to Your Inbox

SUBSCRIBE TO SHARYL’S RUMBLE CHANNEL


Follow Sharyl Attkisson

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube



Footer

Pages

  • Home
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Support
  • Contact

Sitemap

2ndary Pages

  • Full Measure Stations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Newsletter
  • Returns & Refunds Policy

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS

  • Attkisson v. DOJ/FBI
  • Benghazi
  • Election 2020
  • Fake News
  • Fast & Furious
  • Obamacare

Copyright © 2023 ยท Log in