legislation was only 37 pages long. the dodd-frank bill is 848 pages plus thousands of additional pages of rules. the affordable care act is more than 2,000 pages. bills have become so vast because they are qualified by provisions and exemptions and exceptions put in by the very industry being targeted. a process that academics call regulatory capture. the entire political system creates incentives. consider just one factor and there are many, the role of money which has expanded dramatically over the past four decades. harvard university s lawrence lechlt sich has pointed out congressmen spend three out of every five work days raising money. they also vote with extreme attention to their donors interests. he cites studies that demonstrate donors get a big bang for their campaign bucks, sometimes with returns on their
demonstrate donors get a big bang for their campaign bucks, sometimes with returns on their investment that would make a venture capital firm proud. now, taking money out of politics is a mammoth challenge, so perhaps the best one could hope for instead is to limit what congress can sell. in other words, enact a thorough reform of the tax code, ridding it of the thousands of special exemptions, credits and deductions which are, of course, institutionalized, legalized corruption. the most depressing aspect of the book is how utterly routine all the influence peddling has become. in 1990, ramsay mcmullen, the great historian of rome, published a book that took on the central question of his field. why did the greatest empire in the history of the world collapse in the fifth century? the root cause, he explained, was political corruption which had become systemic in the late roman empire. what was once immoral had become accepted as standard practice
london traffic and a taxi protest. ironic, considering the flak romney has taken prosecutor calling press reports about potential problems disconcerting. he s been described as backing away from the remarks, but reiterated them while denying they were a slight. a lot of people did about all the challenges being faced by the organizing committee, but after being here a couple of days, it looks to me like london is ready and it is hard to put on games in a major metropolitan area. what they ve done that i find so impresssive is he took the venues and put them in the city. rick: while oversea, he s raising big money from americans living abroad. 2 million in london last night. and just as some donors and voters in the u.s. are less enthusiastic about donating and supporting president obama than they were four years ago, the same is happening overseas. giving romney an opportunity to boost both his campaign bucks and his absentee ballot votes. a new pugh poll suggests 48% believe the p
good morning to you. welcome to early start. aim zoraida sambolin. i m ashleigh banfield. it s 5:00 a.m. in the east and 10:00 a.m. in london. live pictures to bring you from london. this is a climax of a weekend of events marking the queen s diamond jubilee all getting underway in london. we re getting ready for a service called the thanksgiving service at st. paul s cathedral. the motorcade is filled with the junior members of the royal family. they re the first to depart their various palaces. they re going to arrive shortly at st. paul s. at the same time, the senior members of the royal family will be getting ready to leave for st. paul s cathedral as well. at 5:15 eastern time the queen herself will leave buckingham palace for st. paul s. remember, the duke of edinboro won t be with her. he s in the hospital under observation. she ll be on her own. she s expected to take 13 minutes. she ll arrive at 5:28 a.m. eastern time. two minutes later because you just don t ha
sunday mr. obama vowed to prevent it. here s part of santorum s address this morning. as i sat and watch this play out on the world stage, i ve seen the president who has been reticent. he says he has israel s back. from everything i ve seen from the conduct of this administration, he has turned his back on the people of israel. israel prime minister told the group time is running out for a peaceful resolution to the threat of a nuclear iran. benjamin netanyahu s remarkses came after his meeting with president obama and before his visit the leaders of congress. netanyahu met with top senators and next hour he will meet with house leaders. now in the 1:00 hour, president obama will hold a news conference. if that shifts the spotlight, at least momentarily from republican presidential politics, well, it s the perk of being president. he s expected to announce more help for homeowners at the risk of foreclosure. one step is tailored for service members and veterans who can