their children, their that s exactly right. if you look at republicans who came in 1994. with the gingrich revolution. 10 years later, of those who had left, half of them were registered lobbists. is that because they are not capable of doing anything else? it may be. probably the most lucrative thing they could do. the reality is that it becomes very seductive in washington, d.c. and they accept it because everybody else is doing it and that s really the sad reality. it s a massive cultural problem in washington. you talk about aristocracies, a political class that exists here. so, for all intents and purposes, you are deal with people that are living off the
dealerships and fine wines and expensive restaurants and home prices, et cetera. are these the government employees buying the maseratis? it is not government employees it s people who influence them people like lobbyists people? government relationships and contracting firms where their only business their only client is federal government. it is money that gets washed around in all of those different ways. the reality i was in washington, d.c. in the 1980s it was a middle class town with wealthy areas. it s a completely different place now. part of it is the size of the federal budget has grown enormous enormously. they take the cut of everything that comes out. what are they producing? you are right. we talk about an oil boom, gold rush, cattle, et cetera. they have pro dued something. washington has rrd debts, record deficits and telling people we are going to raise the retirement age one hour before
have to have the relationships and the contacts with the powers that be in washington in order to effectively stay in business. lobbists spend a lot of money in this town consider single case of general electric. that single company spends every single day, 365 days a year to influence and lobby congress. and who do they pay? they tend to pay the people that voted previously sproated previously to bills that we will related to general electric. former congressman gephart missouri and trent lot from mississippi who have been paid lobists in the past for general electric. how profitable is it to lobby? the sad reality best investment that a corporation can make. in fact, it can be a lot more profitable than buying or creating a new service or a new good. it was a study done a couple
congressman and senators would you like a 1964 whatever. i m not a big wine connoisseur. that s where they re getting them? that s exactly right. as we pointed out. while one in six americans are struggling in terms of they are worried about where their next meal is coming from. washington, d.c. is the now the highest town with the rate of consumption of fine wines. they are not getting wine in a box. this is very expensive top flight wine. sean: it s not boone s farm? [ laughter ] not bad. take a break. we ll come right back. a problem that lamborghini dealers in washington, d.c. are having. it s not one that you might expect. straight ahead. my bad. tell me you have good insurance. yup, i ve got. [ voice of dennis ] .allstate. really? i was afraid you d have some cut-rate policy. nope, i ve got. [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. it s their most affordable car insurance and you still get an allstate agent. i too have. [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] sam
and done so successfully. it s on defense spending. consider the case of senator harry reid. majority leader democrat from nevada. he has several family members registered lobbists. son lobbied on several groups and secured $50 million in earmarks. he also has another son who is involved in a a billion dollars venture involving a chinese effort to develop an energy project in the deserts of nevada. in that particular case, the majority leader took a personal interest in and helped to push it through. just remember when you see the professional wrestling in washington, d.c., it s not so much red and blue, it s really green, the color that really matters. sean: we continue with steve sweitzer. didn t obama say he was going to ban lobbists from his administration. eliminate earmarks? most transparent in