Louise Slaughter Quotes

[Lobbying] has reached such a position of power that it threatens the government itself. Its size, its power, its capacity for evil; its greed, trickery, deception and fraud condemn it to the death it deserves.

Lobbying is declared to be a crime.

At home when people go to lawmakers and induce them with trips and gifts and so on to pass legislation, it's called corruption. But in the U.S. it's actually a profession called lobbying!

When a public official accepts a gift he dissolves the pearl of independence in the vinegar of obligation.

Members of Congress like us for our information, but they love us for our money.

Lobbynomics

And when the guy [politician] says “Yes, I took money, but it didn’t influence my vote”? Oh, come on. The company that’s giving you the money thinks it is going to influence the vote. Why else would they give you the money?

Government unions should not be allowed to influence the public officials they are lobbying, and sitting across the bargaining table from, through campaign donations and expenditures.

Lobbying has become a term of reproach, as if it were improper to push for a particular belief. This has happened because of paid lobbyists whose opinions are for hire and the fear that decision-makers, whether politicians or officials, are susceptible to their charms and wiles. This has tarred entirely proper lobbying with the same brush.

The White House again refused to turn over discussions Vice President Cheney had with Enron officials over energy policy. Cheney said if he had to disclose every time some business donated a ton of money then came in to write its own policy to govern itself, he wouldn't get any work done.

You can't take a congressman to lunch for $25 and buy him a hamburger or a steak or something like that. But you can take him to a fund-raising lunch and not only buy him that steak, but give him $25,000 extra and call it a fund-raiser - and have all the same access and all the same interactions with that congressman.

There are good people in the lobbying industry. Lobbyists can serve a very useful purpose.

As a lobbyist, I thought it only natural and right that my clients should reward those members who saved them such substantial sums with generous contributions. This quid pro quo became one of hallmarks of our lobbying efforts.

Lobbyists didn't descend from a spaceship. They evolved organically from the way we do business.

He [Donald Trump] buys and sells politicians of all stripes.

Lobbying is just another form of advocacy. It’s like trying a lawsuit.

The principal reasons that special interests can extract their price from government is money .... Those who do not accept money from PACs are those who have other sources.

[Referring to lobbying:] You get a job in Congress or on a presidential campaign, step up to the administration, and finally go on to easy money.

Farmers who are legislators are the easiest to buy and seduce.

Members of state legislatures are owned by doctors and lawyers. That's why workers' compensation cannot be solved.

Toshiba was able to purchase access to those who were writing the legislation. They won, but what they did was very offensive.

All legislative bodies which control pecuniary interests are as sure to have a lobby as an army to have camp followers. Where the body is, there will the vultures be gathered together.

Honorariums are really dishonorariums. So long as they continue, public trust in Congress will sink even below its minimal level today.... Public officials should have only one paymaster: the Government. When the Government pays too little, the temptation to find other paymasters becomes far harder to resist.

It challenges a linguist to define modern campaign contributions as something other than bribery.

Congressmen are not bribed anymore. They simply have a lot of friends who are willing to help them out whenever they find it necessary.