D.C. lobbyist Jimmy Williams joins Dylan Ratigan to discuss what most of us already know – the political system is flawed and the current model of how our Congressional Representatives do business must be stopped:

The great news is, is that everybody’s writing a check.

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It’s a bad system and it’s got to stop.

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You write those checks because that’s the price of playing politics in Washington today…This is a system that has to stop.

Money is so invasive in every single thing that we do in this city.

It really is amazing, though not surprising, that our so-called representatives, once they arrive in Washington, throw ethics, morals and even the fundamental principles of this nation out the window just to make a buck.

There can be absolutely no postive and constructive change in this country until:

1. We throw all incumbents out of Congress and reset the Legislature. This can be accomplished by either a) voting them all out district by district, or  b) forcing bills through Congress that will enact #2 below.
2. Enact term limits on all federally elected representatives and appointed federal judges. While this may not be a perfect solution, it offers some level of insurance that no single individual will be in Congress (or the courts) long enough to adversely impact this country in the long-term. With the current system as it is, we end up with lifetime politicians, rather than representatives of the people, most of whom spend decades in their positions.
3. Ethics violations are dealt with swiftly and severely. If you are arrested as a citizen for a criminal act from possession of marijuana or drunk driving to assault on another person, you’re crime is prosecuted in an open court, with all evidence being made publicly available. If you are guilty as charged, you pay the fines, go to prison, do the probation or serve whatever penalty the judge declares. The same should hold true for Congress. Since these are our law makers, they should, at the very least, be held to the same standards as the plebes that elect them.

The current system is setup so that only deep pocketed individuals or corporations can make changes happen, and generally, those changes are to the detriment of the people. Money makes the system go ’round, which obviously leads to corruption and a culture of favoritism. Unless this is eliminated, we can expect that no meaningful change will happen in America until the entire system comes crumbling down.

It is important that individuals like Mr. Jimmy Williams discuss their lobbying experiences on news outlets, and we commend him for his efforts. But the only real solution to these problems are the ones that will leave Mr. Williams and those in similar lines of work unemployed.

Watch the video: