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ssflanders45 karma

This answer is a little disingenuous IMO. No, we don't have people in sheik costumes handing bags of cash to congressmen anymore, for the reasons you mention. But please address the systemic corruption that I think we all think/know is killing our democracy -- the revolving door from Capitol Hill to K Street, the SuperPACS that allow nearly unregulated anonymous, unlimited donations to electeds, and so on. You can't speak to corruption in DC without addressing these. What's your take - is DC in the pocket of special interests that have moved beyond improperly influencing to straight-up buying their own legislation?

ssflanders7 karma

I like how he can't think of a name and just puts "NAME". I'm going to start doing that in my everyday conversations. (Dianne Abbott, Roger.)

ssflanders1 karma

Great adventure! Where do you stay? How do you bake the pies in your camper?

ssflanders1 karma

This is the problem I have with lobbyists. Let's say you work for the American Society of Civil Engineers, who run the website you linked to. Doesn't matter if you do or don't. Now, I absolutely believe that our roads and bridges are crumbling. But I would much rather -- and I would much rather my lawmaker -- get that information from a disinterested party, because the ASCE's financial interest in their argument is so massive. Maybe the truth is just a matter of degrees, the difference between our roads and bridges being D+ and C-. But that's actually an important difference when you're prioritizing very limited funding.

ssflanders1 karma

We have a ton of English Ivy around our property that just takes over everything, climbs up the house, and tries to get in the window. Seriously, we've caught the little tendrils sneaking into windows through gaps in the storm windows. So creepy, in both senses.

How do we kill English Ivy so it never returns?