For all their harrumphing about the evils of corporate influence-peddling, left-wing demagogues such as Warren are amazingly—perhaps willfully—blind to the biggest influence-seekers in state and federal capitols. I'm referring to government agencies. "The money spent on lobbying by government agencies—cities, counties, school districts, water agencies, even rent control boards across the Golden State—consistently ranks at or near the top of the heap," according to a KQED report.
It's a big problem at the local level, too. The League of California Cities, one of those powerful Sacramento-based government interest groups that spends big on statehouse lobbying, held a training academy at a recent conference in Long Beach.
One of its sessions taught local government officials how to "generate critical revenues to address city needs" by "carrying out a local ballot measure campaign." The program encouraged cities to launch these campaigns – and provided detailed information on how to craft the ballot measures, conduct polling and create the right messaging. For instance, it taught them to pitch these measures as a way to protect public services rather than as tax hikes.
So, a government-funded interest group is "educating" government officials how to run a political campaign to convince voters to raise taxes. This is done on the public dime. Cities even hire consulting groups to run the process. "It sounds exactly like a campaign," said Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Will O'Neill. "They poll ahead of time. They draft the ballot and draft the educational materials. Some cities put the election information in utility bills."
https://reason.com/2019/11/01/when-government-lobbies-government-for-more-government/
It's a big problem at the local level, too. The League of California Cities, one of those powerful Sacramento-based government interest groups that spends big on statehouse lobbying, held a training academy at a recent conference in Long Beach.
One of its sessions taught local government officials how to "generate critical revenues to address city needs" by "carrying out a local ballot measure campaign." The program encouraged cities to launch these campaigns – and provided detailed information on how to craft the ballot measures, conduct polling and create the right messaging. For instance, it taught them to pitch these measures as a way to protect public services rather than as tax hikes.
So, a government-funded interest group is "educating" government officials how to run a political campaign to convince voters to raise taxes. This is done on the public dime. Cities even hire consulting groups to run the process. "It sounds exactly like a campaign," said Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Will O'Neill. "They poll ahead of time. They draft the ballot and draft the educational materials. Some cities put the election information in utility bills."
https://reason.com/2019/11/01/when-government-lobbies-government-for-more-government/