"There is No America. There is No Democracy"

Presented almost without comment.  This is our system of government.  Those little elections we have every couple of years?  {Wank Wank}.  From the Financial Times Packed Agenda Proves Boon For Army Standing in Line.

I've bolded the most eerie part!

President Barack Obama's ambitious legislative agenda has created a mini-boom in the US capital for professional "line-standers": the homeless people, bike couriers and pensioners who are paid to queue all night to save seats for lobbyists in crucial congressional hearings.

Line-standing, an unofficial business that began in Washington about a decade ago, has been in demand this year as lobbyists scram-ble to get into legislative hearings shaping the healthcare, finance and energy ind-ustries.

Daily sessions in the Senate finance committee to thrash out healthcare legislation have been a particular boon, with line-standers hired to queue for as long as 24 hours to ensure that lobbyists get seats.

"It's been very busy now with healthcare and everything going on," says Gil Carpel, chief executive at Washington Express, a courier and line-standing company. "The real guts of legislation get massaged and manipulated in committee hearings."

His company charges $36 (€24, £23) an hour for a line-stander, who will queue from as little as two hours to as much as 48, depending on demand for the hearing. The lobbyist usually turns up 20 minutes before it starts and swaps places.

Being in the room maxi-mises a lobbyist's chance of understanding and influencing fast-moving situations in which billions of dollars are at stake.

"If you've got a relationship with a particular legislator you can make eyecontact with that person; you can see how they're reacting to testimony and questioning from therir colleagues," says Mark Gross, director of a rival company, Linestanding.com.

He says business has been "good, not great", suspecting that lobbyists are cutting back a little amid recession. But applications for the job, which pays $10-$20 an hour, have surged as unemployment has risen.

"We've been inundated with folks wanting to stand in line for a living. It's actually a little unsettling."

The capitol buildings open at 7am; before that line-standers queue on the street in camping chairs or even tents. "If the weather's bad, I bring my gear and sleep in my car," says Valentin Yordanov, a courier queuing in a corridor for a House committee hearing on derivatives legislation. The 27-year-old, who moved to Washington from Bulgaria six years ago, says Mr Obama's reform agenda has created more work. "It's the same thing with the recession," he says with a grin. "It means more hearings . . . more work for me."

Linestanding.com hires couriers, pensioners and waiters directly, and subcontracts with a man who hires homeless men from a local shelter. "I don't see any problem in that, helping somebody get back on their feet," says Mr Gross. Washington Express uses only its own couriers.

Claire McCaskill, a Missouri senator, tabled a bill two years ago that would ban the practice, and may revive the effort.

"The notion that special interest groups can buy seats at congressional hearings like they would buy tickets to a concert or football game is offensive to me," she says.

Comments

[Fort Lauderdale Photographer]

When will we sing a new song, goodbye for now, say so long. Just don't tell.

[Zumba Fitness DVD Set]

America known for the democracy

[eric]

I swear AC I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking about a million man march down to dc and take up every place in line for the next five years!

[A C Shareholder]

Eric,

If there is a money to be had let's drop the pretense and start banking. Why should the interlopers be making the money while we pretend that somehow Congress is above money as influence. Sell these seats to lobbyist! We can start with PSLs which could probably fetch an extremely pretty penny, imagine two bickering lobbys that need seats...that price is going sky high. From there we sell the seats with variable pricing. Nobody wants to hear the cub scouts speak but when it comes to health care we should be getting $500 - $1000...it will be paid promise. Here is the best part, if you are registered lobbyist we MAKE THEM BUY the seats. For the common folk, we will do draws or you can queue as usual but if its your business to lobby you have to pay. While the $ won't be dramatic we can put it into some college scholarships, job training, or something that actually will do some good.