Comment by mrginger@lemmy.world on Not exactly helping the proles.

But you’re supposed to pick a side and be willing to literally lay down your life for them and their cause! Ra ra, go team go. Otherwise you’re just part of the problem according to either side.

I agree with you and I’ll go a step further and say fuck all politicians in general. Today, they’re all owned in some way by the money that puts them in power. They’ll all tell you what you want to hear. They’re all experts in half truths. Never trust a politician.

Politicians are owned by their constituents, who they overwhelmingly vote in alignment with.

The whole “politicians are owned” thing just doesn’t show up in any data whatsoever.

Take one look at who the biggest lobbyists in the US are. Then compare that to the most glaring issues we have in the US. I’ll wait.

Here’s a link of the top US lobbies, and I’ll go ahead and spoil that it isn’t what you’d think - for instance, no energy lobby makes the list.

Also, you’d think actual votes would be more along lobbyist lines than constituent lines but they are not.

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-spenders

NAR for instance would absolutely love zoning changes that create more homes to sell. That’s a lobby we should listen to.

But again, we don’t, because getting re-elected is always of paramount importance.

You’re joking right? https://www.statista.com/statistics/257364/top-lobbying-industries-in-the-us/

From your own source. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/02/oil-and-gas-industry-spent-124-4-million-on-federal-lobbying-amid-record-profits-in-2022/#:~:text=The oil and gas industry,slightly when adjusted for inflation.

And for you last point about NAR, I have doubts. I could see home builders and home buyers benefitting from zoning changes. It would drive down costs of a new home, open up more choices for home buyers, and put construction companies to work. Realtors are middle men who work off commissions. The more they can sell a house for the more commission they make. Realtors have a vested interest keeping the market balanced in their favor.

Realtors with more property to sell make more than realtors with less property to sell. Do you know actual realtors? The vast majority are not selling a few multi-million houses and calling it a year.

Look at what they lobby for: https://www.nar.realtor/advocacy/federal-advocacy/all-federal-issues

A recent NAR study estimates that the U.S. has developed an “underbuilding gap” of at least 5.5 million housing units over the last 20 years. This translates into more than $4 trillion in underinvestment in housing. Even relatively modest steps taken now to reduce this gap will unleash tremendous economic activity and create millions of new jobs.

Multi-family housing proposals are a core plank of their program, for instance - and yet politicians don’t listen to them because their constituents don’t want them to

I’m not sure what you think you’re arguing when you call me out my link then share data that agrees with my link.

Your preconceived notions are incorrect, and lying about data doesn’t make it correct

Yes I do. None of them are selling affordable single family homes.

As a matter of fact multi-family housing is leading a housing construction “boom” as of articles published 6 days ago.

Here’s a quote from MReport:

Further, almost two-thirds of the apartments build during the pandemic are clustered in just 20 high-growth metropolitan areas, which make up about 41% of the total renter population in the U.S. Therefore, for many other places, the new supply barely made a dent in the existing supply. What’s more, around 89% of the apartments completed in the last three years are high-end and, thus, target upper-middle- and high-income buyers and renters.

So they are building “multi-family homes”, but targeting, wait for it, people with lot’s of money.

So you quit lying.

Come to think of it, you’re singling out the and focusing on the real estate angle pretty hard. Why is that?

I’m curious as to how being a politician is even a job? Do they get salary? If so, from what? How do they pay their mortgages?

Politicians are almost all paid (some things like city council aren’t necessarily paid). Many politicians have “day jobs” they only leave once they reach a level of office where they can live off the pay.

Speaking very broadly, the cutoff is generally “state rep or higher” or “in a big city” where you can lean on politician as your main source of income.

I like how “day job” is in quotes. That makes it seem even sketchier than I originally thought lol

what kind of “day jobs” are we talking about here? Are they in an office?

And yeah, how do they have time to be a politician if they have that day job going?

I’ve worked with local politicians in office settings, as salespeople (trained a city councilwoman as a saleswoman once), etc. They also sometimes own businesses (a bit of selection bias there because that “plays” really well to the electorate).

Most political jobs that aren’t state/federal arent very demanding of time. School board, local government, etc, is generally unpaid/low pay and very much part time. If you can carve a couple nights a week, you can work in local gov.

They also sometimes own businesses

Ah yeah. The kind of people who already had money to start a business in the first place.

If you can carve a couple nights a week, you can work in local gov.

That seems like not nearly enough time to be putting into something that is meant to change how things work. Government is incredibly slow though, I’m aware…

None of this is making them sound… well better.

Welcome to politcal memes!

These are our rules:

Be civil

Jokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.

No misinformation

Don’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.

Posts should be memes

Random pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.

No bots, spam or self-promotion

Follow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.

Not exactly helping the proles.(lemmy.world)

Political Memes

!politicalmemes@lemmy.world

Community stats

Community moderators