Lawrence Lessig: Corrupt Congress a Farm League for K Street Lobbyists Video

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/08/Lawrence_Lessig_on_Institutional_Corruption

Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig makes a sweeping indictment of the relationship between special interest groups, their lobbyists, and Capitol Hill politicians. "Members, staffers and bureaucrats increasingly have a common business model in their head as they serve in Washington," says Lessig. "The business model is focused on their life after government - life as lobbyists."

-----

Larry Lessig introduces the Safra lecture series with a discussion on institutional corruption.

He explores the prevalence of this form of corruption in fields ranging from politics to medicine to journalism, and describes his plan to study and contain this problem. - Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard University

Lawrence Lessig is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school's Center for Internet and Society. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, contracts, and the law of cyberspace. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he was Berkman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a professor at the University of Chicago.

He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. For much of his career, he has focused on law and technology, especially as it affects copyright.

Recognized for arguing against interpretations of copyright that could stifle innovation and discourse online, he is CEO of the Creative Commons project, and he has been a columnist for Wired, Red Herring, and The Industry Standard.

Save & Share:

originaljonesdotinfo: fantastic presentation

ad2181: Obama and Soros.

Daniel44125: The vast majority of congress and the white house are corrupt to the core. The only one in congress I feel is honest is Ron Paul

razorflown2: Ya, we're screwed. Get your degree and move overseas.

sexdrugsRnR: becoming apart of the state means that you are either evil or ignorant.

monkeybudge: Lobbyists have no shame , how do they live with them selves ?

PEinHK: Jeff Flake as well

freesk8: Lobbyists are just a symptom. The cause is excess power in the hands of congress.

freesk8: Power tends to corrupt. When a member of congress has the power to tip the scales in favor of a corp or a special interest, money "tries" to get to that politician as air trying to get back in to an evacuated bottle. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, politics abhors un-exercised power. The cause of our problem is that congress has seized powers not authorized in the Constitution. And WE are the ones that gave them that excess power. The power of democracy has corrupted the people.

AimiriZ: People should be grabbing their pitchforks.

16242T: This system would definitely not attract and keep good people in politics. It's a scum-rises-to-the-top system.

RenegadeTimes: As the mafia collects there "protection" so do the corporations from their puppet politicians. There are lists available online detailing who got what from whom. It makes sense who runs the world and why once you read the list. Corruption is inevitable. Big suprise huh ?

RenegadeTimes: Antidepressants to blur their responsibilities and conscience , of course.

thetimman00: Did Obama use any lobbyists for his administration?

eirefrance: Lots of them.

Mastikator: He had more than twice the contributions from big corporations than McCain.

lennhart: Lobbys don't just LOBBY a particular administration. They have permanent offices throughout DC, primarily K-STREET. This is NOT an Obama problem. Its a US GOVT PROBLEM. These lobbies represent the MONIED and corporate interests and they don't give a shit about you if you are not a source of their riches. K-street is where the US govt is PIMPED.

Author: ForaTv; Uploaded: Nov 3, 2009; Duration: 4:29; Views: 1537

Tags: congressional  republicans  democrats  staff  aides  lobbying  special  interests  interest  groups  money  corruption  campaign  contributions  finance  donations  lessig the future of ideas lessig free culture lessig remix lessig code is law lessig video lessig code lessig free culture pdf lessig twitter lessig ted lessig method