This is not just dysfunctional, this is corruption, and Congress isn’t even pretending to hide it. DCCC tells incoming freshman to spend five hours a day hustling money from big pocket contributors. Not surprisingly, most Congress members, even those sponsoring a given bill, often have no idea what’s in it, since getting barely disguised bribe money is their primary goal and they’ve clearly no time for that bothersome law-making stuff or caring about what the non-rich want.
A PowerPoint presentation given to incoming Democratic freshmen legislators by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the DCCC’s recommended schedule for House members includes four hours spent on the phone begging rich people for money and one hour spent begging rich person for money in person.
Given such venality , it’s hardly a surprise that Congress is less popular than cockroaches and colonoscopies. Our political system is rotten to the core.