You can't take a congressman to lunch for $25 and buy him a hamburger or a steak or something like that. But you can take him to a fundraising lunch and not only buy him that steak, but give him $25,000 extra and call it a fundraiser. And have all the same access and all the same interactions with that congressman.

Jack Abramoff

Categorized in : Giving Lunch Hamburgers

Some issues lend themselves to grassroots campaigns - homeschooling works well - but others require contrivance and connivance to whip up support. Often, lobbyists will hire vendors to dispatch blast emails and robocalls in the hopes of bombarding Congressional offices with citizen fury.

Jack Abramoff

issues support office

As a lobbyist, I was completely against term limits, and I know a lot of people are against term limits, and I was one of the leaders, because why? As a lobbyist, once you buy a congressional office, you don't have to re-buy that office in six years, right?

Jack Abramoff

office people years

Access is vital in lobbying. If you can't get in your door, you can't make your case.

Jack Abramoff

lobbying cases doors

Well, I think the great tragedy in American politics is what is legal, not what is illegal.

Jack Abramoff

illegal tragedy thinking

I might dream, but I am no dreamer.

Jack Abramoff

dreamer dream might

Prisoners do different things. Some write, some read. Some engage in athletic events and working out and some do all of that. Some get involved in the religious groups that they're part of. Some get involved in hobbies that are permitted in prison. There are plenty of ways to stay busy. You're never going to survive in prison unless you start getting busy.

Jack Abramoff

work-out religious writing

I'm not exactly the endorsement people are seeking.

Jack Abramoff

endorsements seeking people

In Hollywood, they put the knife in your front; in D.C., they put it in your back. I found far fewer duplicitous people in Hollywood.

Jack Abramoff

knives hollywood people

If you make the choice to serve the public, public service, then serve the public, not yourself.

Jack Abramoff

public-service choices ifs

They realize that spending millions to save billions is just good business.

Jack Abramoff

spending realizing business

As a lobbyist, I thought it only natural and right that my clients should reward those members who saved them such substantial sums with generous contributions. This quid pro quo became one of hallmarks of our lobbying efforts.

Jack Abramoff

lobbying lobbyists effort

In my religion it's actually better to know you're doing wrong and try to improve that wrong than to think philosophically that what you're doing is right and in fact it is wrong.

Jack Abramoff

trying facts thinking

In the past few years I have begun the process of becoming a new man.

Jack Abramoff

men past years

If I read the articles about me, and I didn't know me, I would think I was Satan.

Jack Abramoff

articles satan thinking

I mean, money is a tool.

Jack Abramoff

tools mean

No one wants a domain with their name on it owned by somebody else.

Jack Abramoff

domain names want

One of my personality defects, perhaps, is that I'm rather ADD, and I work on a bunch of things at once.

Jack Abramoff

personality bunch add

In the past two years, I've started the process of becoming a new man. I am much chastened and profoundly remorseful over the reckless and hurtful things I have done in my life, especially those which have brought me before you today.

Jack Abramoff

hurt men past

Words will not be able to ever express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused.

Jack Abramoff

im-sorry regret mistake

Lobbying is not a bad thing. I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't have lobbyists or we shouldn't have lobbying to petition our government. It's in the Constitution, and it's something that should be honorable and good.

Jack Abramoff

lobbyists government trying