I see, that's interesting that there is not a budget allocated for, say, X aides per senator, that they can hire and dismiss based on their current needs. I also see how "industry" takes advantage, because their expert advice costs $$$ but is fully subsidized by the lobbying budget. Govt can't compete, but some rules and a sustainable budget can solve this problem.
Yeah it was surprising to me too. But I guess not surprising that government doesn't have enough money. But it also made a lot of sense about how lobbyists were so effective. How it looked like things could be justified as not nefarious but can quickly go that way.
I am going mostly off of what this guy told me but I have no good reason to distrust him. (It felt like talking nerd to nerd, not with a politician)
