美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'Captured,' Democratic Senator Decries Money's Role In Politics

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

During the Democratic presidential primary, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton had the same litmus test for any Supreme² Court nominee³ - overturning Citizens United. That Supreme Court ruling allowed more corporate⁴ money in campaigns. And it's just one of the ways that Democrats⁵ argue corporations have taken over American politics. Corporate influence is a subject of a new book by Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat¹. The book is called "Captured: The Corporate Infiltration⁶ Of American Democracy." Senator Whitehouse, thanks for being in the studio.

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: Great to be with you, Ari. Thank you for having me.

SHAPIRO: You argue that American government is effectively held hostage and steered⁷ by corporate interests. And I wonder if you could begin by giving us a personal example from your career as a senator when you felt pressure from a specific corporation to do something that you felt was not in your constituents⁸' interests.

WHITEHOUSE: It hasn't happened in that exact way. The observation that I would make is that before Citizens United, when I first got to the Senate, we had probably a solid handful Republican-sponsored climate change bills floating around. And...

SHAPIRO: Easy for you to put this on Republicans, but I'm wondering if you personally have felt pressure, even as a Democrat representing a liberal state like Rhode Island?

WHITEHOUSE: I can't think of a particular instance. You see things appear when you see home state problems with senators.

SHAPIRO: So a corn-growing state senator advocates for an ethanol subsidy¹⁰.

WHITEHOUSE: Yes.

SHAPIRO: Or a senator from a state with a financial industry advocates for something that might help banks.

WHITEHOUSE: Yes.

SHAPIRO: Things like that.

WHITEHOUSE: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: But Rhode Island is pure.

WHITEHOUSE: Well, you know, we don't have a whole ton of big corporations who are located there to begin with. So maybe it's not so much that we're pure as we just have the good fortune of not having so much.

SHAPIRO: You describe $30 in corporate lobbying being spent for every $1 by anyone else. Can you just give us a sense of what that feels like being on the receiving end of that as a senator?

WHITEHOUSE: It means that people are constantly asking for your time.

SHAPIRO: And when you say people you mean...

WHITEHOUSE: I mean lobbyists representing different industries.

SHAPIRO: And you feel as though if you don't take those meetings, suddenly millions of dollars will be spent against you in your next campaign? Is there an implicit¹¹ threat or what?

WHITEHOUSE: No, not really. I think it's a more steady pressure. It's a little bit like a tide that gently moves the whole system in a certain direction from all that pressure. And it's almost - if you're sailing in a tide, it's almost hard to know you're in a tide, but you are moving. And I think that's a little bit more what happens, except on some of the really big issues where the fossil fuel industry or the Wall Street folks say, cross us on this, and we are coming after you.

SHAPIRO: Do they say that explicitly¹²? Or is it - I mean, how is that communicated?

WHITEHOUSE: it's communicated by, say, Bob Inglis - very conservative congressman¹³ who actually had kind of an epiphany on climate change getting wiped out by the fossil fuel industry in his next primary. The verb to be Inglis-ed (ph) became a thing for a while. It sent a message that you don't cross us on this.

SHAPIRO: Donald Trump¹⁴ ran on a platform of drain the swamp. He argued that he didn't need to take corporate money because he was rich enough to self-fund his campaign, even though that ended up not being true. Do you think his rhetoric¹⁵ shows that, in a way, a vote for Donald Trump was a recognition of the problems that you're raising in this book?

WHITEHOUSE: I absolutely agree with that. I absolutely agree with that. I think a lot of the people who voted for Donald Trump were frustrated¹⁶. And what they thought was - OK, government is broken. Therefore, we're going to send in this incendiary character. And he's just going to going to bust¹⁷ it all up, and we'll see what happens. My thesis is that government is not, in fact, broken. It's just listening to the wrong people, and it's listening to all of this quiet influence. So it's a very robust¹⁸ operation that operates kind of under the surface.

SHAPIRO: Do you think that the mainstream¹⁹ of your party, the Democrats, understands this as much as you would like them to? Or does the popularity of somebody like Bernie Sanders, somebody like Elizabeth Warren show that the official party leaders aren't quite getting the message?

WHITEHOUSE: Hard to say. What I take your question to mean is - how many people actually have stepped back and looked at all the different ways in which government operates and then tried to look across all of them - at the different means and manners in which corporate influence penetrates²⁰ them and infiltrates²¹? And that, I think, is what a lot of people have not done. And that's why I think my book might be of some of some interest 'cause it tries to look across the board.

SHAPIRO: Well, except that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are giving speeches about this all the time. And, you know, Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, the head of the House Democrats - they're not giving these kinds of speeches all the time. So it's not that they aren't hearing the speeches that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are giving, right?

WHITEHOUSE: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: I mean, does that show that the leaders of the Democratic Party are saying, not my issue?

WHITEHOUSE: I don't know. I don't know. I think that the way I would describe it is that issues come up that need to be addressed. And we try to address that issue. But looking behind the scenes and trying to take time to actually explain what's going on behind the scenes isn't part of the drama and conflict of much legislative²² and political activity. And it's not clear to a lot of people that taking the time to go behind the scenes and point out how they're pulling this all off is worth the effort.

I think that it's worth the American people understanding the multiple ways in which this takes place. And all of that manifests itself up on the main stage when a particular fight about carried interest, climate change, Wall Street penalties, Wall Street regulatory reform or other - pharmaceutical²³ prices - comes to the fore⁹.

SHAPIRO: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island - the new book is called "Captured: The Corporate Infiltration Of American Democracy" - thanks a lot for joining us.

WHITEHOUSE: Thanks, Ari.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

7 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

10 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

11 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

12 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

16 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

18 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

19 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

20 penetrates   

v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透

参考例句：

• This is a telescope that penetrates to the remote parts of the universe. 这是一架能看到宇宙中遥远地方的望远镜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dust is so fine that it easily penetrates all the buildings. 尘土极细，能极轻易地钻入一切建筑物。 来自辞典例句

21 infiltrates   

n.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的名词复数 )v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Caves form when water infiltrates limestone. 水渗透石灰石则形成洞穴。 来自辞典例句
• The tumor encircles the colon and infiltrates into the wall. 肿瘤环绕结肠四周浸润肠壁。 来自互联网

22 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

23 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。