Chapter 663 - 311: The Table-Flipper’s Price

The rain was still falling in Washington D.C.

Leo sat in his suite at the Willard Hotel, gazing out at the rain-shrouded city.

He had just gotten off the phone with Pittsburgh.

Ethan reported that while the drug shortage was causing panic, their "smuggling" channels were working. With capital injections from the trust and financial subsidies, they could hold out for a while longer.

This was an endurance race.

Leo was waiting.

Waiting for Sterling’s call. Waiting for the alliance of energy giants to make a decision.

"The politics in this country are such a damn hassle."

Leo set his water glass down on the coffee table with a soft clink.

"Something that could be solved with a direct phone call has to be dragged through this massive song and dance. It’s a blatant exchange of interests, but it has to be cloaked in the guise of lobbying."

Leo was getting frustrated.

He felt it was all just pointlessly convoluted.

Back in Pittsburgh, he could just summon those factory owners to his office, slam his fist on the table, and tell them to either pay up or get out.

But in Washington, he had to learn this whole set of tedious protocols.

He had to go through lobbyists on K Street, through those middlemen in suits, to even have a conversation with capital.

’Don’t complain, Leo.’

Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind.

’Do you know why lobbyists can exist so brazenly?’

"Of course. It’s because of the First Amendment to the Constitution," Leo said. "It guarantees citizens the right to petition the government."

’That’s true, but it’s not the whole story.’

Roosevelt’s voice transported Leo back to the United States of the early nineteenth century.

’Back then, this country was still young, and very naive. People were deeply influenced by republicanism, believing that congressmen were sacred, to be driven only by the public will, not tainted by private interests.’

’Therefore, the law strictly forbade corporate representatives from entering the legislative chambers.’

’If a coal baron wanted to talk to a congressman about tax issues, he couldn’t go into the office. He could only wait in the lobby outside the chamber.’

’Because they spent so much time in the lobby, they came to be known as ’lobbyists.’’

Roosevelt chuckled.

’Back then, it was a dirty word. It was synonymous with political brokers and shady, under-the-table dealings.’

’But then, the times changed.’

’At the end of the nineteenth century, the industrial giants rose.’

’Railroads, steel, oil—these behemoths changed the United States, and they changed politics too.’

’Congressmen found they didn’t know how to set railroad tariffs or how high to set steel standards.’

’That’s when the role of the lobbyist changed.’

’They started providing policy research, packaging their special interests into thick scientific reports.’

’They told the congressmen: I’m not influencing you, I’m educating you.’

A hint of mockery tinged Roosevelt’s voice.

’That was the first shield they found for themselves.’

’And the beginning of their legitimization.’

Leo listened, lost in thought.

’So, that’s what ’education’ means.’

’Then came 1946.’

Roosevelt continued.

’After World War II, the Federal Government realized that lobbying had seeped into the very marrow of the system. It was better to regulate it than to try and block it entirely.’

’So they passed the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act.’

’This law seemed to restrict lobbyists, but in reality, it was giving them licenses.’

’It stipulated: as long as you admit you are lobbying, and as long as you tell the government how much you spent and who you met with, your actions are legal.’

’This step was crucial.’

Roosevelt emphasized.

’It turned dark money into expenditures made in the light of day.’

’As long as you’re on the registry, your contacts are no longer collusion, but a petition protected by the Constitution.’

’And then we come to your era.’

Roosevelt sighed.

’The 2010 Citizens United case was the detonator that finally set off this atomic bomb.’

’The Supreme Court ruled that money is speech.’

’Corporate and Union donations to support political activities were a form of free speech, protected by the Constitution.’

’This created a perfect, closed loop of legitimization.’

’Lobbyists no longer stuff money directly into a congressman’s pocket—that’s bribery.’

’They donate money to Super PACs that support the congressman, to be used for buying TV ads and campaigning.’

’The lobbyist becomes the intermediary. They take money from corporations, influence congressmen with research reports, and the congressmen repay the corporations with favorable policies.’

’Today’s lobbyists have become power brokers.’

’They not only buy votes, they even draft legislation.’

Roosevelt’s voice grew somber.

’That is the history of the evolution of the lobbying system.’

’From individual actions, to a legal loophole, and finally to a massive industry protected by the Constitution.’

’Through this complex process, it disguises a naked exchange of interests as sacred democratic participation.’

’The very fact that it has been rationalized throughout history only underscores the importance of the lobbyist. No one would bother creating a justification for something worthless.’

"How important can it be?" Leo grumbled. "It’s just a justification that’s become a habit."

’You’re oversimplifying things,’ Roosevelt said.

’Politicians hold public power, and capitalists hold money. If you let those two forces confront each other directly, with no middleman, no buffer, there can be only one outcome: a naked, all-out war of consumption and annihilation.’

’The existence of lobbyists is to make that struggle civilized and controllable. Representatives sitting down over coffee to discuss terms is far more respectable than a Mayor and a CEO holding guns to each other’s heads.’

’It’s Washington’s safety valve.’

Leo leaned back on the sofa and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I want to talk too, but they cut off Pittsburgh’s medicine supply directly."

’That’s because you’re not doing business with them, Leo.’

Roosevelt’s voice turned stern.

’Other politicians go to them looking for money, for a piece of the pie under the existing rules. In that situation, there’s always room for discussion. You give a little, I give a little, and in the end, you reach a compromise.’

’But you’re different.’

’Your actions are subversive. You’re trying to flip the whole table.’

’The ’Drug Benefit Transparency Act’ and the Mutual Aid Alliance are, in essence, digging up their roots. You want to abolish the middleman’s cut for Pharmacy Benefit Managers. You want to snatch pricing power from their hands and give it back to the people.’

’You’re going for their throats. How can they possibly negotiate with you?’

Leo fell silent.

He had to admit Roosevelt was right.

From the very beginning, he had never intended to coexist with the old order. He wanted to build a new one.

"So..." Leo sighed. "That’s why I’m always so tired. I feel like I’m constantly putting out fires, constantly dealing with emergencies. They cut off the supply, I have to find medicine. They sue us, I have to find lawyers. I’m always on the defensive, just taking hits."

’That’s perfectly normal.’

Roosevelt’s tone was calm.

’In a political struggle, reacting to your opponent’s moves as they come is the norm. The idea of having a flawless plan and mapping out every step in advance only exists in novels.’

’Take this supply cutoff, for example. You did anticipate they would strike back, but you couldn’t possibly have stockpiled a year’s worth of medicine for the entire Alliance in warehouses in Pittsburgh beforehand.’

’That would require hundreds of millions of US Dollars in liquid capital and enormous warehousing costs. Making such preparations before a crisis would have bankrupted you outright.’

’This is the defender’s dilemma.’

’Think about 9/11,’ Roosevelt said. ’Before those two planes hit the World Trade Center, don’t you think there was intelligence on the FBI’s desks? There was. Reports about unusual students at flight schools, about the movements of extremists—the intelligence was there.’

’But no one could have predicted the outcome.’

’Before it happened, there were thousands of possible scenarios. Maybe a hijacking, maybe a bomb, maybe just a false alarm.’

’The government can’t just shut down the airspace and evacuate buildings every day based on a few vague leads. The country can’t afford that kind of cost.’

’Resources are always finite, while threats are infinite.’

Roosevelt’s voice reverberated in his mind.

’The terrorists only needed a few box cutters and some plane tickets, costing a few thousand US Dollars. But to defend against them, the government has to spend hundreds of billions of US Dollars a year on security systems, intelligence networks, and the military.’

’Defense is expensive, while offense is cheap.’

’For Pfizer to cut off the supply chain, all it took was sending an email. For you to solve the problem, you need to mobilize hundreds of millions of US Dollars, fly to Washington, and engage in this high-stakes game with Sterling.’

’That’s the root of your exhaustion.’

Roosevelt continued.

’The political environment is dynamic. Your opponents are living people; they adjust their strategies based on your moves. You can never fully predict this kind of interference from external variables while sitting in your office.’

’If you plug a legal loophole, they’ll use administrative measures. If you get the State Government on your side, they’ll resort to a commercial blockade. If you tried to anticipate and plug all one hundred possible holes, you’d exhaust all your political capital, time, and money before the battle even began.’

’That’s the law of diminishing marginal returns for defense.’

’The more you invest, the less marginal security you gain.’

Leo listened to these words, watching the rain outside the window.

He thought of Ethan’s anxious face, and of Sarah’s bloodshot eyes.

They were all desperately trying to plug the holes.

"So..." Leo said in a low voice, "if I want to upend the entire system, is my future just going to be an endless, exhausting scramble? Always patching up holes?"

’Yes.’

Roosevelt’s reply was merciless.

’As long as you’re standing in the eye of the storm, as long as you want to change the rules, there will be no end to days like these.’

’The old powers will constantly attack you from unexpected angles. Today it’s cutting off medicine, tomorrow it might be cutting off the internet, and the day after it could be financial sanctions.’

’You will get tired, you will get hurt, and you will feel despair countless times.’

’That is the fate of a reformer.’

’If you want a comfortable life as an official, go be a rubber stamp like William. If you want to be a Caesar, you have to be prepared to sleep on a knife’s edge every night.’

Roosevelt paused, looking at Leo.

’Leo, these are the rules of the game you have to face.’

’If you want to win by these rules, you have to know how to play the game better than they do.’

Leo watched the rain outside his window.

He understood.

In this city, nothing was simple.

Every deal was wrapped in a thick cloak of legality, and every action had to conform to tedious procedural justice.

It disgusted him, but it also excited him.

Because once you saw through the disguise, what remained was still the most primitive law of the jungle.

Whoever has the bigger fist makes the rules.

RING—!!

His phone suddenly rang.

Leo was jolted back to his senses.

He glanced at the caller ID.

Sterling.

’Looks like they’ve come to their senses.’

Leo picked up the phone.

"Hello."

"Mayor Wallace."

It was Sterling’s voice.

"I think we need to talk."