Homeless stand in for lobbyist on capital hill. Line holders paid $11 to $35 per hour

[Liberal_in_LA]

Homeless stand in for lobbyists on Capitol Hill

updated 2:31 p.m. EDT, Mon July 13, 2009


By Tara Palmeri
For CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Once he roamed the streets, moving from shelter to shelter. Now, Oliver Gomes rubs shoulders with Washington's elite.

Squatting next to a white wall outside a Senate hearing room recently with a cell phone glued to his ear, Gomes is being paid to hold a place in line for a lobbyist at a hearing on the climate-change bill.

Gomes -- 6 feet tall, with long curly hair pulled back, wearing a polo shirt and shorts -- is one of the contracted men and women holding places in line for this hearing. Many have been waiting since midnight to ensure their clients a seat.

By 9 a.m., more than 100 people are lined up for the hearing. Only 10 seats are available to the public, and the first 10 spots are held by line-standers. The rest are shut out.

Though the practice is controversial, Gomes said it has lifted him from life on the street.

"Sitting in the halls of Congress made me feel a little better," he said. "It elevated me and made me feel like, well, you know, maybe I do belong here, maybe I can contribute even at that little minute level.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/13/line.standers/index.html?tsp=1

For big hearings with limited availability, line-standers may wait 20 to 30 hours. They're paid anywhere from $11 to $35 an hour.

Gomes was living in a shelter when he started line-standing. He said working in the halls of Congress gave him the motivation and money he needed to get off the streets. He now makes extra money by recruiting men for the line-standing services from the homeless shelters where he used to stay.

[BlooInBloo]

1. I feel for the homeless/jobless doing it, but that practice needs to be banned.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. It's been around for a long, long time -

I know that I heard lobbyist pals talking about it back in the eighties. Probably began when Reagan threw everyone out of the mental hospitals. That's when the homeless-on-the-streets problem in DC really became almost overwhelming.....................

[progdonkey]

3. yeah, with all the money the lobbyists have...

if they really cared about helping the homeless, they could give them a few thousand dollars cash each, instead of $500 to stand in line for a day and help the lobbyists subvert citizen participation in our democracy.

I try not to blame desperate people for their actions; I blame those who take advantage of that desperation for their own selfish purposes.

[Sebastian Doyle]

10. Along with the lobbyists bastards who hired them.

And for those who would argue the existence of "good" lobbyists, perhaps some do exist. But I very much doubt they're the ones hiring people to stand in line for them.

[John Q. Citizen]

11. that and private health insurance companies. Of course the line standers actually

perform a service and actually work for their money.

[ZombieHorde]

18. If I really needed the money I would do it. nt

[vadawg]

20. for $35 an hour ill do it on my days off if they asked me

that could work out as a nice earner.. Wonder if the dude is reachable...

[thistooshalllpass]

34. Yeah, I don't see a problem with it at all, as long as they are not uncomfortable. n/t

[givemebackmycountry]

4. This is just atrocious...

"Once he roamed the streets, moving from shelter to shelter.
Now, Oliver Gomes rubs shoulders with Washington's elite".

Look, I understand that and GOOD, GOOD, GOOD, for Oliver.
He's getting PAID.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but for most of us here, getting PAID is paramount.
That's all well and good.
Pay this man, in FULL.

Then, let me sit next to you, the evil scum who did the paying of Oliver Gomes.
It won't be pretty, and I'll be in handcuffs.

Ain't this some bullshit?

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. There is poetry in your post

[givemebackmycountry]

9. Really bad poetry, but poetry indeed!

But, what do I know...
I've been drinking top shelf Margarita's since 8:00 pm eastern.
Thanks!

Dodgers won!

:toast: :hi: :toast:

[MercutioATC]

5. Solution: Adopt "Best Buy Rules"

The person who actually stands in line is the person that gets in.

I think it'd be interesting to see homeless people lobbying...

[csziggy]

37. Exactly - force the lobbyists to do the scut work for the privilege of buying votes from lawmakers

I agree that I don't want to take the money away from the homeless, but the damned lobbyists should have to actually work to get access to our lawmakers.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. They do this at the passport office in Canada too

I go past a Canadian passport office every day, homeless people wait outside every night and sell their place in line to passport seekers the following morning.

[rwheeler31]

8. This is just wrong, They used to buy army men.

[1]

12. a job is a job. eh?

[RandomThoughts]

13. Why do you think capitalism wants homeless and hungry people.

Because if people had food and housing and health security, they might not be willing to do anything for money.


The suffering of the people is to help those with money better control people. If you want to lower money control, lower suffering of people.

Which also explains many policies of some groups.

[bobbolink]

36. You've hit it right on target! There is method in the poverty madness!

:applause:

[1]

14. seriouisly. y'all would deny a homeless person some money so they could buy some food?

y'all that say that disgust me...

[MercutioATC]

15. I trust that was said in jest.

If a homeless person was selling his "placeholder" status as an organ recipient, would you feel differently?

If an existing procedure is wrong, it's wrong...even if homeless people have found a way to use it to their advantage.

[1]

16. and i trust you have never been hungry in your life...

get all smug and superior on me. please...

[MercutioATC]

17. I'm not faulting the homeless, I'm faulting the process.

Whether or not the homeless can find a way to profit should not be the litmus test for a procedure.


Hiring a homeless person to hold one's place in line...whether for political gain or an X-Box...is generally viewed as wrong.

[1]

19. may they never eat. is that your stand?

fuck you.

[MercutioATC]

21. That's bullshit and you know it.

It's Saturday night, so I'll assume alcohol consumption.


If you're posting like this sober, you might want to consider having a drink from time to time...

[zonkers]

30. I don't have a probelm with it. Happens at concerts, etc.

[Orsino]

26. I would deny the people that *keep* them homeless...

...the ability to buy their way into the halls of power.

[aquart]

22. But they don't get benefits, do they?

[vadawg]

23. great second job though, $35 an hour just to stand in line

and better than sitting in the park being hungry.

[Hannah Bell]

24. 2nd? half the US population makes under $15/hr.

[ipaint]

25. Good for the homeless people

They are doing the best they can in a system that works 100% against them. When it comes down to it don't we all.
Certainly proves most of these people simply need a decent job and a roof.

[Vinca]

27. I'm happy for the homeless, but it's unfair if it keeps other people

who aren't rich lobbyists out of a meeting. The solution is for security to photograph and issue IDs to people as they line up. If the lobbyists want to be represented by the person they've hired to wait in line, they should give the person a raise and benefits.

[Obamanaut]

28. If the people who are 'shut out' because they are far back in line

want to be at the head of the line, get there earlier or hire their own place-holders.

[Vinca]

32. So the average citizen will be unable to attend a hearing.

I can't afford to hire a place holder and my health would not allow me to stand in line for 30 hours.

[Obamanaut]

35. Have you missed any of the meetings due to lines, place holders,

or physical limitations?

[Vinca]

38. If I lived in the DC area, apparently I would have since I can't afford

to pay someone to hold my place. What's your point anyway? The lobbyists are exploiting the homeless people. They offer a quick buck, no benefits and will drop them like rocks without notice. It's not a stretch to imagine the homeless being hired by lobbyists to wait in line for a meeting where a lobbyist intends to lobby against help for the homeless.

[Obamanaut]

39. My point is you have not been directly affected by any of this. Some

people who needed money benefitted immediately by becoming line standers/place holders. It is possible they had no other income.

You typed "I can't afford to hire a place holder and my health would not allow me to stand in line for 30 hours." You were not directly affected. You also mentioned the average person - my guess is the average person would not be bothered to take the time to attend one of these - imo, based on absolutely no scientific study.

[surrealAmerican]

33. That's one solution.

Another would be to issue everybody who shows up by a certain deadline a ticket, and choose randomly from the pool of ticket holders.

[ipaint]

29. I don't see much differerence between

what these people without homes are doing when people with homes work for insurance companies as mouthpieces denying claims which increases shareholder profits, or working for the credit card industry chasing down and harassing people late on payments or countless other jobs which in the end further corporate control over all of us.

We are all in the same boat. Not having a home has nothing to do with it.

[Vidar]

31. Oh, for the good old days, when one could buy 100 votes in the bar.