How to Get Thrown Out of a Luxury Hotel

By James Kwak

That’s one of the subplots of Big Money, by Politico reporter Kenneth Vogel, a book that I reviewed for yesterday’s issue of the New York Times Book Review. You can read that review, so I won’t re-review it here, except to say that if you were wondering how political operatives get rich people to part with their money, you’ll find out here.

22 thoughts on “How to Get Thrown Out of a Luxury Hotel”

  1. Got throwed out of a campground by some rude state troopers one year, I still owe them one for that.

  2. So, why wouldn’t the logical conclusion of this book review be that government is too powerful, and should be restricted to a ‘night watchman state’ to which rich people would be indifferent?

  3. Funny, I guess that would depend on who the night watchman was, and what was it that he was watching. Bad intentions never solved any real problems, only their own perceived ones.

  4. I really love your site.. Very nice colors & theme. Did you
    create this site yourself? Please reply back as I’m planning to create my own personal site and would love to know where
    you got this from or what the theme is named. Appreciate it!

  6. None so far there Pat, political corruption, arrogance, and hypocrisy have prevented real problems from being solved. We all know about the dysfunction of politics, but still vote for the politician anyway because it is ingrained into our society and slowly consumes the host like a cancer hidden from sight. We are to absorbed with all the new gagets to see to the root of the problems, yet they so plain to see.

    Then the frustration sets the pace until the conversation is changed or aborted all together giving the cancer more time to grow in the absence of a cure, or a solution in the political world. Oh what a web we weave when we first practice to deceive.

  9. The enablers for all this are the lawmakers themselves: As the campaign laws they pass work now, it’s really not illegal for them to take a bribe, just illegal for a citizen to stupidly offer one.

  10. I enjoyed the NYT review very much, and I’m thankful to Professor James Kwak for bringing it to our attention. This guy Vogel reminds me of the Michael Hastingses, the Jeremy Scahills, and the Glen Greenwalds of the world. I mean that to be one of the highest compliments imaginable to a journalist. Even maybe a Sam Donaldson back in the early 1980s in his more prickly days before the fire went out of his belly.

    That is to say, Mr Vogel is not afraid to get out of his “comfort zone” and enter socially awkward situations, or even mild physical harm to get to the heart of a matter, ask the tough questions, or, heaven forbid, stick a microphone or tape recorder in responsible parties faces to get the story. Most reporters (and I refuse to call them journalists, more like propaganda transmitters and transcribers) aren’t willing to go to the lengths Mr. Vogel went to to let us know what is going on in “Big Money”.

    Even Mark Leibovich’s book “This Town” (which I am very glad he published and wrote) although reveals many humorous stories and blunt truths of Washington DC and the mutually beneficial circle-jerk going on between mainstream media outlets and politicians, only tells us in more minute detail what we really already knew. HIs book is really only special in one of DC’s own taking an ice pick to the already strongly suspected parties.

    This is why conspiracy theories often tend to be humorous, as there are enough REAL conspiracies we needn’t spend hours trying to figure out such mundane things as who was the last D-bag to put his seed in Marilyn Monroe

  14. WARNING, off topic

    This is 10 months dated, and much related I think to the core basis of this blog, and on the chance few Baselinescenario “regulars” had missed it, I wanted to post it and deem it VERY worthy of watching:

  15. Nomi Prins, discussing her OUTSTANDING book “All The Presidents’ Bankers”, in my personal opinion the BEST finance/economics book of 2014 (Ok, I admit I have a schoolboy crush on Miss Prins, but that’s beside the point):

  16. Nomi Prins, talking about how almost NOTHING has changed since 2008. You can tell the energy she has put into this book. It’s a lot of research and this interview just brushes the surface of the research and connecting of relationships she did in writing her book:

  17. So look at the history of this website – how many years? – rationalizing “what happened to the economy?” – going through many psychobabble stances…from calling the 40 million HONESTLY EARNED WEALTH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS being robbed to stand up the mercenary army “deadbeats”

    to CNBCs interview with Icahn last week – the eternally enduring “whoopsie” explanation and the unknown knowns….

    WHen analyzing such chicanery, how can you accuse anyone else of “blood on his hands” for leading the BRICS into establishing an “economy” free from the leadership of the psychotic and depraved Ponzi masters of the universe and their mercenary Ork army?!!

    Just War.

  18. From James Dean to the lost war on drugs, it’s only a matter of time Annie, I promise you that.

  20. Well i’m using my education on ya right now, so at this moment, I would say yes.

  21. Based on your command of the English language, you should take out a student loan, Anonymousy…

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