Congressional Fundraising: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Lawmakers have to raise money to keep their jobs, but a surprising amount of their job now consists of raising money. John Oliver sits down with Congressman Steve Israel to discuss the costs of political spending.
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"Not bad for wine in a bag!" "Sure. That's fair." I'm DYING.
Some of John's best work!
That must have skinned the senator if he got any. Cold blooded unmasking of a politician.
And the way it was delivered? So dry? Absolutely some of his best work.
Mad props to Rep. Israel for having a wonderful sense of humor and honesty... and bravery to be interviewed by John Oliver. LOL
0 shots given. A true political machine workhorse.
"not what our founders had in mind"
That really sums it up.
+Joshua Ehl Believe that can be said for most of things in the US today.
Seth Crimson Nailed it.
To be fair the said founders were slavers, so it's probably for the best :)
Eh the same could be said for the USA not officially supporting slavery but here we are anyway.
Who gives a fuck what a bunch of flea bitten primitives thought hundreds of years ago.
I admire how this man can keep a friendly professional smile while talking about the most horrible, soul-crushing parts of being a politician.
His job was to be the soul crusher, and he was proud of that fact, and damn good at it.
Well, the entire premise of show is examining definitive soul-crushing aspects of being an American...
...and our developmentally arrested species in general.
And in hindsight he would say that he wasn't extreme enough.
John Oliver is one of those rare personalities I love because they don't cater to the interviewers and keep their own style throughout
Great. To be a successful politician in the U.S. you have to be a good telemarketer. That explains a lot.
+Matthew Sexton Not really If I were a Congressman or Senator I would ask for direct contributions from my voters and not big corporations or rich people because because I'm a real progressive and I want our country to become a Social Democracy like Denmark ( A Capitalist economy with actual rules to make everything fair ).
And new tele- is social media, not phones
@@koukkoufos2000 As the system currently is, you'd pretty much have to be in a safe seat and be an independent candidate in order to be able to do that sort of thing.
+xXXDumbWordStupidNumberXXx Fair enough, but it’s possible to be a Progressive in a deep blue Democratic U.S House district lol
@@koukkoufos2000 But they'd still have to take large donations in order to pay party dues, that's why I said they'd pretty much have to be independent.
John Oliver, thank you for helping me pass my last two high school history exams. It is both a genuinely amazing feat for you and a truly damming sign for our country's education system that I learn more about our government watching you than I have in four months of educational classes. Keep up the good work of teaching your viewers the truth about world wide politics and feeding my newly introduced swearing habit.
It sucks he doesn't post once a week every week but it's on HBO so, seasons
How’s the swearing going lol? You learned from the best!
But y'know, fair play to Steve Israel. There's not many politicians who'd just sit there and not just take, but participate in an interview that was mostly a piss-take
Tom Magennis He seemed pretty relatable. Very real.
When you're retiring with a hefty pension, a padded savings account in the bank, and are about to be freed from Congress for life, I think it's fair to not give a shit about anything.
It's not though. The same way that this video wasn't just a piss-take.
It's things like this that manage to get this important information to many people; Steve Israel simply got another medium to inform the public about how ridiculous that system he despises is and how we _really need to change it_ - which is what he himself wants, far as I understood it. For people to get upset about it and to work together to change it.
I enjoyed watching him die inside as John drank the wine from the bag 😂
@@Ethan-yk3hi me too. It was so sadistic but, worth watching. John nailed it.
In fairness, Johnny's has AMAZING food. I used to work there, and while I did, our chef, Ann Cashion, won the James Beard award for best chef in the mid-Atlantic region.
Awesome thanks for sharing
It looks like it was a great place. Johnny's hair didn't deserve that barb.
Oh god the Congressmen work in a Callcenter 4 hours a day...holy shit I understand why they're all insane.
Connar Comstock but they were crazy before they had to do that
4 hours is nothing compared to what they get paid.
As someone who worked in a call center I can confirm it drives one mad
@@basillah7650 4 hours in a call center is only a tiny part of what they have to do to get paid.
No wonder politicians never get anything done.
MrHousecup that and the vast amount of different views and proposals too
MrHousecup it’s worse than that. They get tons of stuff done for their donors - but only for the ones who can donate hundreds or thousands of dollars at a time.
they get plenty done.. they keep getting re-elected
LOL Imagine thinking THIS is the reason that nothing gets done by politicians. You fucking buffoon.
Is even more depressing when George Washington said in his farewell letter:
"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
Define Irony: Red Cruz filibustering Obamacare, by reading a book, of which the moral is "How do you know it's bad, until you try it?"
Bucky Hate even though you made this comment 10 months ago, I have to compliment the brilliance of it.
@@thekwjiboo here here
Craig Johnson here here
+
Red
I love you John Oliver. Thank you for not being involved with comedy central, who would never in a million years let these segments appear on youtube. Thank you so much for democratizing your program so that is available to the common public.
Phil Noll Actually, John Oliver filled in for Jon Stewart occasionally on The Daily Show,
WHICH RAN ON COMEDY CENTRAL.
But I see where you're coming from.
Oliver made a FAR better choice to go to HBO.
There were so many times when Steve's face said "Please kill me."
I know it's obviously fucked up how corrupt this is, but all I can think is how SAD it is. Like, I imagine most of these people didn't start in congress because they wanted to be evil and corrupt. They probably wanted to shape their country in their image. Instead of doing things they probably dreamed about, like debating their peers on the floors of congress, or visiting with their constituents, they're forced to basically beg rich people for money just to keep their job.
I feel bad for them. At least most people get the respect and dignity of working and earning. These people have to literally beg for anything. And for good leaders, in important districts, it must be even worse. I can't imagine having to beg customers for money on top of having to actually do my job. It's a mark of how deep the corruption must go that they don't try to vote for campaign finance reform. American elections are getting truly perverse in how much money they waste.
Truer words have never been spoken. Except probably the words “Pootis Spencer here” but that’s beside the point.
It's not exactly corrupt tho. They're not taking bribes from anyone
@@kaushikiyer4881 corruption takes many forms
An obsession with the free market can be dangerous, the US is a perfect example of privatization gone wrong
It's weird seeing this capitalised like this because in Croatian the name for the US is SAD (Sjedinjene Američke Države, literally United American (we use adjectives a bit differently here) States)
i gotta say - the congressman was a pretty good sport
he's going to telling other politicians to do stuff but a horrible politician himself then again, most of America's politicians are idiots. Most of the politicians in the world are idiots or selfish if not both.
It's because he was leaving office, so he could finally tell the truth.
@@knytetech7732 yeah. Sadly
Yes! 😂😂😂
@@London_J pp3q
"What does it pair well with? Street violence?"
My sides 😭
One of the 3 best lines!
Best part: Gambling Girl Scout.😂
PROTIP
i am from germany, i don't understand that. what is it about?
+Malory Acher clearly the best part was his analogy about the massage that starts with a handjob :D
+Synapsenkitzler Basically, Girl Scouts, an organization has a famous reputation for selling you their cookies. And some can be very insistent. So John Oliver is basically saying that politicians can be even more desperate than a girl scout who owes people money. I think.
+Malory Acher She knows where you live! 4 BOXES!
John Oliver you're the best teacher I've ever had!
20:41 "..is that a.. 2016?" Had me laughing so hard.
Edie Snow love how John says oh oh congressman I would never do this to a glass
Does it go any older than that?
This show is an epitome of investigative journalism :P
Buzzfeed.
+Electric Jesus Buzzfeed suck, my Lord and Electric Saviour
+Electric Jesus no.
Buzzfeed is nowhere close to being investigative journalism. Internet news in general is not journalism in any way.
+datguyyo I disagree (it's the internet, everyone does). The journalism (in America at least) industry is only hanging on because of online news. Internet reporters get Journalism/ Communications degrees like newspaperwriters. But you might think "Oh it's just BuzzFeed news, it's amateur work", but BuzzFeed writers are phenomal compared to other online news. All the writers do their job outstandingly as *journalists* and some of them even graduated from Ivy League Schools. These are all what makes online news *journalism*.
Wow! That was VERY enlightening. I've often wondered why politicians sometimes become so cynical and corrupt. This certainly sheds a lot of light.
Walt Disney Pictures Presents
Congressional Meeting Musical
Rated-G
There you go Congress. You can use that to earn money.
😂
I'd watch it.
I don't think they could handle all that money
+Some Body and someone is going to fap to it. Just because this is the internet.
+Emmey *sigh* *unzips*
God love you, John Oliver (and all the writing/supporting staff)!
Honestly this is the type of Last Week Tonight I like the best. The episodes talking about mainstream, partisan issues like Trump or abortion were ok, but I love it when this show goes out of its way to bring a significant yet obscure problem (like this one) into the light.
brillent
+Lucifer lol
+alasoify a true fan of LWT
+Lucifer nah. she meant brillent
+alasoify Brillient. Nice, I like your style.
+Lucifer It's a reference to one of LWT's fan mail videos! xD
"it is in my view, a form of torture" *smiling intensifies*
That Congressman seemed like a cool guy. Definitely kept it real. I could see myself sitting down to a bag of wine with him.
This should be shared to every american
YES.
And, now that we've been educated and entertained, let's all have a national discussion and work towards overturning this part of the system. I hope people don't just "like" and move on :)
That unfortunately won't help the solution.
+thelousyllama u dont say sherloc
Let's all calm down, accept that america was fucked from the beginning ever since lazy cowards invaded and stole the land from the indians, the true owners.
Now raise your glass of wine. Say "We're terribly sorry, indians." Cheers!
I missed John giving interviews! Loved seeing them on The Daily Show and I loved he brought them over to the show. So hilarious.
And while the politicians beg big spenders like Monsanto, for donations, Monsanto asks things of them in return. Which leads to corprations OWNING the country and every single politician.
Thank you John oliver, for explaining this to us. Ive learned something new today :)
+The Master Politicans aren't owned by anyone that they don't want to be. These are the last people on earth that should be victimized, yet a way was found. There is no reason to believe that Congress would any less dysfunctional if this process were to change. There would still be phone calls and fundraisers and the peddling of influence. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Norm604
Not sure i understand what your point is.
As i see it, the money hoarding required of politicians creates a big problem when talking about corruption.
If all politicians need to gather a surtain amount of money through these fundraisers, to stay in office, then corruption cannot be stopped, since in order to keep your job, you hafto ask for money from shady corporations who wants something in return. So suddenly the congressman needs to honor the deals he makes for the donations, and this makes way for BAD laws and bills that are good for the corporation in question, but bad for every single normal citizen.
SO the only solution to corruption is to abolish money from politics entirely, so politicians arent forced to make deals with greedy corporations. And if a politician has a good paycheck, he will not need the extra money under the table for his expencive stuff.
I really dont see any other way to fix corruption. You cannot regulate it, since lawyers will find a loophole and all corporations will abuse that direction instead.
My point is that you can't buy your way out of this. It doesn't matter how much money you give someone, there is always room for more. There is always plenty of power and influence to be given out. When they leave Congress, almost everyone gets involved in lobbying somehow.
Also, do you think that the public would be willing to pay more taxes to support candidates that they hate? You can be the one to tell the public that they are going to be forced to pay for Trump or Clinton's campaign. That will go over wonderfully.
Norm604
Sure, if that is your approach to fixing it. Moving one expence payed by rich people, to the poor people's taxes. Then you are right, we shouldnt do it.
But if you removed the need to have money in politics all together, then this wouldnt be a problem anymore.
There must be a better way, its just not allowed to think outside of money and profits in this society :)
I am just a realist. Just like with PAC money, they would all find a way around it and then it would just be a bigger mess. No one is ever in control in D.C. and they like it that way. Bernie wouldn't even put a dent in it.
this guys a boss..love how he says "id never do this to a glass"😂
Fuck I was gonna go to sleep..
Haha same here
+Ankit Hazarika we all wanted sleep
same!
+Django 776 we all know that wasn't going to happen when you check youtube
The accuracy
Fuck-it-politicians are my favourite.
They come out of office, and for the first time smell the fresh air that comes from having to make no concideration to make before they talk. A career of watching your every word carefully - and now you suddenly can be unguarded and yourself again.
Sometimes I'm sad that some of the insight they bring is obsolete by then, but sometimes it gives us these little insights. Like now. Thanks for sharing.
Not bad for wine in a bag.
Sure, that's fair.
Your delivery on that line was impeccable, sir. Kudos.
John's face during that whole interview was completely priceless
Hey that was damn brave of Mr Israel. Good on him.
+5chr4pn3ll agreed
I can't believe this just made me feel sorry for a bunch o' politicians.
Perspective: They are not willing to change it so let them sit in their shit.
Think we could be using this money for waffle irons.
Citizens united made their job easier , they only need to talk to Bill Gates and he does the rest.
Oh Congressman, I would never do this to a glass =)
Good job John Oliver! You are the BEST late night show host and investigative journalist out there!!!!!!
Did anyone notice how much time everyone spent saying that the working conditions were embarrassingly awful when they described HOW MOST WHITE COLLAR WORKERS SPEND THEIR DAYS?!?!?
"Oh - it's full of cubicles with those awful cloth dividers..."
+Philo Janus To be fair, most people who work in call centers describe it the same way
Jonathon Moran Well sure, but we've earned the right to call it a shitty existence. These guys are just daytrippers.
Since we're bitching about who has the worst job, I work 10 - 12 hours a day in a shitty factory in 100 degree weather. I also usually work 7 days a week so about 70 - 84 hours a week. I would love to work at a cubicle or only work 8 hours a day.
This is so accurate that in my internship with a congressional campaign, the finance director mentioned this clip to explain exactly what he does.
It would be awesome if there were a website that could tell me all the candidates running in my state who have pledged to reject PAC or special interest money. I know in CA, the PAC-funded incumbent Eshoo was almost beat by a rep that disavowed all PAC/interest money (Kumar I think?), and I'd love to know where else my votes can make a difference here.
I swear every time I see the notification for a new 20 minute video for this channel, I get a dopamine rush that rivals that when you chug an extra large coffee.
I think Steve Israel was a good sport about his interview. Very good episode
This is a message for the producers of the Last Week Tonight..I am wondering if you have ever covered disability issues. I think John Oliver could raise awareness in ways others could not. There are multiple angles...the Americans with Disabilities Act, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its global implementation
(or not) the systemic poverty in which persons with disabilities live around the world, the disability civil rights movement etc.
This might be my favorite episode ever. So very informative
This is basically my job as a tech support agent. Little desk, cubicles, cheap fabric dividers, constant calls, small talking with random people, getting down to business (fixing their computers), and someone breathing down my neck to make sure I'm not on calls too long so I can move on to the next call.
"I would never do this to a glass" salty John Oliver
Okay credit where credit's due, that lawmaker was awesome for appearing in that interview.
I like this guy, he handles questions beautiully -- and those blue eyes!
So that's what they're doing when another representative is pressing their "yea" or "nay" vote button for them.
Yep, that and/or banging some 22-year-old female staffer in the loo.
Think we could be using this money for waffle irons.
Oh my god your right
7:17 He Hung up the invisible phone.
We learn to do that in drama class. At least, in mine we did. Full commitment & all.
it's his improv background haha. Object Work.
That's basically Stephen Colbert anytime he pretends to have a prop on the Late Show
Them Ustar Dprin Ce, Colbert is hilarious with how carefully he puts away his imaginary props, especially because he typically just flings his real props away. So funny!
Yup, you bring a prop in you see it through! 😀
Thank you for making me love my country and the solutions we found! If I look at Germany and our system, it often sucks. Then the US comes along and things here look pretty decent and democratic all of a sudden.
German parties get federal funds proportionate to the number of votes they receive capped at half of their total funding. Donations to parties are strictly limited, monitored and published. Not as strictly as I would like, but still in an acceptable way.
So I've been binge watching John Oliver. I'm beginning to feel depressed. Is the world this fucked?
only the us and maybe somalia
LMAOOOOOO LETS NOT REDUCE INEQUALITY BUT LET'S COMPLAIN WHEN OUR REPRESENTATIVES ONLY LISTEN TO DONATIONS AND LOBBYING
You've let big business and their money /lobbyists to take over. We have laws in Europe to protect us against that.
We have rules, but the money still is there.
Just with a different name.
+Might Guy if you think this is depressing, try to binge watch his segments on Prosecutors, Public Defender, Municipal Violations, Bail, Mandatory Minimum, Prison and Prisoner Re-entry together. It's gonna break you down.
Oh boy! Something to get worked up about tonight! Get's me every time and this isn't even my country!
same
I never thought I would see someone I know in a comment section.
+Kimberly LaFreniere
Same. Wait, I don't know any of you nvm
+Amzin Barclay I'm pretty sure there is an analogous situation in every democratic system in the world, only with variations by degree of subtlety / secrecy
Kimberly LaFreniere NO WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks for making this video. I learned about this in school but not in the depth you explained it
On one hand, I feel sorry for anyone who has to go through that. On the other hand, I'm annoyed they don't put their differences aside and do something about it.
"you shouldn't drink that right out of the bag"
"oh I wouldn't do this to a glass"
I live on long island and I approve this message.
Thank you so much for putting your show on TH-cam since I cannot watch it overseas.
"What does it pair well with, street violence?" Oh my God, I'm dying LMAO
That clip of Ted Cruz reading Green Eggs and Ham made me happy in a way I'm not used to when watching this show
He tried doing it with such eloquence, it's amazing.
"Not what our founders had in mind" --Congressman Steve Israel 18:10
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cruz reading Dr. Seuss is probably the most likable thing he's done so far.
12:19 if only you could apply that to steet music/busking
Why the fuck does The United States congress have to raise their own money to do their job? The job that they were appointed to do by the people of their own country.
That's like getting a job and having to pay rent to your boss just to stay at your job.
The money is not to do there job, the money is used to pay for campaign advertisements to convince Americans to vote for them so they get re-elected.
+Mitchell Nelson So in other words, their job right? If they were doing their "job", Americans will be convinced to re-elect them
that is to say by using Ian's metaphor, if the employee does a good job and helps the boss secure a profit, the boss can then have enough money to afford rent.
Did I really have to explain that?
Mitchell Nelson That is his job right?
+Mitchell Nelson in this comparison, the voters are the "boss"
"I would never do that to a glass"
xD
Did anyone else hear a dog woof at 12:14?
I fed up with this world;
I love john Oliver! :D
thank u John Oliver for helping me study for ap government
Such a well made video. I appreciate the longer run time especially.
The only time I've ever felt sorry for congressmen.
I have been in that call center at the DNC building, and yes - it is extremely depressing. I don't remember the smell/hygiene factor so much, but the entire setup is simply terrible: dark, grey, pipes on the wall/ceiling, chipped paint, no natural light, all of that.
"not bad for wine in a bag", said with the absolute most sincerity on his face. LOL.
Just waiting for John Oliver to sum up Panama Papers for me. Keep up the awesome work!
If Pro is the opposite of Con, then what is the opposite of Progress?
+Nick K you're right but I think he meant congress haha
Antonyms don't work like that.
+ISHKA with that logic, what will you make of constitution?
+ISHKA Digress?
+ISHKA congress amirite fellas
Between this and the green eggs and ham, we now know why absolutely nothing gets done. It almost makes me sad for them...almost
I used to live on Long Island and I met Steve Israel and shook his hand
"I would never do that to a glass" LOL
Anyone else hear a dog bark at 12:13?
I did, I wasn't sure what it was at first though, it seemed out of place. :)
+Phillip Corley it was a sneeze
That's just what English people's farts sound like. Oliver let one slip.
Wow. I had no idea. No wonder they are all so out of touch with normal ppl...
Excellent. Thanks again.
Dude at the end was a good sport. He seemed to be having the time of his life with John. hahaha
I never thought a segment could actually make me sympathize with politicians.
I'm starting to realize how much the parties are to blame in this mess.
The clip at 2:00 is just so much better because of the weird guy behind him grinning his head off and earnestly enjoying every second.
I totally Support.
The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC......
YESSSS!!!
+Prakersh Is it still a thing?
+Prakersh Hell yeah!
WORKING TIRELESSLY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW!!
tomorrow
+Dangshnizzle Still the preferred method of many politicians 😂
LoL, that mention of Kristaps Porziņģis 😂
Greetings from Latvia, he's homeland 😉
If spending money is a form of speech, then so is NOT spending money; and, if representatives are supposed to "represent" the wishes of the people - then they need to listen to all voices. Heads up, the silence is way bigger than the vocal minority. It's so big, it's getting fuc*ing scary.
"Not bad for wine in a bag" is a _glowing_ review of that stuff. I've had it and... I still shudder at the memory.
did a dog bark at 12:14
+Matt McMurran The fuck! Does sound like it!
Could be a really loud sneeze. Or it could be a service dog that acted up for a second. Though, the former seems a tad more likely.
☝️💯💯🙌😂😂📭💯😂📭👂🙌💯😂💯
+Matt McMurran dude I thought this will have much more likes! I had to pause a video and find your comment because it defi sounded like loud bark! wtf :D
yeah i scrolled through and was surprised no one else seemed to comment on it
Please tell me Belgian Cat Kimonos are real. These are a thing I need in my life now.
The end. It's amazing how you can suck down piss and end it with a smile, when you've spent your whole life thinking one thing and saying another. It's rather symbolic of congress in general.
"not bad for wine in a bag" "....... sure" Why did I live that part so much? I loved the whole interview, it was fucking hilarious.
I guess when that's your job, Long Island Wine becomes your best friend.
+SpraxIAKS Drink the pain away, friends. Drink it all a way.
So what I'm hearing is #FeeltheBern
I can't believe he didn't mention wolf-pac or the democracy spring protest.
...
I do not think John needs to shill for TYT. They just are not relevant except on TH-cam.
+Phil Dog I would support their message from wolf-pac, but it is run by shitty regressive leftists.
+stinknus the regressive right costed taxpayers $24billion with their shutdown stunt. Traitors..
+stinknus thats weird. vote on the issues, not the people. its fine to support wolfpac but still dislike tyt
“I would never do this to a glass” had me bursting out in laughter 😂
Beeeeernie, Beeeeernie
+Bassdoge STFU
Vic A ;)
+Bassdoge We can see Bernie from Space!!!
+Bassdoge I'd take Bernie for a ride in my death star
John Oliver just made the case for Bernie.