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"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." Spritely Ben Franklin offered this insight, but under the fatal assumption that the people do not have the means to promote eventual transparency. We have reached the moment where a grave problem has been thrust upon our doorsteps, and as Americans we have begun, quite instinctively, to work backwards - inferring the causes based upon the effects.

Only to the most naive among us is it a big secret that trade and government have a natural attraction to one another. Karl Marx wrote extensively on a theory of "financial oligarchy," but it is interesting to note the variety of its constituents - syndicalists, socialists, fascists, communists et al. I point this out to explain why "stamokap," dissolved into the modern American political scene, renders an acceptance of "state corporatism" by elected officials of all self-proclaimed stripes. State corporatism is directly responsible for the meltdown on Wall Street.

By far, the most influential contributors reside in the law firm (AAJ, DLA Piper, Patton Boggs LLP) industry, donating $567 million since 2002. The intent is to influence the passing of new legislation, which, for obvious reasons, would be of benefit to trial lawyers. In the securities & investments (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch) industry, $342 million has been donated since 2002. The real estate industry (NAR, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae) has wooed Congressional representatives to achieve notice of their policy concerns through similar contributions - to the tune of $337 million since 2002. Health care professionals (AMA, ADA, ASA) have donated $234 million since 2002, hoping to change minds on compensation under Medicare and reforming medical liability code. The same is true of lobby group (WPP, PMA, Cassidy & Associates) industry, which has contributed a relatively measly $94 million since 2002.

Interestingly, this helps us to understand why contributions continue to rise - the AMA must compete with the AAJ for influence because their goals come in direct conflict with one another. Thus, a demand for issue-specific and general policy support requires an increasing supply of contributions. Congressional representatives effectively become tax collectors - "If your company would like to continue along its path of stated intent and have a blind eye turned when regulatory infractions occur, contribute X amount to my election campaign. Alternatively,

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