by Eric Wolf

Created on: October 29, 2008

From 2005 to 2007, U.S. House members raised more than $700 million dollars in campaign contributions. Because this figure excludes individual contributions of less than $200, it can be assumed that most of it comes from wealthy donors and corporations. Regardless of how upstanding an individual each member may be or how much they have the public interest at heart, the fact that they are indebted to large donors cannot be understated.

Donors who contribute large amounts of cash to campaign funds typically do so for one reason; they expect something in return. Corporations and wealthy individuals have not gotten where they are by repeatedly making investments that offer no benefits to them. As an example, consider the mortgage banking collapse of 2008. Whether the government was right to offer a $700 bailout to the banks is a question for another day. The fact that our government allowed lenders to get away with far too much for far too long is pretty obvious, though. Now consider that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac alone have donated over $4.8 million to members of Congress since 1989 and that during the past few years securities and investment firms have donated over $113 million to campaign funds. Financial firms simply do not invest this type of money unless they expect to profit from it.

In addition to the bailout, 34 bills made their way through the legislature regarding securities and investment. Whether or not any of the legislation was good for the average citizen remains to be seen, but the financial sector certainly would seem to have gotten a nice return on its political investment.

Another way of looking at whom politicians are really beholden to is by breaking down where their money actually comes from. Maplight.org, a non-profit research group has done just that. What they found is startling. From 2005 to 2007, 79% percent of campaign funds raised by U.S. house members came from outside of their districts. 97% of House members raised more than half of their funds outside of their districts. Can a lawmaker really be expected to do what's best for his constituents when someone else is paying to have him elected?

It is far too broad of a statement to say that all politicians are only driven by greed and the quest for power. Most probably enter the profession hoping to do what's best for the people. A politician cannot accomplish much without getting elected, however, and it is now virtually impossible to get elected without running an expensive campaign. Whether or not a politician accepts contributions expecting to influence legislation in favor of the donor is hard to prove. That contributing to the political machine continues to be a good investment for large donors should be proof enough that voters are not the only people that politicians are serving.

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