1 of 5

Yes

Write now Article Tools

Should members of Congress be prohibited from raising money from people outside their district? That is a tricky question, and while you would think that members of Congress should be able to raise money from wherever they can get it, you have to remember that money is what makes Congress go. Money equals influence, and so when you limit money, you limit the influence that money has to people that are being represented in a particular district.

If you were a Yankees fan, would you want the owner of the Red Sox going around trying to raise money from your fans? Of course not, and that is the same thing that is happening if a representative is going around raising money from people that they don't even represent. When someone represents your district, they represent your values, they represent the issues, and needs of the community. Your representative is there to fight for you, and not for someone in another district.

Fundraising takes time away from important duties, and fundraising in your own district takes enough time. Imagine then the extra time it takes to commit to fundraising in another area. Is that fair to those you are representing that you are taking up more time to raise funds then to working on the issues at hand?

Remember that not all districts are created equal, and not all districts have the same resources. According to opensecrets.org it was stated that people in the richer suburbs of Rochester, NY gave ten times as much money as the average person in the state of New York. If that information can be found out just by spending five minutes at a website, surely most politicians would be keen to that as well. If a politician is looking to raise some cash, just go to where the givers are.

The problem with raising funds from outside your own district is that you can essentially get money from anyone. According to MAPlight.org, 79 percent of funds raised in congressional races come from outside the district of which the candidate is running. More astonishing is that the top two sources of outside funds are Washington D.C and Virgina, since it is close to Washington D.C. Two other big fund raising areas are Los Angeles, and New York City.

Rahm Emanuel raised 98.6 percent of his funds outside of the fifth district of Illinois where he served since 2003. More than 76 percent of that was raised outside of Illinois. Not surprisingly he is now Chief of Staff for Barack Obama, and he is there because of his high profile across the nation. It begs the question though, of why be in the House of Representatives if your major goal is to go and have success nationwide?

Seeing how New York City raises so much money for people in Congress, what does that do to the people of New York state? It puts a limit to how much influence the upstate has on its own politics. New York City, and the money, and the power that they have politically, is a major reason why Gov. David Patterson won't increase taxes downstate. Instead, he is taxing soda, and making sure that he is politically sound downstate.

The facts speak for themselves, and they say that essentially money talks. Whoever is giving the money to the politicians tends to have the biggest influence over that politician. The influence over a representative should be controlled by those the representative is leading. While there is no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to build a nationwide profile, it should be built by good works while in office, not with successful lobbying.

Learn more about this author, Cody Hodge.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Should members of Congress be prohibited from raising money from people outside of their district or state??
We want to hear your view. Write now!