by Matthew Tyler Funk

Created on: November 23, 2007   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

Campaign contributions to congressmen buy more than votes, they buy influence. In many cases, congressmen and congresswomen not only vote in a way that will please their largest contributors, but also design and bring to the floor NEW bills to garner favor with those who fund their campaigns.

Now, before anyone gets all hot and heated, I will say that I am not under the impression that the little guy making a campaign contribution of a few hundred dollars is able to purchase any votes or gain any true influence over the congressperson to whom that contribution went. A few hundred dollars will not buy anybody's votes.

I'm talking about the big players, the corporate campaign contributors who spend hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars funding campaigns - on both sides of many races! Industry can and does buy votes by funding the campaigns of not just congresspersons, but all elected officials.

Corporate campaign contributions are simply far too large for a campaigner to not return the favor in some way; especially when elected officials must re-run for office every 2 or 4 years as the case may be. In order to assure their campaign to keep their job will be adequately funded against others who will be getting huge corporate campaign contributions, any politician must please the biggest contributors to his or her own campaigns through his or her official actions. Those who do not please their contributors are not contributed to as heavily next time, and stand to lose their jobs.

The shameful part is that any politician who sticks to his morals and refuses to cater to his contributors won't be in a position to get elected next time. Contrary to popular belief, just anyone can't run for any political office nowadays. If you want to run, you have to either have money or know someone who does - or you must convince those who do have money that they should fund you - by convincing them you have their best interests at heart. Otherwise you can't get your message out there. One who is not running campaign ads on TV and the radio simply cannot compete with someone who has a few million dollars to blow on TV and radio ads. One must get exposure to be elected, and therefore one must have funding to run for office. That pretty quickly boils down to the poor not having any political representation at all, while the richest of the rich who contribute heavily to both sides of all significant races end up with heavy influence over all of those who end up in office. In theory this may be a democracy, but in effect it is an aristocracy. The moneyed elite rules.

Learn more about this author, Matthew Tyler Funk.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.