Money & Politics: The way to a lawmaker's heart is through his wallet.
whether its soft-money campaign donations, cor****ate jets, or freebie
junkets to exotic lands, cash greases the wheels in D.C. and capitals
worldwide. Look here for Bush's "pioneers," political allies who get
fat federal contracts, and influence peddling of all stripes.
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=106
....our politicians [have a] excessive financial dependence on well-
endowed donors. ...these donors have played a significant role in
shaping public policy. By paying substantial amounts of money to
politicians, cor****ations and rich individuals have been able to gain
direct access to political representatives and lobby effectively for
their causes. Concomitantly, low-income and poor people who do not
offer financial contributions do not have the op****tunity to voice
their opinions on behalf of their issues...
....Research studies have also revealed that money donors do not donate
large sums of money for altruistic reasons or affirmation of their
political beliefs. ...their primary reason for donating to political
candidates... [is] ...to shape government policies. A 2000 poll
conducted by Lake Snell Perry and Associates involving 1,000 voters
and 200 donors also revealed that 54
[a large percentage of donors speak directly to a major elected
official compared to a small percentage of the voters]... Therefore,
it is evident that money exerts a significant impact in determining
which political constituents are heard by their political
representatives. ...the donor class that represents only a minority
of the nation has considerably more latitude in influencing government
policy than the majority of the population in the nation...
....In spite of the democratic principles of the American political
system, politicians cannot be considered to be true representatives of
their people. It is little wonder that American voters and donors
concur that politicians are not governed by their political beliefs.
Rather, their opinions and behavior are heavily influenced by the vast
resources of their political contributors... Even more significantly,
these politicians are not representative of their constituents when
they lend their ears solely to those who can pay. The reduction of
federal taxes for cor****ations from 39 percent in the 1950s to 17
percent in the 1980s is symptomatic of the political clout of business
interests... ...Unless political reforms occur to sever the
connection between politicians and big business interests, Americans
will continue to lose their trust and faith in the political system...
http://www.political-reform.net/money_politic.htm
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