I believe most people in government are decent public servants. I’m very reluctant to believe a large number of members of Congress take out-right bribes: “Give me $$$ for my vote.” However, it is clear that the cost of elections is corrupting everyone at every level, down to the local TV stations selling ads. Either there should be no political advertising (Free speech! Yeah, right.) or it should be free (x hours per candidate; no ads for causes; if you want to promote your cause, run for office).
Did You Hear the One About the Bankers? – NYTimes.com by Paul Krugman [hat tip to Pat Lyford]
[W]hat happened to us? Our financial industry has grown so large and rich it has corrupted our real institutions through political donations. As Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, bluntly said in a 2009 radio interview, despite having caused this crisis, these same financial firms “are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they, frankly, own the place.”
Our Congress today is a forum for legalized bribery. One consumer group using information from Opensecrets.org calculates that the financial services industry, including real estate, spent $2.3 billion on federal campaign contributions from 1990 to 2010, which was more than the health care, energy, defense, agriculture and transportation industries combined. Why are there 61 members on the House Committee on Financial Services? So many congressmen want to be in a position to sell votes to Wall Street.
We can’t afford this any longer.