..."As Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos, an assistant law professor at the University of Chicago, put it in an article last year in the Columbia Law Review: “There is near consensus in the empirical literature that politicians’ positions more accurately reflect the views of their donors than those of their constituents.”...
But do donors give money to pols based on how they vote or to change their vote?
I am a buyer, and if I like product "A" and continue to buy it, the company that makes product "A" gives me some free Bronco tickets. Are they trying to buy my loyalty? Maybe, but I would have been buying that product anyway.
More amazing is seeing how many votes are based on party and not constituients. Or the way they set up votes so that let a politician in a purple state is allowed to vote against the party line.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
FredHayek wrote: But do donors give money to pols based on how they vote or to change their vote?
I am a buyer, and if I like product "A" and continue to buy it, the company that makes product "A" gives me some free Bronco tickets. Are they trying to buy my loyalty? Maybe, but I would have been buying that product anyway.
More amazing is seeing how many votes are based on party and not constituients. Or the way they set up votes so that let a politician in a purple state is allowed to vote against the party line.
Of course not. I am sure that donors give to pols because they like there looks and it is just coincidence that pols vote their donors interests.
And sometimes big money donors will hedge their bets and give money to both sides, or to the expected winner. Hillary's 2016 SuperPacs are already well funded even though she is technically retired from politics and hasn't announced she is running.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
I'm sure that there are plenty of "free" vacations, donations, and other forms of social grease oiling the gears of our Gubment and there has been for way too long. The truth is that special interest groups, large corporations, and wealthy individuals lobby and donate to ensure that those running for election and re-election support their causes and pledge to do what they can to accommodate their collective causes.
Some politicians will say anything to get elected and Americans are so collectively forgetful and stupid that they put this guy back in the driver's seat for a second pass:
[youtube:s3h6nrtx][/youtube:s3h6nrtx]
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
Yep, it's just that some of them are better at selling the snake oil than others, seems to me Romney isn't our current POTUS, despite offering a heathcare alternative that probably would have run circles around Barrycare. It's apparently more difficult to get elected when you tell the truth, say you'll do the things that you can and actually follow through with meaningful action.
Talk about reaching - blame Bush, it will always be his fault no matter what anyone else does so many years later.
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
