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Well said -- as you imply, it's much scarier to contemplate we have the government we more or less want than to think it's being imposed on us by shadowy forces

Well said -- as you imply, it's much scarier to contemplate we have the government we more or less want than to think it's being imposed on us by shadowy forces. To add on a few additional points of evidence: 1) In the most recent set of national elections, there was not much correlation between money spent and probability of victory [1]. While second-order effects may still be problematic, I think it's worth reemphasizing. 2)Congressmen doing things that are against the will of their constituents leaves them massively open to primary challenges. See what's happening with Chambliss or other republicans in the recent budgetary crisis. 3)I do think there is a particularly pernicious form of corruption in Washington, stemming from the fact that lobbyists and other non-governmental entities often draft a large number of bills. This doesn't manifest as a specific national policy goal not being achieved, but rather causes subtle aims to be achieved in quiet fashions. This is not a problem of money, though -- it's simply a function of availability, and the convenience factor of who sees whom on a daily basis. Perhaps this could be fixed by empower congressmen and senators to carry larger staffs (staves?) than they do today? [1] http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/11/09/how-much-did-money-matter/ http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/11/09/how-much-did-m...

rayiner 14y ago
I agree with those, and I'd add another point: if the government has a mandate from the American people, it's one thing: give us jobs. Look at the distribution of entities that have the jobs in this country: http://economics.about.com/od/smallbigbusiness/a/us_business.htm http://economics.about.com/od/smallbigbusiness/a/us_business... "Some 19.6 million Americans work for companies employing fewer than 20 workers, 18.4 million work for firms employing between 20 and 99 workers, and 14.6 million work for firms with 100 to 499 workers. By contrast, 47.7 million Americans work for firms with 500 or more employees." The line between 'small business' and 'big business' is arguable, but in any case small businesses are generally politically aligned with big businesses. Is it any surprise than that our government supports pro-corporate policies? My wife was a lobbyist and she once gave me an interesting hypothetical: Excelon (big power company in Illinois) doesn't have to donate any money to get the ear of any politician in the state. All they have to do is look at their records and call up and say "we've got 7,000 employees in your district..."

rayiner 14y ago

I agree with those, and I'd add another point: if the government has a mandate from the American people, it's one thing: give us jobs. Look at the distribution of entities that have the jobs in this country: http://economics.about.com/od/smallbigbusiness/a/us_business.htm http://economics.about.com/od/smallbigbusiness/a/us_business... "Some 19.6 million Americans work for companies employing fewer than 20 workers, 18.4 million work for firms employing between 20 and 99 workers, and 14.6 million work for firms with 100 to 499 workers. By contrast, 47.7 million Americans work for firms with 500 or more employees." The line between 'small business' and 'big business' is arguable, but in any case small businesses are generally politically aligned with big businesses. Is it any surprise than that our government supports pro-corporate policies? My wife was a lobbyist and she once gave me an interesting hypothetical: Excelon (big power company in Illinois) doesn't have to donate any money to get the ear of any politician in the state. All they have to do is look at their records and call up and say "we've got 7,000 employees in your district..."