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As Senator Mark Hanna said in 1895 (118 years ago!): "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the sec
by cs702 14y ago
As Senator Mark Hanna said in 1895 (118 years ago!): "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is."[1] If you want to understand why Representative Mike Rogers is mocking CISPA opponents as "14 Year Old Tweeters in Their Basement," just ask, who finances his political campaigns?
I hate to be cynical, but calling your Representative may not be enough. Judging by Hanna's 118-year-old quote, it's never been enough. In the long run the solution might be campaign finance reform, but in the short run we may also want organizations like the EFF to raise money so they can finance political campaigns aligned with their values, gaining more influence over the political process.
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[1] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/405598-there-are-two-things-that-are-important-in-politics-the http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/405598-there-are-two-things-...
- Aloisius 14y agoIs there a good lobby to donate to that lobbies for EFF-like positions?
- tptacek 14y agoEFF is happy to take your money.
- pyre 14y agoDoes the EFF lobby though?
- u2328 14y agoYes, they do quite a bit of lobbying.
- toomuchtodo 14y agoThis makes me happy to continuing donating to the EFF every year.
- wmeredith 14y agoThe EFF and the ACLU defend personal freedom by lobby and direct litigation in court. They both been earning my money, someone who trades in information, for years.
- disposition2 14y agohttp://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2012&cid=N00009668&type=I http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=201...
- rwmj 14y agoWhat's scary is how cheap it is to buy politicians.
- fyi80 14y agoLike anything else, it's an auction, and generally on a per-issue basis.
- straight_talk 14y agoUS politicians are not cheap at all, those sums are just the tip of the iceberg ...
- debt 14y agoit seems these days you can swap out the word "politics" in that quote with just about any other field and it'll remain just as true.
- thedufer 14y agoThat's what we call capitalism. The difference is that politicians are supposed to represent the people, not just the people with money, but in practice they are also capitalists.
- liber8 14y agoI'm curious as to why you think this is unique to capitalism. Politicians in every political system tend to help those who can return the favor. Whether it's communist leaders who award control of industries to their army buddies or socialist leaders who enact barriers to entry to advantage their schoolmates, this occurs everywhere. At least when it's pay-for-favors the public can follow the money. Not to mention the fact that under this system, any ordinary citizen has a much better chance of affecting outcomes by encouraging others to pool resources than he would have under systems that afford people power mainly, or solely, through kinship or affiliation.
- thedufer 14y agoI think you've misread my comment. My "capitalism" bit was about "any other field", not politics.