The previous post discussed the role of what is called, in polite society, "campaign financing", in buying the votes of politicians. Your politician has been bought, and you have not voted for a candidate; you have voted for the lobbyists and special interests who have purchased that candidate.
But those are the big boys. The medium-sized boys have their roles to play, too, and thanks to OpenSecrets.org, we can see exactly how our politicians have been bribed to sponsor earmarks. That's right, there is a direct link between organizations' bribes of politicians and their reception of pork. It's very simple: an organization bribes a candidate via "campaign contributions", and in return, the politician sponsors some porky bill that funnels money right back to the bribing organization.
As an example, let's look at one of the worst offenders, Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA-8). You can see here, in Jim Moran's Bribes, how, for instance, Hampton University gave Moran $2,000 and in return Moran sheparded $4,000,000 of pork to 'ol Hampton U. Or, how a company called Dynamic Animation Systems stuffed $6,800 in Moran's back pocket in return for Moran to somehow find it in his heart to shovel $2,000,000 of pork to that company.
Here's Congressman C. W. Bill Young Republican of Florida. Raytheon gave him $10,500 in the dead of night in return for Young stuffing pork into a bill to the tune of $4,000,000, while National Interest Security Co (no irony there...) only had to pay Young $4,800 for their $1.6 million.
OpenSecrets.org has created a searchable database but few are paying attention. But these smaller bribes are just as pernicious as the big ones. They create immeasurable needless wasteful spending and divert your politicians from funding worthwhile projects.
So remember: When you vote for a candidate, you're voting for their wasteful spending. Worse yet, your pol has no interest in you, the voter; they're too busy paying off bribes.
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