Policy for Sale

It is nothing new to expose that many politicians are self-serving tools for the Corporate World, but the Washington Post has done an excellent job of summarizing the campaign contributions of the two candidates in the Virginia Senate Race, George Allen (R) and Jim Webb (D). The pages also summarize the contributions by geography and industry.

Jim Webb: Top 10 Contributors

Contributor	Total	PACs	Indivs
1. Kimsey Foundation	$4,200	$0	$4,200
2. Kerrey for Senate Cmte	$4,000	$4,000	$0
3. US Dept of Commerce	$2,100	$0	$2,100
4. Intercontinental Exchange	$2,100	$0	$2,100
5. CACI International	$2,100	$0	$2,100
6. Portfolio Logic Management	$2,100	$0	$2,100
7. Russian Medical Fund	$1,750	$0	$1,750
8. Landmark Strategies Inc	$1,000	$0	$1,000
9. Ncs Technologies / Stmski*Mac.Com	$1,000	$0	$1,000
10. Bernstein, Litowitz et al	$1,000	$0	$1,000

George Allen: Top 10 Contributors

Contributor	Total	PACs	Indivs
1. McGuire, Woods et al	$78,344	$9,944	$68,400
2. UST Inc	$58,350	$7,000	$51,350
3. Capital One Financial	$37,600	$10,000	$27,600
4. Norfolk Southern	$35,275	$10,000	$25,275
5. Peabody Energy	$34,100	$8,000	$26,100
6. VeriSign Inc	$33,500	$10,000	$23,500
7. Verizon Communications	$33,200	$19,000	$14,200
8. AG Spanos Companies	$31,500	$0	$31,500
9. Wachovia Corp	$31,450	$10,000	$21,450
10. Time Warner	$27,300	$10,000	$17,300

The difference is striking, I'll leave you to draw your own fairly obvious conclusion. Campaign reform needs serious attention, but expecting those who are already served by the system to attempt to seriously change it, is naive.

Corporations have realised that a large coffer greatly increases the chance of a politician becoming elected, thus those that seek to further their business have endeavoured to directly align their own interests with those of Senators and Representatives. By essentially providing contributions in turn for favorable opinions from the elected officials, the system has ensured that the peoples' best interests will not always be foremost on politicians agendas.