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Money and Politics: Illuminating the Connection

maplight.org — MAPLight.org brings together campaign contributions and how legislators vote, providing an unprecedented window into the connections between money and politics. VERY very cool and useful site!

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  • zappa717, on 01/17/2008, -0/+186 minutes tour: http://www.maplight.org/video/2/FedTourMay1662007. ...
  • geddon, on 01/17/2008, -1/+22Who said Democracy was dead? (Oh, I did.) LONG LIVE DEMOCRA$Y!!$!!$!
    • darienphoenix, on 01/17/2008, -1/+2Long live countries with better democratic political systems than the United States!
  • bherring, on 01/17/2008, -1/+13How long until someone finds an excuse to force this site to go down. Exposes politicians too clearly for their own good.
    • jessieanderson, on 01/17/2008, -0/+0Why would they bother shutting it? Very few people can interpret the data in there, much less have the time to sift through it.
      • TrevaLVF, on 01/18/2008, -0/+1"Very few people can interpret the data in there, much less have the time to sift through it"

        That's part of what got our country into this mess, anyway. Ya think?
    • TrevaLVF, on 01/18/2008, -0/+1opensecrets.org is still up and running.
  • zappa717, on 01/17/2008, -0/+9I wish people would look at this tool. It's very informative!
  • LmaoTzu, on 01/17/2008, -1/+13As the great philosopher Notorious B.I.G. once proclaimed, "Mo Money Mo Politics".
  • deadmoo, on 01/17/2008, -0/+2I think the phrase "funds raised" does not describe Mitt Romney. I don't tell the checkout clerk "hold on a minute, I need to rasie funds" when I open my own wallet.
  • LloydBentsen, on 01/17/2008, -0/+7This site is incredible. While checking the sources would be wise, this should prove to be an excellent tool for Political Science students such as myself.
  • cakenoob, on 01/17/2008, -16/+2HEY *****!
    MONEY=POWER
    GTFO WITH THIS OBVIOUSNESS!
  • Pullstem, on 01/17/2008, -8/+2WOW, who naturally describes their business with "illuminating the connection"
    Does it have to be so obvious?
    • sykotik, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Illuminati? (I kid I kid)
      • RationalXubrnce, on 01/17/2008, -1/+2Don't kid that is certainly the reference being made.
  • mudbuddha, on 01/17/2008, -6/+2I've read "Freakanomics" and it offers an alternative insight into this... people like to donate to people who are going to win.. it may simply be correlation and not causation..
    elections do not necessarily buy elections .. according to the author of "Freakanomics" it doesn't really matter how much a superior candidate spends, it will not swing the election more than a few percent..
    check it out. interesting read
    • twojciac, on 01/17/2008, -1/+6And if you want the full picture, read both Freakanomics and Freedomnomics.
    • TheBogie, on 01/17/2008, -1/+1Why the hell is mudbuddha getting dug down!?! Because he told you to read a book?

      Freakanomics is a good read. You get to learn why drug dealers live with their mothers, and that sumo wrestlers are cheaters, among other cool things.

      Oh, and it's actually safer to own a gun than own a pool.
    • triskele, on 01/17/2008, -0/+4I dug him down for this gem, "elections do not necessarily buy elections" I dunno about the rest of you.
    • obliviousfool, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1This is really a minor part of the book, and truthfully it deserves a much more detailed analysis.
  • Alex2, on 01/17/2008, -8/+1Zero content on that site.
  • motiontomove, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3Great resource. Hopefully the public takes notice of it.
  • CondoleezzaRice, on 01/17/2008, -3/+6If you look at Ron Paul's page, you will see most of his contributions come from the retired, physicians, and computer software enthusiasts. Barack Obama on the other hand, Attorneys and law firms, Security brokers, and motion picture production & distribution companies (!)
  • cl2yp71c, on 01/17/2008, -3/+2Politics are the manipulation of power.(For the good of the people, in some cases)
    And money equals power nearly everywhere in the world.
    The connection is rather obvious.
  • rxbudian, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3This is awesome. I wonder if the creators are willing to build something similar for Canada...
  • SLuM, on 01/17/2008, -3/+4Look at Dennis Kucinich and Ronald Paul then look at Barack Obama, John McCain and the rest of the candidates.
    • TrevaLVF, on 01/18/2008, -0/+2I'm surprised to see that I am the only (or first) person to give you a thumbs up for your statement. It is unfortunate that most voters don't bother, or even want to see how major campaign contributions, including those scattered in small sums by people connected to the same, by people connected to the same special interests (Big Business, Big Industry (includes Big Media) and how that and other support (exclusive air time on TV) gets reimbursed through legislation and bureaucratic favors.
  • dogslayeggs, on 01/17/2008, -2/+3Our government is a joke... right? If not, were screwed.
    • adooga, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1we're
    • TrevaLVF, on 01/18/2008, -0/+2It is a joke, a bad one, and we are screwed if this trend of only a small number of US citizens trying to fight it continues.
  • p0s3r, on 01/17/2008, -1/+5Great site. Too bad they can't also show all the additional types of graft that's used to buy our congressmen and women.
  • phazon88, on 01/17/2008, -1/+3Illuminating ey? Interesting choice of words.
  • nosecohn, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3It's amazing... "public interest" groups actually have to PAY to get their own representatives to act in the public interest! And they have to pay MORE than the organizations who want the government to act against the public interest. Why even bother having elections any more? It's all just legalized bribery once our so-called representatives get to Washington.
  • ozymandias2012, on 01/17/2008, -1/+3Man....attorneys are rich. Now I know why the first step in a good revolution is to kill all the lawyers. Seems like they're near the top of almost everyone's list.
    • TrevaLVF, on 01/18/2008, -0/+1Offices where politicians are seated are continually filled with lawyers, corporate executives, and industry board directors.
  • GoneFishing, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3Couldn't digg this fast enough ... I hope Bill Gates puts all his money to have congress pass more laws to improve science focus for this country.
  • bizchris, on 01/17/2008, -1/+2Neat tool, but the data sucks. Nancy Pelosi isn't listed under California Legislators (the list on the left on that page), and doesn't show up when I search...?
    • BerkCA, on 01/17/2008, -0/+2Pelosi is listed as a U.S. legislator, rather than under "California" state.
      • bizchris, on 01/18/2008, -0/+1You're right, BerkCA, but she should show up in both, right?
  • stereogab, on 01/17/2008, -0/+2Check out the new widgets MAPLight.org launched today to make it even easier to see who's donating to the more than 1,500 congressional candidates: http://www.maplight.org/map_fec/widget/congress
    (Disclosure: I work for the Sunlight Foundation. Our grants support MAPLight.org's excellent work.)
  • kd1s, on 01/18/2008, -0/+3And for more information on those lobbying your state representatives and senators, check in with your Sec of State's office. I know that here in RI we have a thing called Lobbytracker that does just that, shows who's lobbying for what and how much they're being paid to do so.
  • TrevaLVF, on 01/18/2008, -0/+2It's little wonder why the corporate media (which funds certain candidate and is rewarded by them, through FCC policies) excludes candidates like Dennis Kucinich from its pseudo-news and its political info-mercials (commonly called debates). Kucinich is not for sale. You see that when you compare his record in the US House and all the way back to his early political experiences in Ohio, to his campaign donations. If they want to throw a little teaser money his way, then fine. They just need to understand that he's not beholden to them in any way, shape, or form. That's why, they're better off relying on the political whores that get all the media attention.
  • markleyjames, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2No surprises here. This article
    http://www.scragged.com/articles/congress-and-camp ...
    explains that we actually have public funding of political campaigns in the US. Congressman earmarks money to a favored firm. Firm pays a lobbyist, lobbyist makes a campaign contribution. This system favors the incumbents, which is OK with the incumbents. The sad thing is it's inefficient. The lobbyist gets between 1% and 5%, the congresscritter gets maybe 10%of that. Very inefficient, just what we'd expect of government.
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