The Power of Money

In 1951, the 22^nd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, setting a two-term limit on the office of President of the United States. Despite widespread public support of similar term limits for Congress, dating all the way back to the American Revolution, Congress remains unlimited. Many members essentially serve in lifetime positions.

While many of those members were and are no doubt dedicated to serving the citizens of this country, it cannot be argued that money doesn’t influence decision making. If a particular interest group, company, or individual provides a substantial portion of the funds that drive a politician’s campaign, that politician is going to face certain pressures to vote in favor of laws that benefit that group, company, or individual. Allowing members of Congress to serve decades only further supports the influence of those contributions. Congressmen serve more years, making those campaign contributions good long-term investments for the parties that want to influence that congressman.

While one cannot draw a one-to-one correlation of time spent in office to the amount of campaign contributions received, there is definitely a noticeable trend. I’ve listed 10 members of Congress that have been in office at least 19 years and the amount of money they’ve received from just their top two interest groups between 2009 and 2011. You’ll recognize a trend in those groups too – Investment Banking, Real Estate, Law Firms, and Insurance – the very same groups that seem to hold sway over how our economy is run.

On August 10, Matt Caldwell, a Florida State House Representative, filed HM 83 calling for a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. On October 25, Joe Negron, a Florida State Senator, filed SM 672 calling for the same. I urge every reader to write to their Congressman and ask them to support similar efforts. You can find out how at http://www.senate.gov/ by using the Find Your Senators drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner or http://www.house.gov/ and using the Find Your Representative search in the upper right-hand corner.

Congress is not going to vote to limit their own time in office unless we, their constituents, demand it.

Here is my list of 10:

John McCain (in office since 1986) – Republican Senator from Arizona

Top two contributing interest groups are Law Firms and Real Estate, accounting for over $19M in contributions in the past two years.

Harry Reid (in office since 1986) – Democrat Senator from Nevada

Top two contributing interest groups are Law Firms and Securities/Investment, accounting for almost $5M in contributions in the past two years.

Barbara Boxer (in office since 1992) –Democrat Senator from California

Top two contributing interest groups are Law Firms and Women’s Issues, accounting for almost $3.2M in contributions in the past two years.

Joe Lieberman (in office since 1988) – Independent Senator from Connecticut

Top two contributing interest groups are Securities/Investment and Real Estate, accounting for over $3M in contributions in the past two years.

Mitch McConnell (in office since 1984) – Republican Senator from Kentucky

Top two contributing interest groups are Securities/Investment and Law Firms, accounting for over $2.2M in contributions in the past two years.

John Boehner (in office since 1990) – Current Republican Speaker of the House, 8^th District of Ohio House Representative

Top two contributing interest groups are Securities/Investment and Insurance, accounting for over $1.2M in contributions in the past two years.

Max Baucus (in office since 1977) – Democrat Senator from Montana

Top two contributing interest groups are Securities/Investment and Law Firms, accounting for over $1.2M in contributions in the past two years.

Orrin Hatch (in office since 1976) – Republican Senator from Utah

Top two contributing interest groups are Pharmaceuticals and Law Firms, accounting for almost $1.2M in contributions in the past two years.

Dianne Feinstein (in office since 1991) – Democrat Senator from California

Top two contributing interest groups are Law Firms and Real Estate, accounting for over $1M in contributions in the past two years.

John Jay Rockefeller (in office since 1984) – Democrat Senator from West Virginia

Top two contributing interest groups are Law Firms and Securities/Investment, accounting for almost $1M in contributions in the past two years.