As James Madison wrote in the Federalist Paper #52, Congress is to be “dependent on the people alone.”

Yet in our current systems of electing and governing, candidates require very large sums of money to have a chance at winning their election. Thus, a dependency on BIG MONEY and by natural extension, the people and organizations that can supply BIG MONEY, has overtaken the dependency upon the people as prescribed by our Founding Fathers.

I listened to Republic Lost by Lawrence Lessig this summer while driving to Springfield Illinois to take in some Abraham Lincoln history (which, by the way, I highly recommend). This one argument seems to overcome all others. How can Congress focus on the good of the whole when they are quite naturally required to focus so much time and energy on raising money? Why would they work together when competitive pressures require catering to their money sources and when they are required to take positions that will continue future flows of campaign finance funding?

As Lessig states, the corruption is not necessarily quid pro quo corruption (although we are all aware of cases of that from both sides of the aisle), but it is systemic corruption – corruption of the systems of electing and governing and quite definitely, corruption of the intended “dependency on the people alone.”

Is there anyone out there who truly believes that big donors don’t expect a return on their investment? Does anyone think they donate huge money for the good of the whole?