Should we get rid of Special interest groups and campaigning?

[Mr Khan]

thranx said:

KungKras said:
There are two things that corrupts American politics.

The first it that the private sector can donate to politicians.

The second is that debates and political ads and the like are privately and not publicly funded.

Those combined are a recipe for corruption and disaster. It means that whoever has the most money has the greatest chance of winning, and it means that if you want to win, you have to serve the people or the organizations that can supply you with that money.

the only thing that corrupts politician is the ability to have control over people lives and abuse said power. nothing to do with where funding comes from. If it was all public funding it would still be abused. The only way to stop it is to have a small government. The best way to have a small government is to give the government no money with which to grow, and abuse.

I disagree. I believe the source of abuse stems from politicians' ability to cash in and cash out. The "in" is generally illegal now (lavish gifts from lobbyists, bribes, kick-backs), but the "out" also lures in those who are less daring, and really, even those who aren't all that corrupt (namely highly paid consultant or analyst positions with their special interest of choice. The guy who used to be my congressman before his district was eliminated after the census, he moved to Florida to lobby for Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield). With the knowledge that you can live like a king off of one company's patronage for the rest of your life after you retire from politics, you're going to help them out.

My belief is that few people care about "power" in the abstract sense, especially as we've corraled politicians' abilities to really abuse power in the classical sense (compared to the frivolities of modern-day tyrants like the Kims of North Korea), and that the real temptation comes from their ability to secure financial gain.