Forum Post: The problem with our corrupt government isn't as clear as Quid Pro Quo

As many of the political minded people of this fine website and others have tried to point out, we have a corrupt government. This is certainly an opinion I carry myself. I just want to point out that it isn't quite as clearly seen or detectable as a lobbyist or special interest group giving a politician or political group money and then saying "Now here is what I want you to do for me..."

The problem is far more manipulative and difficult to detect than that. All parties involved are working within the confines of what is legal and because of this something such as Quid Pro Quo is not used. No, instead, the lobbyist and special interest groups are bending the politicians thought process by creating a relationship with him that the politician comes to depend on. This is done by the politician receiving gifts and/or campaign funding. On a subconscious level, this creates a feeling of owing the person who provided the gift a "favor" very similar as if a friend bought you a birthday or Christmas gift. You would not feel right, nor would it do the relationship well if you did not reciprocate the "present."

This is what is used to create the influence. Campaign funding and how it works is a large part of what needs to get reformed, perhaps more so than Wall Street. What has allowed Wall Street to become unregulated over the last 30 years is more of a symptom of a much larger problem. Campaign spending has increased exponentially (Ironically, no thanks to things such as the dawn of the internet and thus internet campaigning, amongst other reasons). This increase in spending has created an opportunity for the lobbyists and special interest groups to increase there influence in Washington.

The reality is that until campaign reform happens, we are doomed to only get worse. The wealthy will continue to be able to control our government while the money is able to create more influence. Our Representative Democracy was designed for the politicians to rely on the public and thus look for the public's best interests. Unfortunately, thanks to modern day campaigning, the politicians rely on funding and thus they rely on only those with money. This creates a situation where the politicians are looking out more for those they fund their campaign.

Until we are able to disconnect those with money from campaigning and thus the politician, it won't matter who is put into office as they will be voted out of it without proper campaign funding. What does everyone think?