How Does it Affect Me?
The lives of all Americans are profoundly affected by the influence of big money on our political system. When the financial, health care, and defense industries pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of our elected representatives, public policy is often crafted in the industries' short-term self-interest, while the best interests of the public take a back seat. Clean Elections, by severing the link between big money and political decisions, would free our legislators to act with the public’s best interest in mind.
The examples below are just a few of the ways in which private money in politics influences the lives of all Americans.
• Economic recession and the sub-prime mortgage crisis
• Rebuilding Iraq: One campaign contribution at a time
• Air pollution and the energy industry
• Prescription drug costs and the pharmaceutical industry
• Student loan companies and student debt
• Cable rate increases cost the average American
Economic recession and the sub-prime mortgage crisis
The fallout from the sub-prime mortgage scandal is rippling throughout the economy and into the lives of Americans who have foreclosed on their homes. Why did these lending abuses go unchecked for so long, even though there were signs of imminent danger brought to the attention of Congress years before the sub-prime meltdown? Common Cause takes a look at the relationship between the $242 million spent by the mortgage lending industry on lobbying and campaign contributions, and its success in blocking Congress from curbing lending abuses that led to this crisis.
Rebuilding Iraq: One campaign contribution at a time
The government has doled out billions of dollars in contracts since 2003 to private companies to rebuild Iraq. These companies are supposed to rebuild the war-torn country by restoring electricity, reconstructing bridges, and building schools. Private firms increasingly receive contracts from the government with little or no competition and then provide substandard results while overcharging taxpayers for their work. While substandard work is usually cause for dismissal in the private sector, it appears that the millions of dollars in campaign contributions to the President and to members of Congress allowed these companies to continue winning lucrative government contracts, as Public Campaign's research found.
Air pollution and the energy industry
Twenty two million Americans were diagnosed with asthma in 2005. Of this total, 6.2 million are children. Recent studies have pointed to the role of air pollution in new cases of asthma. According to an analysis of these studies by the American Lung Association, increases in particle pollution have lead to an increase in hospitalizations for children with asthma and an increase in the severity of asthma attacks as well.
And while more and more children are being diagnosed with this disease, especially in urban areas, Congress and the Administration have done little to adopt stricter standards for pollution output. They have gone along with the recommendations of energy industry lobbyists and executives instead of following the recommendations of scientific experts advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Year after year, legislation to strengthen standards never gets beyond a hearing, while energy interests get countless subsidies and weakened regulations.
Cigarette laws, the tobacco industry, and campaign contributions
Despite years-long efforts to eliminate teenage smoking, the problem persists. Almost 90% of smokers begin before their 18th birthday. Among all American children under the age of 18 today, five million will die prematurely due to smoking-related illnesses. While restrictions have tightened, the tobacco industry continues to market to teenagers and continues to lobby at the federal and state level to block restrictions and limit anti-smoking marketing campaigns. One wonders how much lower teen smoking rates would be were it not for the $34.7 million the tobacco industry contributed to federal candidates, national parties and PACs since 1997.
Poverty and the Minimum Wage
Eight of ten Americans support an increase in the minimum wage and hundreds of leading economists agree it would support efforts to lift 1.9 million American workers and their families out of poverty. An increase in the federal minimum wage is strongly favored by voters, so why does it take so long for Congress to approve one?
A big part of the answer is campaign contributions, as our allies at Public Campaign found. Business interests opposed to hiking the minimum wage contribute heavily to political campaigns. On the rare occasions that the minimum wage is raised, they also typically demand special interest tax breaks as a payback in return for allowing the legislation to go through.
Prescription drug costs and the pharmaceutical industry
The cost of prescription drugs keeps increasing, particularly for older Americans. Some four million seniors lack credible prescription drug coverage. Many seniors, particularly those with low incomes who rely on Social Security to make ends meet, use the Medicare Part D government drug program to get needed prescriptions. They faced drug price increases almost four times faster than overall inflation rates between February 2006 and 2007.
Meanwhile, the highly profitable pharmaceutical industry continues to successfully lobby Congress to reject attempts to bring prices under control. That many lawmakers are beholden to the industry should be no surprise, given how generously it funds their campaigns. As Public Campaign found in this brief report, pharmaceutical manufacturers gave more than $92 million to federal campaigns between 1989 and 2006.
Student loan companies and student debt
A college education has never been more crucial for future success. But it has also never been more expensive. The cost of tuition and the levels of student debt continue to rise dramatically. According to a recent survey, 22 percent of college graduates in their twenties have taken jobs they otherwise would not have because they needed more money to pay off student loan debt.
Meanwhile, the contributions of the student loan industry to members of Congress have risen as well. Sallie Mae and Nelnet -- two of the biggest lenders -- alone accounted for roughly $1 million in campaign contributions in the 2006 cycle, and are continuing to give at a rapid pace. In a telling sign of how the campaign money tends to follow those in power and seek influence, Sallie Mae gave a majority of its contributions to Republican congressional candidates in 2004, gave roughly even equal amount in 2006, and has now switched to giving a majority to Democrats in the current cycle.
Cable rate increases cost the average American
In 1996 Congress passed the Telecommunications Act. That Act freed the cable industry from nearly all curbs on rate hikes. The Act lifted all regulation on rates for non-basic cable service, effective immediately for most small cable systems, and for all cable companies by 1999. Proponents in Congress argued that competition from satellite and phone companies that soon would offer video programming would keep prices down. The competition Congress predicted did not materialize. As a result, cable rates have increased more than 90 percent since 1995 and American families are paying, on average, more than $45 a month for cable service.