A Walk Through OpenSecrets.org Sure Says A Lot

I thought this was pretty interesting. A few of us on here have been having an ongoing discussion about how American corporations control a big part of how Washington conducts business.

There are two sides so far, one side says that certain corporations have become so powerful that they can essentially control the way the politicians we put into office (whether that's legitimate is an entirely different thread) cast their vote regarding things like Climate Change, Energy, Education, etc. through use of their influence and the amount of power they control. The other side says this is just a conspiracy and business does not work that way in Washington. For the most part, politicians are not influenced by American corporations who are only interested in benefiting themselves, and have the American public's interest at heart.

Now, this is what I found interesting...

http://www.opensecrets.org/index.php

I've visited this website a few different times and always noticed the same thing, which, I think, supports the former idea proposed.

Take a look. Scroll down and click on the Industries tab. There you will find data sets that reveal which industries contribute to which parties candidacy.

As you browse through you can determine which industry contributes to which party very easily before you even click the link that tells you.

Pro-life? - GOP
Pro-choice? - Dem
Banks? - D41%/R59%
Doctors? - D43%/R56%

Interestingly, the politicians can't seem to figure things out or act partisan on either the Banks or Doctors. (Financial sector and Healthcare industry)

Insurance? - D37%/R63%
Oil/Gas? - D24%/R75%
Lobbyists? - D54%/R46%
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products? - D37%/R62%

Again, it seems an obvious coincidence that the Oil/Gas industry would contribute to a Republican candidates campaign, then those exact same Republicans would go on to be the loudest opponents of Climate Change in the House. It seems, from an observers perspective, that these "contributions" might be influencing our political leaders opinion.

Also, consider lobbying, and each of the other examples that come out about even. What could that mean? Each industry is contributing to each party at around similar rates. If you compare the industries with similar percentages, you find these are the issues our politicians struggle with in government to actually find solutions to the problems. There is no partisanship, no compromises.

Now consider taking that all away. All the "contributions" and closed door deals. Make one of the requirements for serving public office you simply can't accept anything for compensation or any conflict of interest earmarks. Everything is investigated. Every dollar is counted. Everything is traced. Make it impossible to continue to abuse this aspect of the system we have.

The first step is recognizing the problem. To anyone who does not believe things like this, the examples I just listed, do not go on in our government, I would suggest you browse through that website and look at the numbers for yourself. The seeming coincidences don't match up, and there are conflicts of interest literally everywhere.

Opinions?

Dude, I for one agree with you 100%, but the problem with such information is that over the years there have been so many conspiracy theories thrown about precisely to make a mockery out of ideas like this one. The masses are bombarded with tons of conspiracy theories that are somewhat absurd and then they tend to think that each and everyone of those theories is just the fabrication of an over creative pot head's mind, ignoring (or most of the time not even bothering to check) the facts of certain matters.