The recent outing of Senators Manchin and Sinema during the debate over the Build Back Better bill has resurfaced a wide-spread practice among elected officials. Manchin opposed the bill because of its climate control features. He gets most of his campaign funding from the West Virginia coal industry and his own income is directly tied to coal mining. Climate control would definitely hurt the coal industry but help us all breathe a lot easier. Sinema is widely known to have taken millions from the pharmaceutical industry and opposes the BBB bill because it seeks to control drug prices. Everyone would benefit from lower drug prices. They are both prostituting their ethics and what they know to be best for America for the sake of their own self interests. The really sad fact is that ALL members of Congress seem to operate this way. It’s been said that the top priority of any elected official is to be re-elected and that takes money. So, when special interest groups (AKA lobbyists) offer a wheel barrow full of cash our noble Congress people usually accept and support whatever the lobby group wants. Both parties are guilty. Senator Rubio is famously known for taking money from the NRA and so he supports lax gun laws. The democratic former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is quoted a saying on April 17, 2006 “Government is supposed to exist for the good of the people not the other way around, and clearly not for the personal enrichment of those who hold public office.” Three years later he was convicted on 17 charges of bribery, impeached and sentenced to 14 years in a Federal penitentiary. These are the people you voted for in good faith and they now answer to no one except the lobbyist/special interest groups who call the shots. Campaign financing laws need to be changed to avoid this ugly dilemma. But, unfortunately, the people who would need to vote for such a change are the major recipients of PAC money. And make no mistake about it, you and your opinions are NOT on the agenda.
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