My Senators are poor

Ok, not really, but compared to the vast majority they are. Open Secrets lists Pat Leahy as the 95th wealthiest Senator. It doesn't list Bernie's ranking yet, but I know he's about as wealthy as Pat. Same goes for my new Rep, Peter Welch. And they all run on clean money.

Just saying, they're not all corrupt fat cats owned by the corporations. Leahy, for example doesn't take PAC money, and Bernies PAC money comes overwhelmingly from labor.

You can check out your reps here:

http://www.opensecrets.org/

My senators - Gregg and Sununu - probably bought them off.:sarcasm: I don't know much about Sununu's finances, but Gregg's a wealthy man and even won the lottery a few years back. (Life ain't fair.)

and I suspect that Sununu is also fairly wealthy.

So what? Please provide a sensible description of the current system as anything other than a corrupt duopoly consisting of two de facto institutionalized political parties both controlled by a corrupt corporate plutocracy.

and for some reason I thought you were in calif, how shallow of me

I'll see if I can't fix it. And though I am a native Californian, my name actually has nothing to do with that.

Not all of that money is a bad thing. I don't think there'd be many here who would bitch if we learned that a friendly union or MoveOn or some other liberal/progressive 527 or PAC would throw money at a favorite candidate here. It's how business is donw.

It's assumed that since you can run for the office, you can afford to pay for it. In the last election cycle, the average house seat cost over $1 million and Senate seats went for $10 mil or more. In the case of the house, that money has to be raised every two years (with more built in for raise in TV ad rates and other expenses)...and this money has to come from somewhere. While I wish we had a shorter campaign season with public financing, that's not the world we currently live in.

Also, just because someone takes money from a specific PAC doesn't mean they're owned...especially if it's a small amount. Several years ago, I encountered a candidate who was heavy into the big money and I asked if he had any qualms about taking money from companies that were harmful to the environment or that threw more of their money at Repugnicans...he laughed at me and said "they know my record, if they throw money at me, I'd be a fool to refuse it...let those bastards pay, not the little guys.

in many places, but it's not here. One of the good things about living in VT is that elections are pretty damn clean on all levels, and money is not as important here as in most other places.

There's really no big media in your wonderful state and its easier to reach the electorate on a "retail level"...door to door than it is in a large state or metro area.

I worked in a District that had been gerrymandered to protect the incument Repugnican (who lost in '04) and it snakes in all directions. Candidates spend more time and money travelling to functions than spending time at them. TV and Radio time is also expensive and hard to target as you're paying not just to cover your district but all the others in the metro as well. Even cable isn't a bargain as those companies also charge high rates and prefer "system wide" buys, thus I get ads here for races miles from where I live instead of local races.

Campaigns have become a business of their own...consultants, pollsters, office people and PR people are almost a necessity now and they don't come cheap either. It makes running a challenge that much more difficult.

Cheers...

Conaway is doing these days? Of course I do know that he and junior were close friends in the oil fields.

Thanks for the link


2001-2006 Total Receipts: $5,456,609
2001-2006 Total Spent: $5,417,366
Cash on Hand: $30,986
Debts: $0
Date of last report: December 31, 2006
First elected: 2004
Next election: 2010

Fundraising by Cycle:
2006: $363,149
2004: $5,093,460


Source of Funds:
(How to read this chart / methodology)

Individual contributions
$4,102,993
(75.2%)

PAC contributions
$986,499
(18.1%)

Candidate self-financing
$0

Other
$367,117
(6.7%)




PAC Contribution Breakdown
(How to read this chart / methodology)

Business
$498,200
(57.3%)

Labor
$5,000
(0.6%)

Ideological/Single Issue
$366,296
(42.1%)




Quality of Disclosure:
(How to read this chart / methodology)

Full Disclosure
$178,887
(96.7%)

Incomplete
$0

No Disclosure
$6,200
(3.3%)