To the Editor:
Re “Don’t Follow the Money,” by David Brooks (column, Oct. 19):
Having served in Congress for 16 years, I can attest from personal experience to the perverse influence that money has in our democratic process.
It isn’t just a question, as Mr. Brooks advocates, as to whether money is the deciding factor in election outcomes. The effect of the money flow on influencing the way members of Congress vote on issues that motivate campaign donors to give is tremendously pernicious. Few members will bite the hand that feeds them.
Also, members of Congress spend an inordinate amount of their time raising campaign funds. I get personal calls every election season from members themselves who allocate hours every day to make fund-raising calls instead of working on legislation.
As Bill Moyers put it so well in his recent keynote speech to the Common Cause anniversary dinner, it is increasingly possible for “oligarchs and plutocrats to secretly buy our elections and consolidate their hold on the corporate state.”
Richard L. Ottinger
White Plains, Oct. 20, 2010
Note from KBJ: Money doesn't vote. People vote.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 