South DaCola Book Club w/So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government

I saw this author on Bill Moyers Journal last night, and found his interview about his book interesting. He pretty much talks about how lobbyists and lobbying has destroyed politics and politicians. Can you say – Duh? He did get a plug in about publicly funded elections in states like Arizona and there positive effects, Moyers probably could have done a entire show about that.  I could not agree more, if we are ever going to clean up politics, that is the way to go.

The startling story of the monumental growth of lobbying in Washington, D.C., and how it undermines effective government and pollutes our politics.

A true insider, Robert G. Kaiser has monitored American politics for The Washington Post for nearly half a century. In this sometimes shocking and always riveting book, he explains how and why, over the last four decades, Washington became a dysfunctional capital. At the heart of his story is money—money made by special interests using campaign contributions and lobbyists to influence government decisions, and money demanded by congressional candidates to pay for their increasingly expensive campaigns, which can cost a staggering sum. In 1974, the average winning campaign for the Senate cost $437,000; by 2006, that number had grown to $7.92 million. The cost of winning House campaigns grew comparably: $56,500 in 1974, $1.3 million in 2006.