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Home | CPR | Why 208? | What's in 208 | Opinions | Our Campaign | The Threat to Reform

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"Did I buy influence with my campaign contributions?
I certainly hope so."
Charles Keating
Owner of Lincoln Savings and Loan

The first step in solving any problem is recognizing and understanding it. The good news is that enough people have come to recognize the existence of the influence market that there are now hundreds of studies, reports, and articles that describe who is buying whom. To help you understand this problem, we have compiled links to what we have found on the net so far. These are arranged in a couple of different ways.

An Overview of the Influence Market

General discriptions of how things work.

Who is selling influence.

This is mostly reports on and databases of contributions to candidates.

Who is buying influence.

Reports on the special interest groups that are throwing money around. We aren't necessarily opposed to these groups' agendas, just their methods.

Sources

Some of the groups and media outlets that write these things

An Overview of the Influence Market

• Legislature for Sale - The landmark series from the San Jose Mercury News
• So You Want to Buy a President? - Frontline looks at influence buying at the highest level
• How Money Votes - The American Prospect shows how one Congressman does it
• Shakedown - Mother Jones reports on Congressional Dialing for Dollars.

Influence Sellers

• California Politicians
  • New! Primary Investors - a study of fundraising by California open seat candidates in the 1996 primary elections. This rraises some real questions about term limits.
  • Capitol Addiction - The Common Cause report on 1995 Legislative Fundraising
  • The Great Money Chase - Common Cause report on 1994 Legislative Fundraising
  • The Wilson Tobacco Money Memo
• The U.S. Congress
  • Shakedown - Congressional Dialing for Dollars.
  • The Best Congress Money Can Buy
  • FEC Data on Congressional Candidates
• Presidential Candidates
  • So You Want to Buy a President?
  • FEC Reports on 1995-96 Presidential candidates
  • Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest
• Political Parties
  • 1995 Soft Money Contributions

Influence Buyers

• Agricultural Intersts
  • Archer Daniels Midland
  • ADM - A Case Study In Corporate Welfare
  • Chiquita Bananas
  • Gallo Wines
• California's Top Ten PACs
  • Capitol Investors
  • Like Money in the Bank - The Allied Business PAC
• Corporate Welfare Recipients
  • Manifest Subsidy
  • Below-Cost Timber Sales Report
• Defense Industry
  • Orbit of Influence: Spy Finance and the Black Budget
• Environmental Issues
  • Toxic Cash: How Lobbyists Poisoned the EPA
• Financial Companies
  • The S&L Crisis - Probably the biggest smoking gun of all.
• Health Care Providers
  • Common Cause News: Medicare, Medicaid, PACs, and Soft Money
• Municiple Bonds
  • The Big Sleaze In Muni Bonds
• National Rifle Association
  • Political Snipers
• Religious Right
  • Like Money in the Bank - The Allied Business PAC
  • Whose Kingdom?
  • Religious Lobbying
• Rich Folks
  • $75 Million Tax Break For Millionaires
• Tobacco Industry
  • Tobacco Industry Political Expenditures in California
  • The Inhalers - They May Not Smoke Tobacco, But Some In Congress Are Addicted To The Industry's Money
  • Smoking Them Out: Tobacco PAC Contributions 1986-95
  • The Wilson Tobacco Money Memo

Sources

• Mother Jones Magazine

• Center For Public Integrity

• Campaign Finance Stories from National Public Radio

• Money and Politics -- Articles from The American Prospect

• Progressive Policy Institute

• Sojourners Magazine, November-December 1995

• FECInfo Home Page

• Project Vote Smart

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Please direct all questions, comments, suggestions to Michael Dee Gunn, mdgunn@itsa.ucsf.edu.