This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Money in politics is subverting democracy of the people, by the people and for the people.
For the 2016 election, incumbent Rep. Chris Stewart raised $936,595. Only 4 percent came from small donors. Thirty-eight percent came from large donors and a whopping 59 percent from industry political action committees. Five industry sectors (energy/natural resources, health, defense, transportation and finance/insurance/real estate) accounted for 67 percent of PAC contributions.
The Center for Responsive Politics reports that on average in 2010 when a member of Congress is in the District of Columbia, four of nine hours (44 percent) are spent on call time ("dialing for dollars"), two hours (22 percent) on committee/floor time, one to two hours (11-22 percent) on constituent visits, one hour (11 percent) on strategic outreach, and one hour recharging (11 percent).
The center discusses a study from Princeton and Northwestern, concluding that the more large donors who want a policy adopted, the more likely that policy will be adopted. It does not matter how many small donors favor a policy.
The vast majority of people attending Stewart's March 31 town hall were fighting to keep democracy of, by and for people from being drowned by money.
Virginia Lee
Salt Lake City