Dear Susan,
Do people who give big donations have more access than people who don’t? Obviously. Do organized groups like the National Education Association have more power than disorganized groups like public school parents? Obviously. But having a good lobby doesn’t mean you control policymaking. You imply that Bill Gates could have headed off this anti-trust suit if he’d hired more Beltway bandits. I doubt it. AT&T was superbly plugged in, but it still got broken up. Dozens of other companies have faced anti-trust challenges despite millions of lobbying dollars.
The fact is the money that flows around Washington leads to tax loopholes and special subsidies, which are awful, but the large shape of policy is determined mostly by ideas and good intentions. I doubt welfare policy was much altered by campaign money. The designers of the federal welfare system thought it would work, and they pumped a lot of money into the system. I doubt the Clinton China policy was altered by the Chinese campaign contributions. The fact is most people who champion policies sincerely believe in them.
So while I agree that money is more corrupting in Washington now than it was 40 years ago, let’s keep some perspective. Let’s remember that money has always infected politics, and that if we get carried away with our moral outrage, we’ll just make matters worse, as each previous round of campaign finance reform has made things worse. The larger problem, I’d say, is the pseudo-sophistication of the American public. You obviously have a lot of experience in politics and government, but many of those who treat Washington as a moral swamp and rail about the inside-the-beltway mentality are like schoolyard sophisticates who want to project a phony air of cynicism even though they don’t really know what they are talking about–and frankly this happens on the right more than the left. The fact is most major policymakers–Democrats like Robert Rubin and Republicans like Henry Hyde–are honorable people doing the best they can. But the cynical, anti-political attitude that is so prevalent on the barstools today means that leaders can never rally any public enthusiasm for any measure, left or right. This corrosive public attitude entrenches the status quo.
In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the idealistic guy from the sticks comes and finds a cynical capital. If they remade that movie today, it would have to be a cynical guy from the sticks coming to D.C. to find a reasonably idealistic governing class. Notice how the Washington crowd is more offended by Bill Clinton’s lies than the public at large. The Roper Center asked Americans if they thought Bill Clinton was ethical. Only 39% said yes. Then they asked if Bill Clinton was ethical enough to be president, 54% said yes. In other words people have lower standards for the presidency than for normal life. It’s awful that people are so dismissive of politics, which is a difficult but noble profession for those who do it with character.
There, now I’ve gone off and ranted about the one thing that bugs me about the otherwise wonderful American people. Let me close by pointing out that it’s pretty weird that the conservative is beseeching the liberal to have a little more faith in her government.
all the best,
David
