The New York Times has a great story about a particularly egregious example of the influence of money in politics.
Rep. Don Young (R-AL), best recalled perhaps for the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" $200 million earmark last year, is at it again. Again with the bridges. Young has steered $10 million to build a bridge in Florida. Now, one might ask, what would an Alaskan congressman want with building bridges in Florida?
The answer lies, very simply, in the fact that he has a campaign contributer who stands to gain a lot from this:
The Coconut Road [the bridge in question] money is a boon, however, to Daniel J. Aronoff, a real estate developer who helped raise $40,000 for Mr. Young at the nearby Hyatt Coconut Point hotel days before he introduced the measure.
Several studies by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Highway Administration have all warned about the potential environmental impact of this undertaking. County planners had voted not to use the money, until they were threatened by Rep. Young that it would jeopardize future federal resources for the area.
Usually, as the article in the Times notes, this kind of thing is done more discreetly. Of course, $40,000 isn't easy to come by, and, with the cost of running for reelection, it's not a bad deal. Perhaps if Young put a sign on his door that read "Representative for Sale," he might get more business. Or perhaps, if we institute clean elections, he wouldn't need to.
