Back in the District

(image by bigfoto.com) Congress will be going back to the districts very soon. And there they face the same dilemma about money as in Washington, D.C. Campaign donor corporations, special interests and monied individuals will be there, too, demanding access and preferential treatment.

In the current flap over whether oil executives lied to Congress about a White House meeting, we have one of the most egregious examples of undue influence over legislation. There is growing evidence that representatives of the major oil companies met secretly with a Vice Presidential task force on energy early in the first Bush administration. The purpose was to draft the administration's energy bill. Given their current level of profits, do we doubt that they were successful? Given that they were not required to testify under oath about their participation in the earlier meetings, do we believe that they were entirely forthcoming? The Sierra Club's Carl Pope elaborates on additional aspects of this story. To quote him briefly (italics mine):

So what will happen next week when Congress returns? A lot depends, I suspect, on how sour a mood the members, particularly the moderate Republicans, encounter back home over the Veteran's Day weekend. I suspect that, at the end of the day, Committee Chairmen like Pombo and Barton will vote for a reconciliation package that cuts social spending, even if doesn't drill the Arctic and the coasts. They're trying to give the leadership leverage to bully the moderates again. If
the moderates were to stand firm, then Washington would become a different town for the next year.

A recent story reveals that lobbyist Jack Abramoff, associated with the current troubles of Congressman Tom DeLay, was involved with arranging donations to a large number of lawmakers to attempt to influence gaming in Louisiana. Many of the recipients were not even from Louisiana. According to the AP,

Nearly three dozen members of Congress, including leaders from both parties, pressed the government to block a Louisiana Indian tribe from opening a casino while the lawmakers collected large donations from rival tribes and their lobbyist, Jack Abramoff.

What can Senators and Members do that people back in their districts will approve of and appreciate? Perhaps this recent action by the Senate, is an example of what is possible when our legislators remember who they actually represent - US - back in the districts. To quote the AP article:

The Senate, in an unusually bipartisan 97-2 vote Wednesday, approved legislation to tighten rules for companies that underfund defined-benefit pension plans — a shortfall currently estimated at $450 billion. The bill also shores up the financial viability of the federal agency that insures pension plans for some 44 million Americans.

Though the inordinate influence on Congress of special interests is of concern, people back in the districts are most upset over the war in Iraq. And both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are beginning to behave differently towards the Bush administration as a result. To quote from the AP:

The GOP-controlled Senate rejected a Democratic call Tuesday for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq but urged President Bush to outline his plan for "the successful completion of the mission" in a bill reflecting a growing bipartisan unease with his Iraq policies.

The money dilemma for Members of Congress and Senators is difficult. They know they cannot have any chance to govern if they are not in office. They have to run for reelection every four or six years. Campaigns are overly expensive, so fund raising has to be constant. Individual voters cannot contribute at the same level as special interests can. So to whom do these legislators naturally feel beholden? Too often, it is not those of us back in the districts.

There are two other influences, however, to which they do respond. They pay attention to their mail, and to public opinion polls. Polls are in the hands of the pollsters; few of us actually get to register an opinion. But any one of us can write an e-mail or a letter, even to our legislator on the other side.