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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: arun gera who wrote (44716)	9/17/2002 7:58:47 AM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

When the money goes into a politician's election fund, does it essentially become the politician's personal property? No. It can only be used for campaign financing, like advertising. Politicians can pay people to work for them, they can buy them meals, stuff like that. Political campaigns are very expensive. Rich people have a great advantage because they can pay for campaigns out of their own pockets. So campaign financing levels the playing fields a bit, but it is also true that less than honest people will manipulate the system if they can get away with it. Everybody knows that the system can be manipulated, so people who believe in good government work against those who try to game the system. It is a constant struggle, but at least the effort is made. Some places are more willing to tolerate corrupt politicians, and are famous for it (infamous, really). Louisiana, Arkansas, Chicago, and Philadelphia come to mind. New York City used to be a lot more corrupt but Giuliani really tried to clean it up.