This is interesting. Maplight.org is a new Web site that attempts to correlate lawmakersí voting records with the money theyíve accepted from special interest groups. Other sites such as OpenSecrets.org provide information on the source of candidates financing, but to my knowledge, Maplight.org is the first site that attempts to establish the relationship between money given and votes actually cast.
Click the “Video Tour” button on the home page and the site takes you through a six-minute video that illustrates the site’s purpose. In deliberating on the U. S.- Oman Free Trade Agreement, the video reveals that special interests in favor of the bill — such as pharmaceutical companies and aircraft manufacturers — gave each senator an average of $244,000. On the other hand, lobbyists for the anti-poverty and consumer groups that opposed the bill could generate only $38,000 per senator. Under the “Timeline of Contributions” button, you can see that the contributions increased during the six weeks leading up to the vote and a hyperlink is provided to the name of each member of Congress so that you can see how much money each legislator received.
Oh yeah, in case you had any question about it, the bill passed. ;^)
Maplight.org is not particularly user-friendly, but the folks who designed the website are still adding features and data to the site. It’s definitely worth plugging around for awhile and checking back in on from time to time. As they say in the smoke-filled rooms, it’s always good to know who is for sale in Washington. ;^)