Finance, Insurance, Real Estate (57)
Lawyers & Lobbyists (25)
Health (5)
Agribusiness (3)
Labor (2)
Energy & Natural Resources (2)
Misc. Businesses (2)
Communications & Electronics (1)
No Money Raised (white dots) (3)
The chart above is from Mother Jones magazine. It shows the U.S. Senate (both parties), with the color of each dot representing the sector who has given the most money to that senator. We can expect that senator will listen very closely to the people who give him/her the most money -- and that means the finance & real estate industries (with 57 senators) and the lawyers & lobbyists (with 25 senators) have the biggest voice in what happens in the Senate.
Unfortunately, the two sectors representing the majority of Americans -- labor (with 2 senators) and small business (with 2 senators) have very little voice in the Senate. This should help us to understand why very little comes out of the Senate that is beneficial to ordinary, working Americans.
And the House is not in much better shape. Mother Jones has also done this same kind of chart to show who the House members are beholden to -- and while workers have a bit better representation in that body, it is far from a majority. You can go to the Mother Jones website to see that chart. But I warn you, it is as depressing as this chart.
That's a way bigger chunk than I would have imagined in my wildest dreams. No wonder corporations have achieved the status of human beings. They are like the "body snatchers" and have taken over the "body politic".
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