Why Does Congress Sell Itself So Cheap To The NRA?

Granted that our system of legalized bribery allows rich people to buy political office-holders, I’ve never understood why the price seems so cheap.  For instance, the Washington Post reports that the National Rifle Association has donated $3,782,803 to members of Congress since 1998.  Divide that by 18 years and it’s just $210,000 a year, to be subdivided among 100 senators and 435 representatives.

Assuming the money goes to just half of them, that works out to less than $800 per year.  You would not think it would be enough to make even our preternaturally venal elected officer-holders turn against the interests of the people they have sworn to represent.

And it’s not.As one reader explains it:

Direct contributions to candidates is a sliver of the amount of money the NRA spends in campaigns via PACs and in spending against their chosen candidates’ opponents. In the case of Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO), the following figures have been reported elsewhere:

Direct Contributions by NRA: $5,950 (this figure matches yours)
Independent Contributions (via PACs): $1,225,129
Campaign Spending to Defeat His Opponent(s): $2,708,120
Total Spending by NRA on Cory Gardner: $3,939,199

This data tells a much different story.

So take comfort, citizens! The members of Congress who sold out our interests and made Orlando, and San Bernardino, and Newtown, and many other massacres possible may well be whores. 

But they are at least high-priced whores.