The Buying of the Congress (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In The Buying of the Congress, Charles Lewis and his cohorts at the Center for Public Integrity show how powerful industries and people influence our representatives in Washington to pass legislation that helps corporations but hurts regular citizens. They describe how the campaign-finance system and the myriad lobbyists in Washington, D.C., corrupt politicians, or at least make them forget that their primary duty is to protect the interests of the general public. Many readers may already have an inkling that something is awry with our political system; the authors hope that the facts in this book will encourage people to act on those suspicions:

The decisions illuminated in this book all affect our daily lives, and whether or not the current political milieu is appealing to us or the latest ethical imbroglio is surprising to us, the people we elect work for us. They are our employees, and it is up to us to remind them of that.

After outlining the many ways big donors sway the opinions of lawmakers, Lewis explains how that influence affects legislation in several important industries. For instance, because of the financial power of the airlines, airplane seats are not sturdy enough to withstand the force of plane crashes and cause unnecessary deaths; the food we eat is not as safe as it should be because of the inadequate meat-inspection system; and dangerous chemicals and inadequately tested medications remain on the market because powerful companies profit from them. Issue by issue, Lewis and his coauthors demonstrate the links between moneyed interests and bad legislation. The Buying of the Congress is an expertly researched, well-written work of investigative journalism. --Jill Marquis

From Library Journal

Like Landro, Lewis?an investigative reporter once working in TV news who has since founded the Center for Public Integrity?here puts his skills to good use. His aim is to show how Congressional donations influence lawmaking.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380975963
• ISBN-13: 978-0380975969
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,263,488 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting and inciting, but with substantial flaws, July 14, 1999

By	mike b. (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

While I agree with the notion that there are likely plenty of congressmen who are "bought off" by special interests with cash-rich lobbies, this book has an obvious statist bias that made it difficult to get through the whole thing.

The book never addresses the fundamental causal issue in judging whether someone has been unduly influenced by a contribution. To wit: How can we tell if 1) a legislator has voted for X because he got money from a group supporting X or 2) if a group supporting X wisely give money to a legislator likely to support X? This may seem trivial, but it is the heart of the matter since the difference determines if a vote was due to conscience or corruption. Compounding the problem, Lewis seems to assume that for every problem, there is a solution in law or regulation that would fix it and anyone opposing that solution is corrupt. What if there are just going to be some dangerous things in life and it isn't the government's job to provide us with an idiot-proof, Nerf world in which to live?

In addition, the book is very politically one-sided in its choice of examples. That is, there are more than a dozen chapters on big corporations with lobbies concerned with environmental laws, FDA regulations, et cetera (and the cliche diatribes against the NRA). But there is no mention of left-leaning groups like AARP, the trial lawyers, trade unions, teachers, et cetera who wield plenty of influence on the Hill. I would never claim that plenty of big companies don't do their best to buy votes, but the focus on traditionally Democratic groups buying legislation is conspicuous in its absence.

On behalf of the book, I will say that *within* any particular arena, the author goes out of his way to point to suspicious activities by both Republicans and Democrats. And, rather than explicitly suggesting new campaign laws, he promotes voter vigilance. Of course the examples cited are very enticing (if inconclusive) and if they prompt people to pay more attention to Congressional goings-on then Lewis will have done everyone a service.

- Mike B.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of its type. Made my blood boil. And I'm not naive, January 30, 1999

By	John Larson (Robbinsdale, MN USA) - See all my reviews

My topic line says it all. We've all heard and followed the stories about how Congress is beholden to special interests, and how they have in turn done favors for various industries in return. However, this book puts it all together in a way that has really upset me. And yet it is not a sensational cheap book. Per the Acknowledgements section of page 351 ff, it was a huge team project of the Center For Public Integrity involving 10 writers and 25 researchers. And the Center has written and published a number of books during the past 8 years, so they didn't start fresh in researching the topics covered.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Congress would like to burn this book., December 10, 1998

By	HAROLD J. REYNOLDS (SCARSDALE, NEW YORK USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book should be distributed to all high school and college students as an introduction to the world of realpolitik. Given the sodden apathy of American adults, it may be that our only hope for radical change lies in their children.