Election Reform

I am a registered Democrat and have always believed that monied interests can buy favorable decisions from lawmakers who must skirt corruption, bribery laws. However, today 10 August 2012 in writing an opinion article for the local newspaper it was necessary to check some facts I wanted to include. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! It appears there is no correlation between the final vote on a bill and the source of funds received in a campaign.

It is recognized that this is a highly emotional topic and one in which we must all seek truth and not be swayed by rhetoric or emotion. If any reader can point to a reputable source proving the alleged connection between campaign contributions and favorable political influence please let me know. I am most open.

Here are two sources I have found that state there is no connection:
1. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/CampaignFinance.html
2. https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10877/3588/fulltext.pdf

I found these two with a minimum of effort which makes me think that perhaps the hulabaloo about buying influence is a myth. Certainly worth more research.