http://opensecrets.org/

Who contributes what to which politicians. Look at the oil/energy sector...

LOL! Looks like they bet on a lot of losing horses too
http://opensecrets.org/industries/recips.asp?Ind=E01&cycle=2006

Tracking the pay back: http://opensecrets.org/payback/index.asp

Hmmm.

Alternative Energy: $308,885
Oil & Gas: $24,919,209

Ties into the global warming thread nicely.

Kind of gives you an idea of what the politicians are really thinking, which is disasterous for a politician because the best ones tell you what you want to hear while doing what they want to do.

An educated voter is both the worst thing and best thing for a politician.

Its funny, they had this whole ethics rules change the first voting day of the new congress. They were talking about what and how much a representative can accept from a lobbyist. Now, where I work, we are not allowed more than $25 in value from anyone. Perhaps that should be the same rule for representatives.

Anyway, I hold little value for what any politican says. They need to do and doing is hard because once done, a thing cannot be undone and then your in trouble if it turns out to be unpopular.

Where is all this rambling going? I'll tell you finally. This site can be a good thing. You can see where candidates get their money and thus influence.