SFGate: Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty

Thanks to Joel for this one. I was recently asked to raise money for a new congressman and came to better understand how corrupt our electoral system is, and how the need to keep raising money to run for election is probably the root cause of this -- even the honest who enter office can't help but be turned corrupt by the morally corrosive need to raise money. Of course, this also creates a mockery of democracy, as the incumbent's advantage is a crushing one (easier to raise money when you have current influence to sell). This system is broken. One of the allures of super wealthy candidates like Mike Bloomberg is that the public gets the impression that he does what he thinks is right, and is not in the tow of moneymen -- he simply writes the check himself. While this phenomenon is not good for democracy in the long run, when a seemingly good man like Bloomberg comes along, your instinct is to pray that he makes headway to effect change in the system (because no one else will).

SFGate : Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty