“But though in all governments, this great power must exist somewhere, yet it can rarely be delegated with prudence to inferior magistrates; who, out of ambition, revenge, or faction, or for bribes and preferments, or out of fear and flattery, or in concert with the ill measures or selfish intrigues of statesmen, may pervert so dangerous a trust to the destruction of those whom it was intended to preserve.”

— John Trenchard, Cato’s Letters No. 12, January 14, 1721

In a thorough investigation of congressional pay-to-play schemes, federal grants, campaign cash, investments, employment, power, and influence, the Open The Books organization is pulling back the curtain of corruption to reveal that most of the federal government is for sale to the highest bidder.

The report begins with some staggering statistics: 97 percent of members of Congress get reelected each year even though only 17 percent of the American people believe our representatives are doing a good job.

In other words, everybody complains about the government, everybody calls on us every two years to “vote the bums out” or to “clean the swamp,” but only a slim three percent of those “bums” are sent home after their first term.

Open the Books calls this phenomenon the “incumbent protection system” and identifies several key components of that system.

First, “most districts are gerrymandered by states to protect incumbents. In a real sense, politicians pick their voters as much as voters pick their politicians.”

Second, “members of Congress more or less write their own rules. It’s no surprise they know how to play the game.”

Next, “the top donors to Members giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash and receiving millions — if not billions of dollars — in federal subsidies and contracts.”

What is perhaps the most frightening fact revealed in the report is that what Congress is doing IS LEGAL!