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Startling discovery! Better to Be Rich, Study SuggestsBy Rick Horowitz
SOMEPLACE IMPORTANT, SOMETIME SOON -- Researchers at one of the country's leading think tanks have uncovered evidence suggesting that wealthy people have more influence on government officials and government policies than other people do. The new findings, scheduled to be released at a news conference here tomorrow morning, offer fresh insight into literally thousands of decisions made by elected and appointed officials at all levels of government over the past several decades. "No two ways about it," concludes J. Francis Klamm, senior fellow at the Dogbites Institute. "Rich folks have more clout than the rest of us." A team of 17 analysts spent more than eight months poring over data, examining voting records and conducting extensive interviews nationwide, attempting to discover what role, if any, money plays in the political process. "The correlation is really quite remarkable," says Klamm. "If you were to plot it on a graph, it would just jump out at you: Very wealthy people have more influence than somewhat wealthy people, who have more influence than middle-income people. And poor people have hardly any influence at all." Those with large sums of money at their disposal exercise that influence in a variety of ways, Klamm and his colleagues found, including large donations to politicians, extensive media crusades and well-financed lobbying efforts, all designed to build official support for actions of particular interest to the well-to-do. "Most poor people don't have the expertise to put together a really powerful ad campaign," Klamm explains. "And they'd rather spend the money they do have on food and clothing, rather than on hiring lobbyists." By contrast, Klamm says, rich people's influence appears to span the policy spectrum from federal tax laws to local zoning-board decisions, and even extends to such seemingly mundane matters as phone conversations. "We've collected plenty of anecdotal evidence that rich people are more likely to get government officials to return their calls," Klamm notes. "Our leaders are typically very busy, and if they have time to respond to only one phone message, they'll frequently choose the wealthy constituent over the 'average Joe.'" As a result, Klamm now believes, the concerns of ordinary people seldom make it "behind closed doors," where much of the nation's most important business gets conducted, officially and otherwise. Klamm and his fellow researchers, for instance, studied the guest lists for presidential "state dinners" dating back to the early 1980s. "We saw very few poor people attending these events," Klamm says. "They really missed out on an excellent chance to chat with the particular individuals who make the big decisions." Although people of more modest means were frequently photographed with public officials, especially in election years, Klamm found that their ability to exert real influence over these officials was quite limited. "Our research clearly indicates that in general, politicians prefer a handshake and a large contribution to a handshake alone. They tend to listen more attentively and respond more positively when money is involved." While stressing that some of the data are still "preliminary," Klamm is confident that further analysis will only confirm his group's findings. Previous studies by the institute have found that, compared to their less affluent fellow citizens, rich people typically live in nicer homes, drive more expensive cars, and take longer and more interesting vacations. Says Klamm, "We think we see a pattern." Posted 3/15/01. For
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Rick Horowitz
