You get invited to a dinner somewhere and someone gives you some money. And then you get a call a month later and he wants to see you. You're not going to say no. So it does buy access. They have the access - and access is it.
Access is power.
Access is clout. That's how this thing works. On Ways and Means, you can vote against them day and night and certain business groups will keep giving because they want the access, they want to keep the door open. They also know you can do them some harm if you're antagonistic to them. I have one Fortune 500 company in my district that they were so fuddy-duddy that they would never ever, ever do anything to help me.