In some cases, people contribute money because they want politicians to take money from someone else and give it to them or they want politicians to tilt the playing field in their direction. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of examples of this kind of behavior. The ethanol subsidy, for instance, exists because a large agri-business gives substantial contributions to politicians in both parties. Big businesses, meanwhile, benefit from subsidies provided by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. In other cases, however, people contribute money in the hopes of convincing politicians either to lift a burden or to not impose new ones.
Farmers give money in hopes that they can persuade politicians to repeal the death tax.
Retailers contribute to sway lawmakers against protectionist policies that increase the cost of products. Microsoft has assembled a strong Washington operation, not because they want anything, but rather because they are trying to convince politicians to leave them alone. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the accompanying chart should be more persuasive than anything written in this article. The graph shows the growth of federal spending since 1980 on one vertical axis and the growth of congressional campaign contributions on the other vertical axis. Not surprisingly, the two are rising in lock-step.