Get Rid of the Spoils System | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary

Get Rid of the Spoils System | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Amid the endless complaining over corporate control of politics, we've been distracted from the real behind-the-scenes power in this country: unions. The data are irrefutable. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, since 1989, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have spent as much on federal campaigns as Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, the NRA and Lockheed Martin combined.

While both parties excel at pandering to their constituencies, unions clearly have a single-party focus. The most partisan campaign contributors in this country are unions, which, according to opensecrets.org, are five of the top 10 contributors in the country and nine of the top 15. Not a single one of those nine gives less than 89 percent of its contributions to Democrats. Coming in at No. 3 on the list of largest contributors is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the biggest public-sector behemoth of them all, which could cough up only 1 percent of its $43.5 million in contributions to Republicans."