If you didn't hear the episode of "This American Life" about fundraising and Congress, then please listen. 

This should have the same impact as the "60 Minutes" segment about insider trading by Congress members.  The public must demand immediate action.  The truth is that money taints everything in Congress.  Until we force the process to change, effective representation won't happen. 

I can't think of a more serious issue facing us as a nation. 

The authors of "Why Nations Fail" make the following argument:

political inequality is a serious challenge to US inclusive institutions, and is the real reason why we should be worried about the increase in inequality. These problems predate the Citizens United ruling. Lobbying and campaign contributions already have a major impact on politics, and the wealthy have much better access to politicians and are able to convince them of their viewpoint much more easily.

But of course, they can't be serious. That is what I have been told.  Because I have committed to speaking with the delegates who grant ballot access before I have tried to raise money, party leaders and political pundits have branded me "not serious." 

This despite the evidence found by a leading political scientist:

Larry Bartels documents an intriguing and alarming pattern in his book Unequal Democracy: US Senators roll call votes correlate strongly with the opinions of their rich constituents, and not at all — or even sometimes negatively — with those of their poor constituents.

It is shameful that no serious candidate can address this problem. 

This chart shows where members of Congress who left office in 2011 (either by defeat or retirement) went to work after leaving Capitol Hill.  More than half became lobbyists or joined lobbying firms.  More from Open Secrets

Now I realize that correlation does not prove causation.  But surely the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street makes this the future we can expect:

“The top 1% captured 93% of the income gains in the first year of recovery.”  

More on this from Mike Konczal.

Thomas Ferguson is a prominent political scientist who has analyzed how our Congress functions.  He states:

Put simply, there is a point beyond which economic inequality in its
own right complicates electoral control. The appropriate comparison is perhaps with a
powerful magnetic field. When The Force is with them – when, that is, Congressmen and
women, their staffs, presidential aides, and federal regulators can be sure of walking out
of their offices to become multimillionaires when they retire or step down – expecting
them to act consistently in the public interest is idle, even if all representatives were
elected on 100% public funding.

Closing the revolving door must be our top priority. 

I have considered Jack Abramoff dishonest and egomaniacal since I first read of him.  Even if he is grossly overstating the truth, this opinion piece makes my case better than anything I could do or say.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-18/-willing-vassals-in-congress-do-lobbyist-bidding-jack-abramoff.html#disqus_thread

The other candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the 5th district are good, talented people with more experience than me.  But at this point the pledge to close the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K street is the most important issue.  

We can make our government work again.  That is my goal.  I invite you to read the above article and ask yourself why I am the only candidate addressing this fundamental problem.