For members of Congress: fundraising beats out learning about policy

While we've been focusing on political ignorance among the general population, there's evidence of similar ignorance among members of Congress. What's more, there's a suggestion that this ignorance is tied into fundraising, specifically the amount of time members of Congress are expected to spend fundraising each day as opposed to learning about policy, or meeting with constituents.

A writer in Salon claims "Congress is awful because members spend all day long talking to rich people." Why? Because the costs of campaign today require that they do. The wealthy are more likely to provide the funds necessary to win the next election. Your everyday constituent cannot. Unfortunately this also helps prioritize who they speak to and whose concerns they are most attentive to. Which feeds the perception that Congress is not responsive to the needs of ordinary folks, which leads to lower opinions of Congress, more polarized politics, and an even more dysfunctional institution.

This slide leaked from a presentation made by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been circulating recently:



The Washington Post calls it the most depressing graph for members of Congress

"the dreary existence awaiting these new back-benchers." In particular note that they expect five hours out of every day to be devoted to fundraising (call time + strategic outreach).
One's future in the party is dependent on being a good fundraiser. Money talks after all.

South Dakota's Madville Times looks at their member of Congress and wonders how she is coping. We might do the same for Randy Weber.