"... an awful lot of people suspect that many, if not all, politicians are on the take.
Well, are they?
The short answer is, some are, probably most aren’t. "
BS! They may start with the best of intentions, but I'm convinced, anyone who's been in Washington more than one term is seriously compromised. The political machine won't allow for honest politicians. Honest ones don't get favor, thus fail in re-election bids.
It's like the government or union workers who put pressure on hard workers to slow down, and not make them look bad.
The period of the early eighties was the heyday of Senate President David Roberti and assembly speaker Willie Brown. I worked the California Legislature for an airline client one full summer during their tenure, and found out that they had a real scam going. One side of the assembly would pass legislation after getting all they could get from lobbyists and their clients, then the other house would extort as much as they could before deciding for the highest bidder.